This proposal is a collaboration between Gainesville natives Jay Rosen and Christopher Fillie, along with New York City based digital artist Justin Johnson. The concept is to create a large-scale 12 ft hologram utilizing projections and reflections that can dynamically display an animated digital Sankofa representations along with other digital artworks and potential advertising opportunities to generate revenue for the city. This hologram technique is called a “Pepper’s Ghost Pyramid” in which a projected image is reflected at a 45-degree angle into a glass pyramid to create the illusion of a floating 3D object. By having 4 projected screens or Televisions attached to the ceiling of the structure, a visitor can walk around the glass pyramid seeing all 4 sides of the virtual object. Any 3D or 2D imagery can be displayed in the HoloCube Glass Pyramid, it doesn’t necessarily require the digital asset to be rendered from all 4 camera angles, but it does create a more immersive affect. With this stated, all other Sankofa submissions could potentially be displayed in this HoloCube – it doesn’t have to only display Jay or Justin’s version of Sankofa – but can display any artist interpretation.
Jay Rosen designed the structure of the installation to be minimal and upgradable. Each of the 12 ft glass walls will comprise of (3) 4×12 ft fenestrations of laminated hurricane-resistant glass in aluminum sill. The exterior structure could be all glass and aluminum or have brick siding to match the Administration building (as pictured in the illustrations). Projections can be cast directly onto the glass panes as well to create multi-dimensional affect (displaying up to 8 digital screens when combined with Glass Pyramid), and the Glass Pyramid could be replaced in future if hologram technology becomes more advanced. There will be an 8ft tall sliding glass door in the rear (facing the building) to allow for maintenance of the structure. The interior is not meant for visitors, only 1 authorized person will be allowed at a time, however in the concept art additional sidewalks will be installed to make it easier for people to walk around the sculpture and flower garden. Computers, sensors, air-conditioning, cameras, speakers, touch-screen capacitive film, solar panels, and more can all be added to this installation over time as this artwork is expected to generate revenue if allowed to display 3D advertisements within the sculpture and in the companion App/Website.
