The Boom Box lit red and green at dusk on the Sturt Street median, ON & ON lettering across its glass panels and Ballarat shopfronts behind

Creative Ballarat Installations

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Bringing historic city streets to life

Ballarat's Hop Lane and the Boom Box DJ booth transformed with innovative LED lighting for Creative Ballarat Installations. Using ENTTEC’s S-PLAY, PIXELATOR MINI, and PLink Injectors to install vibrant pixel-mapped 12V LED bars in the Boom Box, and Smart PXL40 LED pixel dots in Hop Lane. These installations aimed to rejuvenate the local economy and create engaging, weather-resistant light art.

Famed for its role in the Australian gold rush of the 1850s, the Victorian city of Ballarat has long been associated with the glint of precious metal. In 2022, however, it’s a series of dazzling LED light shows that have become the talk of the town. To assist with economic recovery in the face of the global coronavirus pandemic, the City of Ballarat, via its arts arm Creative Ballarat, conceived and funded Summer in Ballarat: a series of creative outdoor performances and installations to draw residents back into its CBD. To add to the hyperlocal nature of this project, two of these artworks would be the brainchild of Ballarat lighting and interactive experience specialists Illumidy.

Hop Lane looking through to the lit bar frontage, drinkers seated mid-laneway under the pink roof of lights, the wet floor doubling the scene
A couple sitting on the grass at sunset watching a DJ play inside the glass-walled Boom Box, patterned graphics across its windows

Solution

Controls

Powered by S-PLAY SP1-1, DIN Pixies, PIXELATOR MINI and PLink Injectors

Lights

Lit up by Metal Smart PXL40 Dots

Boom Box wordmark

As part of their work with the City of Ballarat, Illumidy were commissioned to bring light art to the Ballarat Boom Box DJ booth on Sturt Street. A large, glass-walled, pop-up container for artists to perform in, the installation was built in the central reservation park area of the city’s main thoroughfare, providing a lively location for local bands and DJs to pump out tunes from 5pm-8pm every Thursday/Friday/Saturday.

“Ballarat can be quite temperamental with its weather. If it was pouring rain and cold, you could still have this band in a glass box playing music. Cars going by could hear it too. And when it’s dry, the whole box can open up so people can sit on the lawn and listen to the music as it’s being played. It can work in any weather.”

Kate Berry, Boom Box creator.

Illumidy equipped the Boom Box with an array of fully pixel-mapped 12V LED bars which were custom-made by ENTTEC on a 2-day turnaround to meet the required timeline. The kit included a control system made up of a Pixelator Mini and PLink Injectors with Mean Well power supplies to drive the pixel bars. An S-Play show controller tied the system together, storing and scheduling the required shows. Also, having the capability to program the lights to change with the beat gave them endless possibilities on how to wow the crowd.

Wiring diagram of the Boom Box, an S-Play and Pixelator Mini in a control box feeding PLink injectors and DC supplies that drive chains of 1m LED pixel bars
Wider view of the same DJ set, the decks on a yellow polka-dot plinth with the lit glass wall and the street visible behind
The Boom Box after dark from the front, blue and violet bars picking out the frame, two figures silhouetted against the glass

Hop Lane wordmark

Home of hidden laneway bar Hop Temple, the historic stable buildings of Hop Lane form an iconic local landmark that experiences many transformations throughout the year, hosting a multitude of art displays. The team at Illumidy were brought in to inject new life into the space with an array of LED lights to create exceptional after-dark effects and ambience. To create their ‘roof of lights’ installation (officially entitled ‘Thris’), they chose to put together a system of catenary lighting using ENTTEC’s individually-controllable Smart PXL40 LED pixel dots, alongside strips of neon perspex to add contrast and colour during the daytime. Lighting control is provided by ENTTEC’s DIN Pixies, all tied back to an ENTTEC S-Play where the shows are stored and ready to play back on schedule.

Wiring diagram of Hop Lane, an S-Play feeding two DIN Pixies and DC supplies that drive strings of Smart PXL40 pixel dots, above a photo of the finished lane

Result

  • The Boom Box lit red and green after sunset on the Sturt Street median, shopfronts and a bare tree behind it
  • The Boom Box glowing red at dusk behind a bed of red flowers, ON & ON lettering repeated across the glass
  • Inside the Boom Box in hot pink, V-shaped light bars running along both walls and the ceiling toward a bench at the far end
  • Three friends walking down Hop Lane under the roof of lights, magenta wash across the brick and a Ballarat International Foto Biennale sign on the wall
  • Two people at a high table in Hop Lane late at night, pink and orange light overhead mirrored in the wet laneway floor
  • A woman in a cream outfit walking toward the camera in Hop Lane at dusk, a crowd under umbrellas behind her and coloured tubes strung overhead
  • Two installers in hi-vis on a scissor lift raised between the brick walls of Hop Lane, fitting coloured perspex strips against a blue sky
  • A DJ in an orange t-shirt working a pair of decks in the Boom Box, pink and black polka-dot panels behind him

The City of Ballarat is excited to deliver this event for our community, immersing locals in a uniquely Ballarat experience, empowering our creative community through fun activations for the whole family.

CR Daniel MoloneyCITY OF BALLARAT MAYOR
  • Illumidy logo
  • City of Ballarat logo
  • Creative Ballarat logo
  • OK Motels logo
  • Spacecube logo

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