The city of Mannheim in Germany recently bore witness to an amazing multimedia event entitled “autoSYMPHONICS”, to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the motor car.
The amazing visuals which featured video, lighting and a spectacular laser show were put together by multimedia designer Horst Hamanns and lighting designer Thomas Gerdon, using G-LEC Phantom screens amongst their equipment.
It was in 1886 that Karl Benz was awarded a patent for his first motor car, and is the man widely regard as the inventor of the gasoline powered car. All this took place in the picturesque German city of Mannheim and so it was natural that it be the place to celebrate the 125th anniversary.
In preparation for the event, the whole “Friedrichsplatzanlage” in the heart of Mannheim was turned in a huge concert arena. On the main stage area, Germanys top pop act Söhne Mannheims opened the proceedings before the 17,000 strong audience were treated to a unique musical arrangement by composer Joannou Elia which featured, accompaniment from 80 cars on stage. Elia brought together more than 800 sounds from the vehicles as part of his musical composition for the event.
From a visual perspective Hammans and Gerdon created a visual feast to accompany the unique event and used every building and surface around the central plaza to create a stunning environment. In doing so, more than 600 square metres of G-LEC Phantom 30 panels were used, split across the main stage and the plaza area. Supervising the installation was the Head of Video for the event, Jens Diefenbach of m:con in Mannheim.
The amazing event gave a complete retrospective of the motor car in its 125 year history and then gave a glimpse into the future of what might be heading our way as time moves forward.
The G-LEC Phantom panels were supplied to the event by Veranstaltungstechnik GmbH and Videotechnik Bär, with rigging for the panels looked after by Rent Event Tec GmbH of Mannheim. Lighting equipment was supplied by EBS lights GmbH based in Limburg.
