Colorful, immersive ‘Luminiscence’ makes its North American debut at Minneapolis’ Basilica of St. Mary

Luminiscence the trippy hyper-saturated fully-immersive light show set to classical music s greatest hits is making its North American debut at Minneapolis Basilica of St Mary just in time for the holiday season Twenty artists create the designs using video projectors speakers and a sound system allowing effects to follow the visuals Credit LUMINISCENCE Banijay Live I biked downtown in the past few days for a preview of the show which swept through European cities before arriving in Minneapolis reaching nearly million people When I arrived a line of eager attendees stretched from the basilica s entrance all the way to the sidewalk Once the show started I began to see what the fuss was about From the opening moment colorful video projections paint the vast interior of the basilica accentuating the details of its Beaux-Arts design while local musicians perform a live total and recorded voices tell the building s story Luminiscence debuted two years ago in Bordeaux France famous for its wine but also the enormous Cath dral Saint-Andr revealed Romain Sarfati co-founder of Lotchi the company that created the production Sarfati began his career in art photography eventually adding immersive system and video projection to his practice We were looking for space to gather people and reconnect with the beauty of our heritage he commented Related Vie Boheme finds healing in her art with An Auditory Baptism When Sarfati and his company started looking for venues outside of Europe he was particularly struck by the Basilica of St Mary s nave the central area where the congregation sits Even our mega church in France doesn t have such large architecture he commented The production unit also liked the church s history as the first basilica in the U S Luminiscence offers select dates with recorded music for a reduced price but attend the live music version if you can Credit LUMINISCENCE Banijay Live Typically Sarfati s organization spends about six months researching the church and writing the activity s narrative Then our artists adapt the visuals to every single detail of the architecture he commented Twenty artists create the design using video projectors speakers and a sound system allowing effects to follow the visuals Basilica pastor Fr Daniel Griffith saw Luminiscence as an opportunity Beyond celebrating years as a basilica the building will also undergo a full interior restoration beginning in So it s really an opportunity to invite people in to experience beauty Griffith noted I ve constantly felt enamored of St Mary s intricate grandeur and its echoing acoustics Luminiscence capitalized on both with visuals that at times felt hallucinatory Related Psychedelic forests disco balls greet visitors to Moss House an immersive pop-up space in downtown Minneapolis At one point the entire basilica takes on the colors of stained glass glowing in bright oranges blues and yellows Credit LUMINISCENCE Banijay Live Through voice actors the audience learns about John Ireland the influential St Paul archbishop who orchestrated the building of both the Cathedral of Saint Paul and the Basilica of Saint Mary We also hear from French architect Emmanuel Louis Masqueray and from the character of the basilica itself There were lovely moments like the sun traveling the ceiling to mark the passage of time or the side chapels each lit up Sometimes I wasn t sure exactly what I was supposed to be seeing Is that paint dripping from the walls A giant computer grid Other times the walls seemed to ripple with movement At one point the entire basilica takes on the colors of stained glass glowing in bright oranges blues and yellows Luminiscence offers select dates with recorded music for a reduced price but attend the live music version if you can Local musicians do a terrific job performing a count of recognizable music like Bach s Jesu Contentment of Man s Desiring and Hildegard of Bingen s Sequence for the Holy Spirit Luminiscence runs through December with tickets ranging from for to Visit the website for tickets and more information The post Colorful immersive Luminiscence makes its North American debut at Minneapolis Basilica of St Mary appeared first on MinnPost