Featured Project: Leftchannel Hired to Create Digital Display for Iconic Dallas Hotel
Alberto Scirocco, Leftchannel's founder, opened his business 2003 with the intent of exploring "motion design."
Columbus, Ohio-based digital arts studio Leftchannel was commissioned by the owners of downtown Dallas’s landmark Sheraton Dallas Hotel to create an experiential art piece to complement the renovation the hotel had undergone, and to celebrate the surrounding arts and business district as a vital part of the city.
The idea from The Chartres Lodging Group LLC, which oversaw the renovation, was to create something that would showcase the hotel and the surrounding area’s diverse, world-class art scene.
Under the direction of Leftchannel content design studio founder and principal/creative director Alberto Scirocco, a digital art piece spanning two LED columns was installed. Leftchannel describes the concept and execution this way: “In a city powered by the imaginations of artists in every genre ranging from traditional to commercial, contemporary, street and graffiti art, Leftchannel designed a system of digitally animated modules that borrow from a portion of the community’s overall redevelopment strategy by infusing local art and cultural influences into the Sheraton Dallas Hotel’s aesthetic.”
The biggest challenge, the company says, was the deadline. Leftchannel had just three weeks, from conception to installation, to complete the project. In partnership with New York-based LED screen manufacturer Sansi North America (SNA) and Prism Electric‘s technology division, the project was completed on time.
The two 8’10”-tall columns have multiple viewpoints from every angle to engage both passers-by on the street and those inside the hotel’s lobby and bar. The imagery is constantly changing to reflect various aspects of the city’s dynamic arts scene.
“There is a real physical component to the installation,” Scirocco says. “There’s a lot of really interesting things that can be done in animation on a medium of this nature.”
Adds Maki Nakamura Bara, president and co-founder of Chartres Lodging Group: “The digital columns are a fantastic way to showcase the hotel’s overall design theme of celebrating art since we are at the intersection of the Arts District and Deep Ellum. Adding movement, perspective and technology just takes the theme to another level.”
