SNA Displays and Sensory Interactive [1] have helped the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) unveil a new installation by internationally recognized artist JR celebrating the city’s extraordinary and diverse people on a state-of-the-art, 107-foot-long digital canvas.
To create the piece, The Chronicles of San Francisco, JR set up a mobile studio in 22 locations around the city, where he filmed, photographed, and interviewed more than 1,200 people from across San Francisco’s multifaceted communities. In the completed work, a digital mural scrolls across the enormous LED display, bringing together the faces and untold stories of everyday people.
The digital display, which contains a total of nearly 26 million pixels, is among the highest-resolution LED displays in the U.S. and is comparable in size to the largest exterior digital displays in Las Vegas and New York’s Times Square.
Sensory Interactive provided design, technical specification, procurement, and project management services for the display, and it was manufactured and installed by SNA Displays. Both firms view this installation as a milestone for digital art in the museum environment, and as a type of project they expect to see more of in the future.
Sensory Interactive Managing Director Christopher Graefe told us “The affordability, reliability, and flexibility of large-scale LED surfaces have reached the point where LED is a realistic alternative to projection systems for video art in many museums. This is giving museums the ability to bring video art out of the traditional darkened room and into wide-open spaces like the Roberts Family Gallery at SFMOMA,” Graefe continued. “We think we’re seeing the beginning of a trend toward more of these types of high-profile installations.”
Because of the complexity of executing an installation with such demanding technical requirements and a large, international team, Sensory Interactive got involved in the process early. The company’s architects, motion-graphic designers, and 3D artists worked with the JR team to ensure that every aspect of the display supported the goals for the installation. A key part of this effort was finding the right display configuration, size, and placement to create the most inviting and immersive experience for viewers. As part of this effort, Sensory Interactive, SNA Displays, and the JR team worked together to explore a variety of design options, particularly for joining the two planes of the display at their intersection.
Ultimately the team settled on a curved connection and a slightly concave angle for the two planes. This approach draws visitors into the space and maximizes their sense of immersion as they are surrounded by the massive, slowly moving digital image.
Presented in SFMOMA’s soaring Roberts Family Gallery, The Chronicles of San Francisco runs for approximately one year. The exhibition is free and accessible to the public.