Epson laser projectors provides good solution for large scale outdoor event

AfrikaBurn is the spectacular result of the creative expression of participants who gather once a year in the Tankwa Karoo (South Africa) to create a temporary city of art, theme camps, costume, music and performance. Each year Afrika Burn hosts about 11,000 participants that want to express their creativity in Tankwa Town.

AfrikaBurn is the spectacular result of the creative expression of participants who gather once a year in the Tankwa Karoo (South Africa) to create a temporary city of art, theme camps, costume, music and performance. Each year AfrikaBurn hosts about 11,000 participants that want to express their creativity in Tankwa Town.

AfrikaBurn is an annual event that took place from 23 April – 29 April this year, with the theme “Working Title” which invites people to engage their surroundings, contributing towards defining Tankwa Town – a temporary city in a participant-driven society.

The icon of AfrikaBurn is the Clan, which is burned at the climax of the wild week in the dust, commanding the attention of the entire community.

The burning of the Clan is a period of intense energy – whether combustive and celebratory, or introspective and meditative – and is designed to draw people together before they go their separate ways again.

This year AfrikaBurn appointed Andrew Parker, a visual artist from Cape Town who goes by the name Image Master Blink, to create a real-time mapping sequence of the Clan. Parker needed a reliable projection solution that could run for five uninterrupted hours a night over the five days of AfrikaBurn.

Having used an Epson projector for a past project and noted its success, Andrew approached Craig Shackleton from SG Productions, an Epson value-add reseller, who recommended the Epson EB-L1500U projector.

The EB-L1500U is ideally suited for use at large events, with features that allowed Parker the freedom to showcase his skills without fuss.  

The Epson EB-L1500U projectors’ specs, brightness, contrast ratio and resolution, and the fact that it can be used in 4K mode to render sharper and more vibrant images, made it the perfect solution for an event of the scale and calibre of AfrikaBurn.

Thanks to the wide-frame portrait mode that the EB-L1500U projector allows, Parker was able to wow AfrikaBurn crowds with a series of breathtaking projected visuals, with less wasted pixels and more brightness. 

The projector offers superior light and heat resistance to offer excellent reliability. It also includes a built in camera to ensure accurate image calibration.

The EB-L1500U projector has a 360-degree installation flexibility allowing it to be placed virtually anywhere without loss of brightness or distortion on images.

The projector has a low current draw, and only draws 1000 watts of power, which really helped considering that AfrikaBurn is held at a remote environment. This kept the logistical costs down.

The projection surface was 16 metres high and seven metres wide. The size and weight of the projector was easy to install and transport around.

“During the event operations the EB-L1500U projector was quiet and didn’t need much cooling which made the projection of the burning man smooth sailing,” said Andrew from AV Projects.