Palais des Papes in Avignon, France transformed intp a vibrant collage of colours, shapes, and textures as a result of 12 Robe ESPRITE moving lights – chosen by Lighting Designer, Fabien Chamakoff for Helios Festival 2020.
The 10-minute Palais des Papes light show took place over the course of five weeks from 25 July to 30 August. With no soundtrack, Chamakoff illuminated the 60m wide by 40m high section of the building, in light of the work of renowned French architects, Pierre Peysson and Jean de Louvres, as well as the ornamentation of Simone Martini and Matteo Giovanetti, students from the School of Siena in Italy.
Chamakoff turned to Chateaurenard-based lighting rental company Fox, who worked closely with the festival’s technical producers, ARTCOM Diffusion, to supply equipment – including Robe ESPRITE profile fixtures. A new adopter of Robe ESPRITES, a demo was set up at Fox’s warehouse by Robe France’s Terry Di Isernia.
Chamakoff commended the ESPRITES 5.5° to 50° zoom, framing shutters, sharpness and all the available effects. Fox’s MD Eric Lambertin brought in Di Isernia as Lighting Programmer and Operator for the project.
Twelve Robe ESPRITES – the only light sources for the Palais des Papes – were rigged on two levels to a special tower positioned 40m from the building and clad in weatherised material to protect the lights. After the initial programming sessions on site, Chamakoff was really pleased with the results and declared that the ESPRITE was the “most precise” moving light that he had worked with to date.
Among the big looks was Di Isernia’s firing of 12 fixtures at 100% zoom on the side of the Palais des Papes. Chamakoff’s lighting creations – via his company Lumiere Vivante – are often set in urban environments with high levels of ambient light.