Students from Miami University are preparing an installation for BLINK. It's the second time the school has had projection mapping in the art and light festival.
Ben Nicholson is a professor of Emerging Technologies and Business Design. He says the experience teaches students how to take something from concept to reality.
“It was meant to be the beachhead for other universities to get involved so there’s a couple other student projects that are happening in addition to Miami’s,” he says.
Nicholson says students didn't have a lot of time to create their design. “Most of the professional artists in this get all summer — up to six months — and they (the students) have six weeks,” he says. “So part of it is really about persevering and keeping going, and making sure that they feel like that they’re participating at a level that will end up on the screen, which is also a challenge.”
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Nicholson says the experience teaches students in the ETBD department how to work as a team, their expectations, and meet that deadline.
“Those opportunities I feel are very rare at the university level, where it matters to the extent that you’ll have a 10-story building that will have nothing on it if you don’t finish your project,” he says. “In terms of that kind of intensity I think it helps them immensely get ready for the real world.”
BLINK begins Thursday, Oct. 17, with a parade along Mehring Way.
The parade will travel from Paycor Stadium to Great American Ball Park, starting at 8 p.m. It ends in The Banks zone of the festival, which includes two performance stages, projection mapping on the Freedom Center, and the viewing area for the drone show over the Ohio River.
