Projection Mapping Studies – Breathless
Talk 2 Me, the powerful song by Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective, serves as the inspiration for this projection mapping study. The artist explores the synthesis of sound and form by animating a static high-relief sculpture through light-based interventions. Projection becomes a dynamic layer that transforms the sculpture, activating its surface with a choreographed play of color, line, and rhythm.
The visual language is directly informed by the sonic landscape of Breathless. Sound inputs influence the parametric behaviors of scale and movement, allowing the sculpture to pulse and shift in response to musical dynamics. Rather than a literal translation of music into light, the piece operates as a visual improvisation—echoing jazz’s ethos of responsive, spontaneous creation.
The final composition was shaped through a process of video editing, where sequences were layered to enhance temporal flow and amplify the emotional resonance of the music. This work exists at the intersection of digital performance and sculptural form, offering a spatialized meditation on breath, resistance, and expression through the lens of light and sound.
In this projection mapping study, inspired by Terence Blanchard’s Tom & Jerry, a fully parametric approach to visual composition is explored. The artist treats light as a drawing tool, using it to trace the contours of a static high-relief sculpture in a manner reminiscent of charcoal sketching. Every element of motion, light, and line is generated directly from the music itself.
Unlike traditional projection mapping compositions that rely on editing and sequencing, this piece unfolds in real time. There is no video editing or post-production; the sculpture is animated entirely through live sound input. Light becomes an expressive medium, responding dynamically to the pulse, texture, and energy of the music.
The work highlights the potential of parametric systems in contemporary art practice. By allowing the music to drive all visual behaviors, the artist constructs an immersive experience where the boundary between sound and image dissolves, and the sculpture appears to breathe with the score.
Projection Mapping Studies. Talk 2 Me, Tom N Jerry, Terence Blanchard and E- Collective , Dallas, TX, 2017.