AV Stumpfl supplies the world's tallest screen to the Oberhausen Gasometer

The Planet Ozean installation highlights the large-scale immersive work Die Welle, centered on a Flex Contrast PRO projection screen BY Stumpfl that rises 40 meters towards the sky from the central gallery.

BY Stumpfl has supplied the world's tallest screen to Oberhausen gasometer, an old gasholder converted into an exhibition space in the Ruhr (Germany). It has a projection surface of 40 meters high and has been made with the new range Flex Contrast PRO.

The installation is part of Planet Ocean (Planet Ocean), a new exhibition focused on the beauty of the world's seas that opened at the Gasómetro last March. Highlights large-scale immersive work The wave (The Wave), centered on a custom AV Stumpfl Flex Contrast PRO projection screen that rises 40 meters towards the sky from the central gallery.

Designed and implemented by Ars Electronica Solutions, Die Welle allows visitors to experience a photorealistic ocean world with gigantic waves, life size whales and jellyfish, as well as huge schools of oceanic fish.

“The Wave sculpture that we have developed here, in collaboration with Ars Electronica Solutions and the composer Rupert Huber from Tosca, allows a immersive experience completely new that would only be possible here in the Gasómetro”, commented Nils Sparwasser, curator of Die Bien.

The CG content for Die Welle was created from scratch by Ars Electronica, which began by simulating a virtual ocean basin with a volume of more than six million cubic meters of water. Using seven laser projectors Epson of 30.000 lumens, the final product is projected onto a large interlaced screen surface.

“The initial investigation, as well as the initial technical planning and concept of The Wave, were made by our company”, confirm Patrick Müller, head of technical operations at Ars Electronica Solutions. Müller and his team also came up with the idea of dividing the screen into an L-shape of 40×20 meters in five sections, each sized appropriately for the projected video content.

Sigma System Audio-Visual (Sigma AV) was responsible for the integration of the audiovisual equipment, monitoring projector positions and housings, the wiring, sound and installation according to Ars Electronica Solutions specifications, while Geo – The Air Workers planned and built 'The Wave’ in himself, handling trussing, static calculations and installation and positioning of both screen surfaces.

All project partners also benefited from AV Stumpfl's expertise, whose Austrian team was available to provide assistance and support from the beginning of the installation to its completion.

“Flex Contrast PRO is the perfect material to show off stunning images in the best way.”. The projection screen manages to reproduce all the power of the projectors. “The improved color accuracy speaks for itself”, comments Jan Walter, Global Sales Director of AV Stumpfl Displays.

Jeanette Schmitz, CEO of Gasometer Oberhausen and curator of Planet Ozean, explains why the Gasometer is the ideal place for the visual splendor of Die Welle. “The Gasometer Oberhausen is known as the 'cathedral of industrial culture'. The hundred-meter-high airspace offers a unique space experience and plenty of room for extraordinary installations, which are the visual highlight of each exhibition. The Wave concept captivated us, since it plays with this gigantic space and enchants the visitors of the exhibition. The Wave is also an important pillar of our fundamental concept, as our new exhibition opens as a global model with various communicative approaches that provide an incomparable vision of the ocean world”.

Planet Ocean, in addition to housing the tallest screen in the world, It is the most successful exhibition of the Oberhausen Gasometer to date, Schmitz adds.. “In the first four weeks we received more than 150.000 visitors at the exhibition. This makes Planet Ozean the most successful exhibition in terms of visitor numbers in the 30 years of history of the Gasómetro as an exhibition hall”.