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photo provided by Comet Wanderer Studios
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photo provided by Comet Wanderer Studios
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photo provided by Comet Wanderer Studios
On the usually plain walls of Court Avenue in Canton, the “Wonder Windows” light projection installation made it look like within windows, whimsical scenes were playing out, like a kid jumping, a unicorn walking, a fish swimming and optical illusions spinning.
“I wanted to … show how cool projection mapping can be, with making a flat surface that otherwise has nothing to it come to life,” says Nick Nonno, a co-owner of the Massillon-based Comet Wanderer Studios who created “Wonder Windows” for Wonder: Canton Light Festival in April 2022. “You’re looking deep into this window that doesn’t exist.”
“What I really like about working with projections is you can’t miss it. It’s bright. It’s in your face,” says Megan Wanderer, a co-owner of the studio that opened in 2017 and specializes in projection mapping to create immersive installations.
During Wonder, Comet Wanderer Studios used seven projectors ranging between 5,000 and 15,000 lumens each to create multiple engaging installations, including one projected on the popular “Mother of Invention” mural by Canton artist Thomas Morgan, which features two painted panels of industrial scenes surrounded by gears. Wanderer digitally traced over an existing image of the mural before putting it into a projection mapping program, animating it to make elements appear to be moving, including the water, smoke and many gears.
“It looked like there were real gears, three-dimensionally on there,” Wanderer says. “I hand drew every single one and made them move.”
photo provided by Comet Wanderer Studios
“We’re hearing people be like, I’ve lived here my entire life, and this has never looked so cool,” Nonno says.
The pair has also done projection mapping of a holiday light show on a Canton building for Light Up Downtown in 2021 and collaborations with other artists like adding engaging visual elements to the walls behind live music and theater performances.
At Illumination: Canton Light Festival in 2021, Nonno’s “Forest Fire” projected different scenes, including those of a forest and a fire, onto and around an abstract sculpture of a tree on a wall. The projections were set to a woodwind quintet piece Nonno wrote to comment on the destruction of nature.
On a wall at the Cultural Center for the Arts, a moving mosaic, neon outlined shapes, an interstellar scene and bubbles rising through water all appeared during an installation Wanderer created. She says she likes crafting these interactive installations because she has seen families and people of all ages enjoy them.
“Adults look at it, and they’re entertained. They think this is something cool to look at, all the way down to the smallest of kiddos,” she says. “It’s a fun combination of interacting with the art and interacting with each other.”
