In one of their first world premiere commissions, Bric Arts Media brought together renowned visual artist and photographer Carrie Mae Weems and celebrated pianist Geri Allen to present a new multimedia work called “Slow Fade to Black” as its annual Celebrate Brooklyn concert series in Prospect Park. An all-star team of performers including Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding, Grammy winner Terri Lyne Carrington, Lizz Wright, Patrice Rushen, and tap dancer Maurice Chestnut joined Allen onstage, and knowing that the visuals need to have just as much impact, Carrie Mae Weems called Workhorse. We designed a three screen mosaic above the stage and created an 8 camera live-feed that seamlessly blended our own graphics and live footage with Weems’ striking films and visuals. Carrie used several videos and photographs from her previous work, which has been presented at institutions like MOMA, the Guggenheim, Whitney, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as creating numerous new pieces for this performance. Working closely with her, our designers were able to layout and coordinate her images with the live performance and to cut between 8 live cameras that were positioned with the band and composited with our own photography-inspired graphics. The camera shots gave the audience an intimate view of the skills of the performers, from the snaps and taps of Maurice Chestnut’s tap shoes, to the nimble fingers of Geri Allen on the piano keys, to the rapid plucks of Esperanza Spalding on the bass.

Here is a great preview article for the piece in the New York Times.