Kat Von D has stumbled upon yet another way to use her body as a canvas in this real-time face tracking and projection mapping performance that combines art, tattooing, and make-up artistry. The notoriously tattoo-breaking artist and TV personality stars in what Wildbytes co-founder Julio Obelleiro describes as their “most ambitious project to date.”
The live audiovisual performance took place in Madrid on October 7th as a launch for her new makeup line. Kat Von D Beauty. The creative studio responsible for the digital projection project Superhero used custom software and a high-end tracking system to project dynamic 3D rendered animations over Von D’s neck, torso, and face, adapting to her subtle movements on stage in real time. This blend of digital innovation and physical performance plays out like a ballet in sync with a dark and ominous original composition performed live by a string quartet. Similar to the Ink Mapping demonstration that took place in Portugal earlier this month, the Wildbytes production team stressed that all the images were recorded live without any sort of post-production.
A bouquet of dark roses blossom from her face in a sort of beautiful gothic dream. Black florentine patterns from the gates of Versailles spread across her face like a vine up a wall. The press release describes the show as “A visually striking journey that immerses us in the process of artistic creation: from the essence and materiality of the drawing line to the lush of color and pigment, the power of geometry, the transcendence of a spark, the delicate beauty of butterflies or the timelessness of gold.” In an additional behind the scenes video, Von D talks about the project as a combination of all aspects of her favorite artistic outlets. “I am pretty certain this will be better than sex,” she tells the filmmakers. “The ultimate goal for me now will be to have people come and watch this amazing artful mindful projection, and feel.”
See it in action below:
Full Length / Live Face Projection Mapping with Kat Von D from Wildbytes on Vimeo.
Click here to check out more projects from Wildbytes.
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