Based on the concept of ‘total image’, a new breed of media-focused immersive exhibition was developed which was ground-breaking for its time. It used projected images which were 13 metres high in some places, with the floor and ceiling radiused in different planes and 30 hidden loudspeakers create a three-dimensional soundfield. The experience has since been updated, but 20 years ago, video projectors were expensive, cumbersome and not ubiquitous in museum environments, so the original installation was designed around the humble 35mm slide projector. It could only succeed if the space had no natural light and this is how it was designed in collaboration with architects Studio Daniel Libeskind. 

The result was ‘The Big Picture’, in which visitors were fully surrounded by 360-degree images and sound. This was the vision of Steve Simons, Event’s creative director, who tasked Dan with designing the experience and working hand-in-hand with Alan Wilkinson at AV hardware integrator Electrosonic, to make it work.

This led on to Dan providing sound design and music composition for one of the three audio-visual shows, called Weapons & War, working with Graham English and Peter Key. Dan and Peter worked together on the on-site sound mix, which plays on the enormous multi-channel surround sound system.