BIG TENT

BIG TENT is a uniquely portable and immersive space designed for multi-media performance art using the latest in audio and visual technologies. Development began in 2014 by Robin Cox and Benjamin Smith with the purpose of inspiring creative explorations of artists across many mediums of expression. Now with realization of numerous public events, directly engaging with over 6000 community members, success may be claimed in its flexibility to a multitude of immersive audio/video needs, while in a wide variety of indoor and outdoor settings.

Like the circus tents of the previous century, Big Tent may be taken to a parking lot or a lawn or a high school gym and transform that space into a cutting-edge multi-media art and performance venue, alleviating constraints of conventional concert halls (acoustics for orchestras, fixed seating, minimal lighting, and little consideration of digital video or inter-media performance).

More specifically, Big Tent is a forty foot diameter octagon comprised of twelve-foot high video projection walls, an array of audio speakers, and a central computer core to facilitate interaction between acoustic and digital performance components. Big Tent co-creators Cox and Smith foresee a continuing development process for this hardware /software, and seek content contributions from as wide a cross-section of creative talents as possible.

Today, digital technologies offer immense opportunities to develop new musical instruments, and the means to re-contextualize use of traditional instruments in performance. Big Tent is a parallel innovation, rethinking the performance space itself. One just might find it appearing almost anywhere.