Washington Project for the Arts & Forest City Present LASER CAT at The Yards with support from The JBG Companies
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Samantha May, Program Director, 202.234.7103 x1 or smay@wpadc.org
January 14, 2014 (Washington, DC) - Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) and Forest City present an event unlike anything seen in Washington! The Yards welcomes Laser Cat, a 20-foot tall inflatable cat head that projects lasers and art from its eyes.
Friday evening will feature live DJ's fueling the Laser Cat party, led by Thievery Corporation's Eric Hilton. Saturday evening's party will project images produced by local artists, accompanied by beats from Laser Cat. On Saturday afternoon, Laser Cat will be open from 12 - 2pm for families to experience a mellower side of the inflatable feline. A heated tent with a beer garden and other program components will be adjacent to the historic industrial building in which Laser Cat will be staged.
ABOUT LASER CAT & HUNGRY CASTLE
Commissioned by ADC and conceived by Hungry Castle, this interactive installation debuted at the ADC Festival of Art + Craft in Advertising and Design held in Miami Beach. As its name suggests, Laser Cat is a giant cat with lasers for eyes that uses high-powered projectors to beam people's personal art onto public buildings. Laser Cat curates the art submitted, but it's the public that fires it into public space. The viewer controls the content by pressing a giant button to change the art, lasers, and music. So far, Laser Cat has received over 15,000 personal art submissions.
Based in Barcelona, Hungry Castle is the creative studio featuring Dave Glass and Killian Cooper that specialize in creating public art and fashion, which they call Cool Shit. Working collectively since 2011 their goal has always been to make big, playful things of cultural impact and use design thinking in a way that truly engages people. Influenced by Shepard Fairey's prolific use of public space with the "Obey Giant" campaign, the artists combine unique, 3-dimensional pieces with large-scale production a la Jeff Koons, but with an added interactive ingredient to create a fully immersive experience between audience and art.
ABOUT THE YARDS
The Yards is a major, waterfront urban mixed-use development of Forest City Washington, a subsidiary of the Cleveland-based real estate company Forest City Enterprises, Inc. Forest City's expertise in maximizing underutilized urban sites, adaptive reuse of historic structures, keen eye for sharp architecture, and top quality retail leasing and property management have all come together at The Yards. The Yards gets its rich history-and name-from the neighboring Washington Navy Yard. In the early 19th century, the area now known as The Yards was home to a bustling wharf, sugar refinery and brewery. Today, the Yards is the centerpiece of the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood and includes a growing array of vibrant restaurants, personal services, and specialty retailers. Additional info about The Yards can be found online at TheYardsDC.com.
Forest City is a nationally-focused real estate development/management firm with residential, office, retail and urban mixed-use projects located in 26 states and the District of Columbia. More info about Forest City can be found online at ForestCity.net.
ABOUT WPA
Washington Project for the Arts is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to serve as a catalyst for contemporary art. WPA supports artists at all stages of their careers and promotes contemporary art by presenting exhibitions, issues, and ideas that stimulate public dialogue on art and culture. WPA is currently located at the Capitol Skyline Hotel, but will move to a permanent exhibition and administrative space at 8th & V Streets NW in the fall of 2015. More information: www.wpadc.org
Major support for WPA comes from its members, Board of Directors, invaluable volunteers, and by generous contributions from numerous individuals and the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Abramson Family Foundation, Asmar, Schor & McKenna PLLC, Susan & Dixon Butler, Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Capitol Skyline Hotel, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Chesapeake Framing Company, Clark Construction, DC Office of Planning, Delucchi Plus, Ditto Residential, Dr. Joan M. Fallon Family Foundation, Forest City Washington, Nadine Gabai-Botero & Luis Botero, Raymond Garcia, Carol Brown Goldberg & Henry Goldberg, Graham Holdings Company, Gucci, Hickok Cole Architects, Giselle & Ben Huberman,The JBG Companies, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Yvette Kraft, La Palina Cigars, Maphook, Meredith Margolis & Gary Goodweather, Mark G. Anderson Consultants, Inc., Marshfield Associates, Mary Snider State Farm Insurance Agency, Sophia McCrocklin & Bill Isaacson, Microsoft, National Endowment for the Arts, NextGen LED, NoMa Business Improvement District, Bill & Alison Paley, William S. Paley Foundation, Peacock Cafe, ripe, Robert Shields Interiors, Robert Shapiro, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, Sigal Construction, Amanda & Earl W. Stafford, Taproot Foundation, Andres Tremols & Michael Reamy, Turner Construction, and Vornado/Charles E. Smith & Gould Property Company.
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January 14, 2015
