The Experiential: Hansel And Gretel At The Park Avenue Armory

It's been my premise that experiential production is happening not only in the brand sphere, but also in immersive installations in the worlds of art and architecture.

Artist Ai Wei Wei, and architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have continued a rich collaboration in creating Hansel and Gretel at the Park Avenue Armory. Herzog and de Meuron are the architects who have overseen the renovation of the Armory. The trio have combined their talents on other notable occasions, including in the design of Beijing's eponymous Birds Nest stadium, and the Serpentine Gallery in London.

Now they have created an immersive work that provokes thought, wonder, and perhaps unease. The reality within the Armory's vast Drill Hall and Head House has been augmented with immersive projection, stealthy surveillance systems, and interactive, autonomous drones.

The journey begins from a door on Lexington Avenue, quickly plunging you into a dark journey through a long hall that serves to close your mental iris through claustrophobia... The payoff comes upon entering the vast Drill Hall, where projected animations on the floor react to your presence... At first disarmingly playful, the growing awareness that your visage and motion are being caught, collected, and reacted to gradually inspires menace. The message was not lost. The same immersive and reactive technologies that facilitate so much of our communication and play are also fully capable of being bent to much more nefarious use.

Certainly Ai Wei Wei is no stranger to the struggles against a surveillance state. And yet he has also been an active participant in using the same mediums for his message. When I was video designer for the TED conference, one of our most memorable moments was using web video technology and encrypted channels to beam Ai Wei Wei direct to the amazed participants in Long Beach from within China, even as he was hiding from the government.

As with any experiential installation, describing or even showing pictures can't do it justice. Hansel and Gretel is an incredibly compelling and thought provoking installation. Find out more here.

 Bob Bonniol is a director and production designer known for his implementation of extensive media and interactive features in his productions. Currently he is the creative director for the massive renovation of The Core at General Motors' World Headquarters in Detroit. The installation features the largest permanent interactively driven LED screen array on earth. In 2016, he was production designer for the Star Wars Celebration segment of ABC’s Disneyland 60th Anniversary Special, working closely with Lucasfilm, Disney Music Group, and director Amy Tinkham.   

Other clients have included Marvel Studios, The Walt Disney Company, Live Nation, AEG, Feld Entertainment, Chrysler Corporation, Activision/Blizzard, America's Got Talent, X-FactorAmerican Idol, Blue Man Group, Microsoft, Nokia as well as countless recording artists, Broadway producers, opera companies, theme parks, cruise lines, dance companies, and architects.