One of last year’s Excellence in Live Design Awards winners Stefan Beese recycled a shipping container into a lounge at the 12th annual Voodoo Experience
Following a successful program addition in 2009 involving the integration of contemporary art with other festival components, the 2010 Voodoo Experience was a large-scale exhibition of a series of interactive, site-specific installations scattered throughout City Park in New Orleans. Curated by Excellence in Live Design Awards winner Stefan Beese of RE:BE Design and Voodoo founder and producer Stephan Rehage. The pair collaborated with founding curator Kirsha Kaechela of the Life Is Art Foundation to initiate the program in 2009. The exhibition features a celebrated group of local and international artists and musicians.
One of the main attractions was a shipping container customized for the last two years’ events. Instead of building a grandstand from traditional scaffolding, Beese of used six 40’ long shipping containers to create a large viewing deck and a VIP lounge area with concession stands in the bottom of the structure. Six 40’ long used cargo containers were recycled into a temporary structure that created the viewing deck and VIP lounge itself, as well as future storage space for other festival components.
Two top containers cantilevered 9’ on each side, housing two bars and balconies to have a prime elevated viewing platform for performers such as KISS, Lenny Kravitz, and Silversun Pickups in 2009. Each container was perforated with cut outs spelling “Voodoo” to create different viewpoints and service area openings. The large openings also acted as signage for the event itself. The containers are being reused in same or different layout each year and will provide storage space during the year until the next installation.
In 2010 the container structure was improved by a 10’ ADA lift instead of ramps, leading up to the top deck. Festival visitors enjoyed performances by Ozzy Osborne, Muse, and My Morning Jacket from the elevated deck and cantilevered balconies or reclined on ottomans inside the bottom container lounge, creating a club-like atmosphere.
Despite extensive use of electronics, producers of the Voodoo Experience are conscious of reducing the carbon footprint of the festival as much as possible, so there was a focus on the use/reuse of recycled and sustainable materials. In order to run a more ecologically-minded program, the curators commissioned a large majority of local artists and worked directly with them to develop concepts that were consistent with the theme of sustainability. Check out Beese’s container lounge and other artists’ work in the gallery below.
CREDITS
Project Management & Design: Stefan Beese of RE:BE Design
3D Design: Seyavash Zohoori
Project Execution & Container Construction: Reed Ingram and Bev Inc.
Container Assembly & Build Out: Revitaliztion, LLC
Lighting Vendor: See-Hear Productions Inc.
Lighting Programmer: Patrick Theriot
System Techs: Andy Ragan, Jackie Johnson, Andrew Castile
