Museum DIORAMA's curved glass entrance after dark, blue and violet light spilling through the windows as visitors gather outside

“Sparkle” @ Museum DIORAMA

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A subtle metamorphosis of light: silence in motion

Delicately woven lines of light, seemingly weightless and suspended from the ceiling like shimmering icicles, draw abstract inspiration from nature’s imagery.

Featuring subtle transitions between cool blues and warm glows, studio.tschümperlin's "Sparkle" installation explores fascinating contrasts: the duality of stillness and motion, the fleeting beauty of the moment, and the profound power of light.

Museum DIORAMA in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, is a fascinating and curious little place centred around two wildly different exhibits.

One is a spectacular 80sqm Biblical diorama featuring 450 figures depicting Bethlehem as it was some 2000 years ago. The other is the astonishing assemblage of 1200 crystalline rocks gathered by local mineral collector Dr. Adelrich Eberle.

With Bethlehem being famous for its Christmas star, and gemstones known for their ethereal sparkle, it's not surprising that light plays such an important role in this museum.

It's fitting then that award-winning Zurich-based artist and lighting designer Fritz Tschümperlin (of the eponymous studio.tschümperlin) was commissioned by the museum to create a new installation entitled "Sparkle" to enhance the space.

Solution

Controls

Powered by ELM (ENTTEC LED mapping software), S-Play Lite, Pixelator Mini and PLink injectors

Lights

Lit up with RGB LED pixels

Fritz chose to use the ENTTEC Pixelator system to bring his work to life.

Designed and mapped using ELM (ENTTEC LED Mapper) software, the show was then transferred on to an S-PLAY LITE show recorder. The S-PLAY is configured to be triggered by the daily routine of the museum, though museum staff can also activate sequences on demand using a manual button. The S-PLAY LITE feeds the resultant DMX scenes and playlists into three PIXELATOR MINI units.

These smart devices then convert the DMX received into PLink protocol, distributing it at lightning-fast speeds to a series of 22 PLink Injectors which convert the data into SPI LED pixel protocol that can be understood by the multitude of pixel strip fixtures.

These 22 dangling LED light ropes span a combined length of 33 metres and contain 1650 LED pixels across 16 DMX universes.

We spoke with Fritz about his project ...

A PIXELATOR MINI, an S-PLAY LITE and a PLink Injector on site before installation

ENTTEC: What made you choose a Pixelator system in this case?

Fritz: "After Museum DIORAMA approved the concept, I looked for an easy way to connect multiple pixel-LED strips with a dead end, in this case, light ropes, to a controller without worrying about voltage drop or loss of the data signal.

I thought the PLink injectors would be a good solution to achieve this. After a short email exchange with Menzi Ebz, our local dealer of ENTTEC products, they confirmed that this was indeed the way to go. So, I got all the components from them. They have great service, by the way!"

ENTTEC: How did you find the installation process?

Fritz: "I 3D-printed a mounting system for the light ropes in a canopy shape so that the PLinks fit inside and everything remains hidden. The box with the Pixelator Mini and the power sources are mounted in three different locations on the wall. The onsite electrician even provided network links, so all I had to do was plug in the network and power cables for each box.

The setup process was very easy, almost entirely plug-and-play. Before the devices arrived, I watched a bunch of online ENTTEC tutorials, so I already had a good idea of how to set things up. Configuring the Art-Net and pixel patching was super simple.

The installation itself was just as easy. Plugging in the RJ45 patch cables, connecting the LEDs, and attaching the 5V power source, that’s it!"

Two black ENTTEC controllers on a bench with their orange labelled output ports facing out, PLink injector cartons stacked behind
A desktop 3D printer part way through printing one of the black cylindrical canopies
A cardboard box packed with finished black canopies stood end on, each drilled with a centre hole and two fixings
A PLink injector lying on a white worktop with its cables run out, a brass ruler and a length of black conduit alongside
Close up of a PLink injector clipped to the top of a canopy, a network cable plugged into its socket
A canopy stood upright on the bench with its injector wired at the base, an orange screwdriver resting beside it
A lit light rope curving out of an open canopy on the workshop bench, the tube glowing pink and white
Two canopies side by side on the bench with a white lit rope threaded between them, workshop shelving and plants behind
A black ENTTEC show controller wired up against a white wall, network and power leads coiled around it

Result

  • Unlit light ropes hanging in the gallery during the install, a step ladder standing under the ceiling mounts
  • The same gallery from the other end, a single rope dropped from a black ceiling canopy ready to be dressed
  • A row of ropes lit white along the corridor wall, packing boxes and a cable reel still on the floor
  • Pink and violet ropes reflected in a dark screen, with a laptop open on an ENTTEC configuration page below
  • The museum's glass frontage glowing blue at night, snow banked outside and the gold DIORAMA sign above

The full story

“Sparkle” installation @ Museum DIORAMA

The full story of Sparkle at Museum DIORAMA in Einsiedeln, from studio.tschümperlin’s brief to the 1,650 pixels behind the glass.

StoryDecember 20243 min read

Read the story
The concept drawing for Sparkle, the canopy of light ropes sketched hanging over the museum floor
Fritz Tschümperlin, lighting engineer at studio.tschümperlin

With the ELM software and the 3D mapping, I was able to divide the layout into five different layers, adding more depth to the mapping, which looks amazing in the room. I’ll definitely be using ENTTEC products again!

Fritz TschümperlinLighting engineer @ studio.tschümperlin

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