The Chaos Engine star suspended over the lake at night, twelve pixel tape spokes in blue and magenta doubled in the water below

Star Installation

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Star x Chaos Engine

ENTTEC and Chaos Engine created a large LED star installation in Odense, Denmark. The project used ENTTEC's LED mapping software, Storm DMX gateways, DIN Pixie converters, and 180 meters of pixel tape. Initially designed as a Christmas tree, the concept evolved into a star displayed on a silo in 2017 and relaunched on a lake in Fruens Bøge in 2018. The installation demonstrated robust and reliable lighting control, highlighting ENTTEC's expertise in delivering durable, high-performance lighting solutions.

Light, Sculpture and Movement are keywords for Chaos Engine, and if an installation might be static in structure, the process is always dynamic. Playful thought experiments distilled into concrete visual outputs is descriptive of Chaos Engine. Back in 2017, Chaos Engine were commissioned to create a Christmas tree which was to stand on a silo in the Odense Harbour in Denmark. However, after giving it some thought, they realised that a star would be a much better alternative, due to the already countless amounts of Christmas trees throughout Denmark.

Thankfully their client agreed, and a star was born! The star was constructed from 200m of steel wire. and 12 aluminium tubes running outwards from a stainless-steel core. LED RGB tape was attached to the tubes, which were controlled by a Storm Ethernet to DMX gateway. The powerful Storm can handle large amounts of DMX over Gigabit Ethernet with ease, making it an ideal controller for projects such as this. In the lead up to Christmas in 2018, the star was re-launched on a lake in Fruens Bøge, Denmark, lighting up a beautiful park. Who knows where it might end up next year?

Close on the sculpture, twelve lit spokes crossing a tangle of steel wire at the core, blue running out to pink at the tips

Solution

Controls

Powered by ENTTEC Storm10, ENTTEC DIN PIXIE

Lights

Lit up by 180 metres of pixel tape (30 pixels per metre, with WS2811 chips)

Diagram of the chain, mapping software on a laptop sending Art-Net to a Storm gateway, then to a DIN Pixie driving 5,900 pixels on the star

Due to the harsh climate in the north, we are very dependent on the equipment we use being extremely solid. Our art installations often have to run around the clock for months and it is therefore important that we work with reliable hardware and software. So, our choices fall on the pioneers of computer-controlled light, ENTTEC. Your products are extremely stable and easy to use. We have never experienced any problem.

Magnus FuhrCEO, Chaos Engine
  • Chaos Engine logo

Result

  • The star during the build inside a red lit depot, spokes glowing between the roof columns with a car and a coach parked either side
  • The star seen smaller against the black water, violet and blue spokes with a broad rippled reflection beneath it
  • From the far side of the lake, the sculpture reduced to a single white point with a long reflection down the water and trees on the skyline
  • Only the water, the sculpture off frame, its warm yellow light broken into thousands of ripples
  • The whole star running deep red, the steel wire core picked out white at the centre and red light spilling across the lake
  • Tighter still on the core, the spokes cropped at the frame edge so the wire sphere and the pixel dots along each tube read clearly

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