threshold3 (2004/2005)

‘Threshold Artspace’ at Perth Concert Hall.

Perth Concert Hall is a major new multi-million pound concert venue in the city of Perth in Scotland. In looking at this building we decided to explore ways in which audiences see, enter into and engage with the public areas of the building – the huge public foyer in particular. In addition, we were keen to explore how the building itself might also respond to the intervention of audiences within its architectural spaces.

We were commissioned early in 2004 to begin developing ideas for a public art project within the new Perth Concert Hall. We subsequently developed the concept of the Threshold Artspace and applied for funding. We raised £250,000 from the Scottish Arts Council, along with further money from Scottish Enterprise Tayside, Perth and Kinross Council and Perth and Kinross Leisure, toward a budget of £500,000 for the entire project. We were then employed as consultants (Alex Hamilton as Project Manager and Richard Ashrowan as Lead Artist) to make the project happen. Our involvement in this project ended in Autumn 2005, one month after the opening of the Threshold Artspace at the new concert hall.

Threshold has added a layer of interactive technology to the foyer and other areas of Perth Concert Hall, making it a ‘smart building’ on a par with only a handful of other venues in Europe. The heart of the project is the creation of the Threshold Artspace, a new kind of multi-channel digital canvas for displaying digital artworks. This ‘canvas’ initially includes the Threshold Wave, a bank of over 20 screens; the Threshold Stage, a large interactive wall projection area and the Threshold Welcome, the Perth Concert Hall entry box.

An intelligent control system connects all these together. This control system chooses different types of audio-visual content, i.e. original artworks from the Threshold Artspace Collection based on the time of day or the type of events happening in the concert hall at the time. In addition, the building is wired with a system of sensors. Using these, it is possible for visual imagery to morph and change depending on the number of people in the building, the ambient noise level in the foyer or even the colours of the clothes people are wearing. Imagery can also travel from one place in the building to another in real-time.

The Threshold Artspace is driven by a powerful open source software application (Open Threshold) that manages the display and movement of video and stills across the entire 32 screens and 12 speakers that make up the Threshold system. In developing the applications that would run the Threshold Artspace, a commitment to open source software was fundamental to our creative vision, especially given the publicly funded nature of the project. Based on the original concept and specification by hamilton & ashrowan, Open Threshold was subsequently authored by glasgow based company, 55 Degrees, who were commissioned specifically to develop this software for an open source release.

The open source application was originally scheduled for release in September 2005 by 55 Degrees. However, as of early 2007, the software has still not been released into the public domain. We invite anyone interested in why this may be to contact Russell Henderson at 55 Degrees.

A short general briefing document on the threshold project (doc 580K) is available for further information. Please also see:

What was the next threshold project? We got quite interested in airports...