We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brian Skalak (Second Sight Visuals) a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Brian, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
A number of years ago I had the opportunity to put together a live show in collaboration with a group called Infinite Strangers to really build out a unique, interactive aesthetic unlike a lot of the more traditional concerts I’d been attending. It was sort of the perfect storm, we had a good group of likeminded individuals who wanted to have a hand in making something meaningful, that couldn’t really be reapeted, like you had to be there in the moment, we also had a cool venue in the Minnea[polis Television Network and planned on preforming in the round during an Art-Tech event that would also have a multi-camera recording to it.
For this show I wanted a few different elements: A ‘lumia’ light art component and a second, more traditional projection layered on top. This created a unique blend of black and white visuals that were augmented with reflected, colorful and abstract light shapes. To up the ante, I added in a live Kinect camera and ended up surprised when a friend of the band was basically an ameatuer modern dancer who really took the time to shine and it just melded so well.
Set #1 Recap:
Set #2 Recap:
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
It’s been about 10 years since I got my first projector – an ‘about to be discarded from work’ projector that is… and so began my fascination with light and its properties. This is where Second Sight Visuals was born.
Fueled by early inspiration from EDM projection mapping shows and light art sculptures and interactives, I set of to find ways to get the ideas from inside my monkey mind out into the physical (or sometimes digital) world.
This has led to a number of live visual performances, interactive installations, and infinite experiments with the medium of light in between.
Today, I straddle a few worlds – the passion projects of my own, and helping clients bring their dreams into reality. So in this sense, I know enough to be dangerous, and more importantly, enough to get creative tech projects over the finish line. Whether that is creating and mapping large buildings for city festivals, to bringing the right team together for professional sport LED wall shoots. My ideal partner knows they want to do something ‘cool’ but usually aren’t sure where to start. That’s where I can help with creative ideation, building assets, and getting the team and gear aligned to do the job.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
For sure, and it’s quite helpful because I’m at that pivot point right now!
Six years ago, I came on board at an amazing venue – REM5 Virtual Reality Laboratory – in an effort to wear a few hats, help continue to build an artist/tech community, run events, and build the brand. Six months later, a little thing called the pandemic happened and threw that off course. While still getting to learn a lot about emerging XR technologies, it came to the point where I wanted to return to my core in creating IRL visual and interactive experiences. Through a few opportunities that aligned, I left that role and started to deepen my connection with my network, where I’d been moonlighting as my own business in an effort to make my personal dream a reality.
Right now, I’m taking more time to focus on getting involved in some unique projects that will continue to build a well-rounded skill set so that I can provide more and more value to my clients and also to the production teams on the gear and tech.
This will definitely be an interesting year for me as I move full-time into the Creative Production space as a ‘Memory Designer’ (my new role I coined for myself).
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect is hands down seeing people react and interact with your work – not on social media, but in the real world. Getting that feedback and, hopefully, a positive response to an experience makes it all worthwhile.
Connected to this is seeing an idea on a sticky note (which I’m notorious for using) come to fruition. Going from concept to proof that it has legs is really exciting, whether that takes 10 minutes or years. Unfortunately, there are more ideas than there are lifetimes, so making decisions on which to explore becomes the tough part.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.secondsightvisuals.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondsightvisuals
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secondsightvisuals
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianskalak/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@secondsightvisuals
