KNOWLEDGE IS POWER chronicles mankind’s quest for knowledge through a live, interactive visual narrative that blends music and stunning images projected onto the facade and lawn of The Detroit Public Library.
Storytelling was almost entirely absent from prominent large-scale architectural projection mapping before New D’s visual spectacle KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. With this installation, New D Media Arts created a visual historical narrative to demonstrate the importance of reading and learning in a city with a troubled educational system. Thus KNOWLEDGE IS POWER underscored important issues in the city of Detroit as it honored and celebrated the city’s historic public library.
The centerpiece of Detroit’s 2012 Dlectricity Festival, “Knowledge is Power” was a live, interactive blend of concert, historical narrative, theater, and cinema that took its theme from the words carved above the entrance to the Detroit Public Library. DTE Energy awarded New D Media Arts an Emerging Artist Grant to construct and present this installation. “Knowledge Is Power” debuted to overwhelming acclaim. Projected onto the façade and lawn of Detroit’s historic library, this installation was a 20-minute narrative journey chronicling mankind’s quest for knowledge from the dawn of human existence to the present time. It highlighted moments of important discovery and the development of knowledge and understanding throughout history. Months of hard work by New D Media Arts resulted in a three-dimensional cinematic exploration into our past—presented in a dynamic format that enabled thousands of viewers to experience projection mapping, the most exciting new medium of the present—and the future!