Davy and Kristin McGuire
Davy McGuire and Kristin McGuire, co-directors of Studio McGuire, are . They create experiential artworks within the mediums of projection mapping, theatre, fine art, animation, moving image, art installations, video games and immersive technologies. Early Careers and Personal Lives. The duo met in 2004 during a student exchange in Arnhem and married in 2005 in England. Davy graduated from Dartington College of Arts in 2005 with a degree in Devised Theatre, whereas Kristin studied Contemporary and Classical Dance at Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. Whilst continuously collaborating on joint art projects Kristin worked as  a dancer with a variety of international dance and theatre companies including Cirque du Soleil until the duo set up their joint studio in Bristol. In 2017 Kristin graduated from Glasgow School of Art as a Master of Research in Creative Practices. The duo is now resident in Kingston upon Hull where they create work under their company name Studio McGuire. They are represented by [Muriel Gupein Gallery] in New York, Woolff Gallery in London and the Projection Mapping Association of Japan in Tokyo and their works have been shown in more than 120 venues across 23 countries. Public Artworks . Hologram Jukebox (holographic installation). In 2020 Davy and Kristin were commissioned by Back To Ours to create a 'hologram jukebox' - a traditional jukebox in which the selected artist appears as a hologram inside the jukebox to perform to the audience. The installation uses a pepper's ghost illusion technique. A Night at the Mansion (immersive visitor attraction). In 2019 Harewood House commissioned the couple to create an immersive visitor attraction that took place within the rooms of the country house for Christmas period. The large scale experience used projection mapping techniques to animate various interior features of the building such  as Robert Adam's Neoclassical ceiling and fireplace, The Royal Servres from Versailles and the Servants Quarters. The experience was awarded Innovation of the Year by The Museums + Heritage Show Still Lives (interactive window display). In 2018 Absolutely Cultured commissioned Davy and Kristin to create a series of window displays for Urban Legends, a winter light festival in Hull. Based on The Emperor's New Clothes, The Little Mermaid and The Snow Queen, each Hans Christian Andersen themed window featured a theatrical set and a mannequin whose face was animated with both live and pre-recorded video projections in  order to tell cautionary tales to audiences and passers by. Micropolis (immersive installation). They were commissioned by Hull UK City of Culture to create an installation as part of The Land of Green Ginger project. Micropolis was a 10 x 10 x 5-metre cardboard sculpture of a miniature city which contained digital projections of the city's miniature inhabitants Starkers (immersive installation). In October 2015 they produced an installation called Starkers for the "Museums at Night" commission at Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead. The piece used projection mapping to make an animate a 200-year-old statue  called Pauline talk to the audience depicting its experience of body image and mortality. Ophelia's Ghost (immersive installation). "Ophelia's Ghost" is a life sized holographic projection of Hamlet's Ophelia into a water filled basin creating the illusion of a ghostly presence underwater; it was commissioned by Altered Festival's 2015 "Contemporary Art in Ancient Churches" programme and has been shown as part of Compton Verney Art Gallery's exhibition Shakespeare in Art. The Hunter (animated paper diorama). As part of the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award short listing process Davy and Kristin created "The Hunter", a  projection mapped paper diorama which subsequently won the couple the award. "The Hunter" has since been exhibited at the 12th Quenington Sculpture Show, the Doddington Sculpture Show, as part of the McGuire's retrospective in Shoreditch Town Hall in London, the World of Projection Mapping Festival in Kagawa/Japan and "A Lamb in Wolf's Clothing" in Bermondsey, London. Psycho - Homage to Hitchcock (animated paper diorama). "Psycho - Homage to Hitchcock" is a projection mapped paper diorama created in 2012 depicting a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho movie. The installation consists of a TV screen and a paper replica of  the Bates' house depicting a murder scene in a shower. The documentation trailer of the installation received a staff pick on Vimeo. Peepboardpleasure (immersive installation). In 2010, Davy and Kristin created a piece based on the illustrations of a traditional seaside peep-through board being replaced by moving video projections. Passers by are needed to poke their head through the holes in the board, thus turning them into fictional moving characters. "Peepboardpleasure" has been shown in Bristol, as part of the Grüne Meile Festival in Germany, at Burdall's Yard in Bath and the Arts by the Sea Festival 2012  in Bournemouth. The artists were awarded a second stipend from the Künstlerdorf Schöppingen for this work for which they created the interactive video installation "Peepboardpleasure - A Peep Board with a Twist". A Study of Eating Habits (immersive installation). In 2005 Davy and Kristin created their multimedia installation "A Study of Eating Habits" using early techniques of video projection mapping which has since become a signature of most of their works. For "A Study of Eating Habits", the couple filmed themselves in their domestic environment over a period of a week and projected the sped up footage back onto the doors , tables and windows which they transferred from their house to a black box gallery space. "A Study of Eating Habits" was shown at the 2006 European Media Arts Festival in Germany, the 2006 BBC Big Screen Liverpool and the 2008 Macau Arts Festival in China. Gaming Experiences. Lucy (papercraft video game sculpture). In 2019 Davy and Kristin were funded by XR Stories to create Lucy - a digitally animated papercraft video game diorama which can be hung on a wall and played like a video game. The platform game was inspired by gothic aesthetics and the character of Lucy Westernra from  Bram Stoker's Dracula. The game was made using the Unity (game engine). Shelf-Life (video-game installation). In 2020 Davy and Kristin were funded by XR Stories to create Shelf-Life - a projection mapped platform game in which the player can manipulate a projected character (inspired by Super Mario) to jump across real objects in the physical world. Theatrical Projects. The Icebook. During a 4-month residency at the Künstlerdorf Schöppingen Davy and Kristin created the "Icebook", the world's first projection mapped pop up book in which a story is back projected onto the pages of the book . After putting a trailer of the work online, it went viral and launched the pair as an artist duo who had invented a new artistic medium by fusing projection mapping, paper craft, book art, theatre, performance and animation. The "Icebook" has been featured internationally on TV (Canal+ in France, Deutsche Welle in Germany and on NHK in Japan), as well as being published in Digital Arts, Contagious Magazine and Elle Girl Korea and several thousand international websites and blogs. Since 2011 the Icebook has toured to at least 60 art festivals, theatre festivals, digital art festivals, cinemas and film festivals , conferences and art galleries around Europe, America and Asia. The Paper Architect. In 2013 Davy and Kristin received the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Award for their presentation of two projected paper dioramas, "The Hunter" and "Psycho - Homage to Hitchcock". The production grant was awarded to create "The Paper Architect", a theatre show blending paper craft, animation and live action, co-produced by the Barbican Centre London with CREATE in association with the Tobacco Factory in Bristol. "The Paper Architect" was invited to Perth International Arts Festival in 2015 where it won the Helpmann Award for Best Visual Theatre Production. Theatre  Book Macbeth. Theatre Book - Macbeth (2014) was an interactive pop-up book that brought 'the Scottish play' to life with miniature projection mapping. The multi media book featured six pop-up pages designed like sets on a stage, with actors projected onto the paper scenery and the audience could turn the pages to drive the story forward. The project was co-created with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Howl's Moving Castle. For Christmas 2011, Davy and Kristin McGuire designed and directed a stage adaptation of "Howl's Moving Castle" at the Southwark Playhouse, who also commissioned the project. The production  involved actors interacting with live video projections onto a set that replicated a paper pop-up castle. Howl's Moving Castle was adapted for the stage by Mike Sizemore and featured an original score by Fyfe Dangerfield. The cast included Stephen Fry as narrator Daniel Ings as Howl, Susan Sheridan as old Sophie, James Wilkes as Calcifer and Kristin played the part of young Sophie and the Witch of the Waste. Prior to its premiere "Howl's Moving Castle" received considerable media attention featuring on TV BBC News London, The Late Show with Joanne Good on BBC Radio London, national  press and BBC online. After initial challenges due to technical difficulties Howl's Moving Castle sold out during the last weeks of a 6-week run. The production was "Time Out"'s Critic's Choice in December and received four-star reviews from "Metro" and "The Public Reviews". Reviews praised the imaginative staging, the ground-breaking and ambitious technical ability of the projections, and the visuals. Despite some mixed reviews the show was received as a production that successfully married film and theatre: "Is it a play, is it a film, is it an installation? No - it's super-theatre !" The show inspired Southwark Playhouse's 2016 production of another story associated with Studio Ghibli, "Kiki's Delivery Service". Silent Movie. In 2007 Stroud Valleys Arts Space gave Davy and Kristin permission to create performance work for their annual Site Festival in Stroud. Davy and Kristin thus created and performed "Silent Movie", a multimedia performance that mixes projections and live acting. The plot, which recounts a love story between a couple, is evocative of the silent movie genre from the beginning of the 20th century. The performance is viewed by an audience of 15 people through peep holes made in  the front wall of a huge wooden box or a shopping window. In 2008 "Silent Movie" was shown at the Macau Arts Festival in China. Brand Experiences. Banquet of Hoshena (immersive dining experience). In 2019 the couple were commissioned by restaurateur Nadine Beshir to create the visuals for an immersive fine dining experience that combined projection mapping, storytelling and a five-course menu. The project has toured to restaurants in The United Kingdom, The United States, Sweden, Germany, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and India. Floating City (window display). For Christmas 2013, the McGuires joined a team of artists headed by  Joanie Lemercier commissioned by Barneys to decorate the shop windows of their Madison Avenue store in New York. "Floating City" was a large scale animated paper structure suspended inside one of the windows. The suspended paper model repeatedly transformed through projection mapping displaying a short looping New York time lapse. L'Alchimie de Courvoisier (animated paper diorama). In 2012 Congnac company Courvoisier commissioned the McGuires to create a bespoke theatrical installation showcasing the brand's craftsmanship and the story of its history through a projected paper theatre. The installation which was displayed in Harrods of London in December 2012 received positive  media attention. Mikimoto - Precious Moments (window display). The McGuires created a Christmas window display in 2016 for luxury pearl manufacturers Mikimoto's flagship store in Ghinza Road Tokyo. The installation combined paper architecture with shadow play and digital projection. Collections. Jam Jar Fairy Series. In 2013 the Royal Shakespeare Company commissioned Davy and Kristin to create "Sprite Symphony", an art installation using pico projectors to create a display of holographic fairies projected into jam jars. The fairies knock and tap on their jars and thereby create a polyphonic musical composition. "Sprite Symphony" was exhibited in the RSC theatre foyer in  Stratford upon Avon throughout winter 2013, at the Enchanted Parks in Newcastle/Gateshead in December 2013, as part of the McGuire's retrospective in Shoreditch Town Hall, at Queens Hall Arts Centre and as part of "A Lamb in Wolf's Clothing" in Bermondsey, London in 2014. The installation was later developed into individual units in order to accommodate the demand for purchasing individual fairy holograms, thus creating the "Jam Jar Fairy Series". Pinboard. In 2008 the pair created their first music video, " The Girl with two Tone Hair" which they later turned into a video installation entitled "Pinboard". "Pinboard  was first exhibited at the Stroud Site Festival in 2010. In 2011 the Quenington Sculpture Trust awarded Davy and Kristin a bursary to include Pinboard" in the trust's biennial showcase. "Pinboard" was part of Barn Gallery's Artspace, a showcase of their work at Burdall's Yard in Bath in 2012, their retrospective "The Hunter" at Shoreditch Town Hall in London and MEDI-ARTz Zushi Festival in Japan in 2014. The Dark Dolls House. In 2018 The McGuires created a body of work for a solo exhibition at Woolff Gallery in London. Inspired by Film Noir, the pieces are  black, wall hanging, wooden dolls houses that are digitally animated with moving images of various Film Noir characters. The pieces have subsequently been exhibited as part of 'Wonder', a group exhibition at The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum and Wanrooij Gallery in Amsterdam. Music videos. American alternative rock band Thursday commissioned Davy and Kristin to direct and produce "Magnets Caught in a Metal Heart", a music video for their album No Devolución which Kerrang mentioned as "this stunning, artistic video for this killer new song". Through London based production house [Partizan] Davy and Kristin got to direct a music video  for BRIT Award nominated Guillemots. Guillemot's lead singer Fyfe Dangerfield has since composed an original score for their stage adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle. The 2014 video "Yanlış Seçim" (English translation"Wrong Choice") follows singer Atakan Ilgazdağ through film sets made out of paper. Films. A Journey to Wonderland. In 2013, ELLE Magazine China commissioned Davy and Kristin to design and direct a short film featuring Chinese actress Zhou Xun wearing Chanel outfits and jewelry. The film was created as a digital accompaniment of a special 25th anniversary editorial for ELLE China's iPad edition. Parting. French TV channel  Canal+ commissioned 11 film makers to create a short film of 1:11 min length to commemorate 9/11. Dreams of Flight. In 2016 The Norwegian Aviation Museum commissioned Davy and Kristin McGuire to create an animation film depicting the imagination of three children who dreamed about being able to fly. Vertigo. In 2020 London International Mime Festival commissioned the couple to create a short film called Vertigo. The film combined pole dancing with projection mapping and received notable critical attention for its artistry and technical precision. Live Art. Shooting the Messenger. Their first live art piece, entitled "Shooting the Messenger" was  made in 2005 and took them on a hitchhiking tour around Great Britain in which they explored Marshal McLuhan's theories on the global village. Davy gave a talk about his experiences during this adventure at ACC Galerie, Weimar on 21 May 2010.