ARLINGTON, Texas – The Art Collection at Cowboys Stadium added the 50th piece of its collection Friday afternoon, literally lighting up the main lobby of the arena's Entry A.
This latest piece to the collection, which debuted in 2009, comes from contemporary artist Jim Campbell, who used digital imagery to highlight the Cowboys in an unconventional way. Campbell's display of 3,000 tiny LED light bulbs, which took "about a month" to create, transforms two-dimensional images into shapes projected onto the bulbs.
Campbell uses software to digitize filmed images and then maps every pixel of the film frame onto the massive array of lights. The result produces a constantly-changing wall of lights that transforms into highlights of Cowboys' accomplishments.
"The best view is probably when you're entering the escalator, which is kind of what we planned, or from far away," Campbell said. "If you look at it close up, you'll notice it becomes completely abstract. So we kind of designed it to work well from the escalator, because that's where a lot of people will be entering."
Indeed, although the shapes are hard to make out from close range, they beautifully morph into images of the likes of Morris Claiborne and Dez Bryant scoring Dallas touchdowns when viewed from the right perspective.
Campbell said the speed of professional football translated perfectly to his technique.
"I've been working in 3-D low-res for a couple of years, and Mary [Zlot], the art curator for the building, saw it and just thought it would go perfectly if I used footage of the Cowboys," Campbell said. "It works really well when things are moving really fast – the technology. So it's perfect with running and that kind of thing." [embedded_ad]
The piece went live for the first time Friday after about a week of setup in the lobby. But it will be lighting the way into Cowboys Stadium for much longer.
