On Friday, June 17th, the first permanent Light Capsule launched in Winnipeg, Canada during Winnipeg International Jazz Fest! I couldn’t be more thrilled to launch this with the help of Matt Cohen—urban archaeologist and founder of ghostsigns.ca. This collaboration builds on our 2017 event Painted in Light, where five of Winnipeg’s ghost signs were illuminated for one night using large-scale projectors and projection mapping technology. The event became the subject of the feature documentary Writing on the Wall by Handcraft Creative.
I’ve been working to make Light Capsules permanent using low-tech analog lighting since 2020. The technology behind these permanent installations is a DMX lighting-controlled gobo light fixture that is meticulously aligned to reveal each layer of the ghost sign, with astronomical triggers to animate them nightly year-round. I’ve created thirty-six different Light Capsule installations globally, and this is the very first permanent installation of its kind.
Craig Winslow and Matt Cohen, guests on CTV Morning Live - Winnipeg, Manitoba
In addition to the nighttime installation, we launched a companion website to help the public interpret the ads' history. StobartSign.com contains corporate histories, product shots, and archival photos of the businesses and brands that called the building home.
For those looking to see what the signs would have looked like freshly painted, we also launched a beta version of a new Light Capsules iOS app, allowing the public to use augmented reality to overlay a virtual coat of paint over the fading ads in real-time, day or night. Much more about that soon. If you're a Winnipeg local seeking access to the beta, please reach out!
Route 66 Scouting in Oklahoma with NHTP Grant
This week we’ll be traveling to Oklahoma to scout ghost signs along Route 66 through a grant from the National Historic Trust for Preservation supported by fiscal sponsorship from The Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership. The trip will help determine which signs can become a Light Capsule for the upcoming Route 66 centennial celebrations.
Follow along with our discoveries this week on Instagram stories at @craigwinslow
Second permanent installation coming to Astoria, OR
Finally, the second permanent Light Capsule will launch in Astoria, Oregon this summer. This specific sign is very important to me, as it was the original inspiration for the greater project, and was the 4th light installation of my Adobe Creative Residency in 2016.
You can read more about on Adobe Create here.
Until next time!
—Craig
Looking for the rest of my blog? I'm starting to finally transition off of a tumblr-powered blog. In the meantime, view the old posts here: blog.craigwinslow.com
