MSG Sphere is the worlds largest spherical entertainment venue. Sphere opened in 2023 in Las Vegas at the Venetian. The multi-use venue seats 17,500 people and features a massive spherical LED interior and exterior screen system that allows for next-gen immersive live shows. It is the first of many Sphere venues that are being built around the world with London next on the list.
I worked on the Sphere in the early days of the production while working at Obscura Digital as Creative Director. I participated in early concept development for live show case-studies in the venue and designed early concept renders, ideating the interplay between performers on-stage and the virtual worlds behind and above them. I also worked on design concepts for the lobby focusing on hanging art installations, scenic elements, and animated media for LED screen systems. The Sphere has had many design teams working on various stages of the long 5yr design & construction process. Ron Robinson has been the lead creative and I want to recognize his artistic touch to the work shown. I’d also like to give a shout out to the entire OG Obscura Digital team, Populous Architects who designed the Sphere, and Madison Square Garden / Sphere Studios for their bold vision and perseverance to make the Sphere a reality.
Role: Creative Director, Art Director
For Harper’s Bazaar 150th Anniversary Obscura projection-mapped the Empire State Building and presented a 30 minute show with synchronized lighting design on the crown of the building. We co-curated the top 150 photos from the magazine's rich 150 year history, and built the show to honor Harper’s world-famous photographers, fashion designers and models. I creative directed the show and lead the animation team, as well as worked closely with Harper’s team to make the event a spectacular night.
Role: Creative Director
For the first annual Psychedelics Show exhibit in downtown Toronto Canada, our team built a 26ft tall hanging sculpture that is currently on display from Sept 29 - Dec 1 2022. This project is a collaboration between GMUNK, Harvey Moon, Will Atwood, Rob Malone and myself. I designed the sculpture in 3D and led the fabrication process, as well as led all the CAD and CAM design. We had the honor of installing this work in the main ballroom as the centerpiece of the exhibit. There is a 10 minute animated show that is video projection-mapped on the face of the sculpture, with laser mapping on the backside. The base is mirrored to reflect the upper projections. A brain inside the is also mirrored inside
Totem represents a hyper-dimensional being one might encounter in the depths of a psychedelic journey. Our team was honored to present this unique vision for this special exhibit that will hopefully travel in 2023.
Artist and Experience Director: GMUNK
Sculpture and Fabrication Director: Joshua John Pipic
Programming and Technical Director: Harvey Moon
Content by: Harvey Moon, Joshua Pipic, Will Atwood, Ronny Khalil
Composer: Robert John Malone aka Mr.Malone
Sound Design: Robert John Malone aka Mr.Malone
Fabrication: Upper Canada Stretchers
Installation: Glenn Strachan and Armando DaSilva
Photographer: Bradley G Munkowitz
Cinematographer: Bradley G Munkowitz
Throughout the past year I’ve been working on this steel Lotus Flower sculpture. It has been the most challenging and time consuming sculpture I’ve worked on to date. Its 4ft in diameter and will have programmed LED lighting inside. Inspired by the millions of lotus blossoms found across Thailand. They adorn temples, markets, and homes everywhere. Symbolic of spiritual awakening, the flower itself emerges from the mud, constantly growing upwards towards the light and warmth, representative of the act of spiritual growth and reaching enlightenment. I plan to share the final version after the LED has been installed and programmed.
For the Coachella Music & Arts Festival, Obscura built a 120ft dome called The Antarctic — the largest geodesic projection dome in the world — and produced Chrysalis, an 8-minute immersive journey that was projected at massive scale in full 360º with surround sound for audiences of 500 throughout two weekends.
For the intro of the show we traveled to Joshua Tree National Park and projection-mapped famous rock formations with psychedelic animations, and captured video plates of the various locations. I directed the shoot and oversaw the projection process. Then we sequenced the show back in our production studio.
Role: Creative Director, Art Director
The Salvador Dali Museum in Florida installed a permanent geodesic dome with a 360 projection system to provide a new immersive experience for visitors to tell the life story and showcase the epic surrealist artwork of Dali. I worked with Omnispace360 and Grande Experiences to create a 40 minute animated show which is currently on display at the museum. The show takes visitors on a journey through major chapters of Dali's life, exploring the geographic locations where he painted his master works. The show sheds light on the inspirations that influenced his art, and brings his visions to life with immersive animation and sound.
Role: Dome Show Director / Art Director
To celebrate the UAE National Day in Abu Dhabi, Obscura projection-mapped the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque with forty-four projectors with a combined brightness of 840,000 lumens. The projections covered the 600 x 351 ft high surface area of the architectural landmark. The three dimensional mapping created a series of bright, stylized architectural projections that illuminate the façade, four minarets and twelve domes of the mosque. The show featured illuminated designs mirroring both historical imagery and the artistic styles found in the structure and decoration of the mosque. projected depictions include palms, pentagonal geometry, gardens of paradise, the qibla wall, the mehrab, architectural motifs, night skies and cycles of the moon, and planetary projections of the earth.
Role: Art Direction
An interactive light sculpture installed at Burning Man 2019 in Black Rock City Nevada. The sculpture is a large-scale “Light Cannon” powered by the human voice. The light source is a custom designed LED spot light with a unique liquid cooled system. The Cannon generates a super bright beam of light (350,000 lumens) that blasts upward into the sky when participants collaborate by making sounds into microphones to create a shared vibration. The installation encourages expressing one's voice and using the sculpture as a conduit to channel the group's vibrations visualized as an intense beam of light. This sculpture aims to communicate the true potential and beauty of our collective voice.
The sound design is a major part of the experience, so the soundscapes and activation effects where produced by remixing samples of traditional instruments such as singing bowls and gongs to create a hypnotic atmosphere.
Lead Artist: Joshua John Pipic (Vision / Fabrication / Lighting Design )
Lead Sound Designer: Rob Malone (Instrumentalist / Sound Engineer)
Lead Industrial Designer: Arthur Harsuvanakit (Waterjet Operator)
Lead Developer: Harvey Moon (Show Control / Lighting)
Lead Electrical Engineer: Josh Billions (Hardware / Lighting)
Fabrication Team: Joshua Pipic / Hugh Vanho / Marcelo Pereira / Jacob Johnson / AJ Romine / Ian Hanson / Igor Kurganov
Install Team: Joshua Pipic / Marcelo Pereira / Diego Pereira / Rob Malone / Griffin Ferrante / Josh Billions
This concept animation is an experiment that I recently 3D modeled and animated entirely in Blender. I was aiming to create a dreamy vibe with surrealist undertones in this short sequence.
For New York Fashion Week the conceptual fashion studio V Group wanted to showcase their new book ZeroZero Vol2. To promote the book we built a pop-up installation with experimental projection. The audience was given red triangular filters, which reveal hidden videos inside the projections. I collaborated with Red Paper Heart to concept the event and tag team on the production. Book photography by Miles Aldridge.
Role: Creative Direction, Cinematography, Concept Animation, Video Editing, Space Planning
Obscura partnered with GE and BBDO to create “Unseen Stars”, a 9-minute projection show celebrating 12 female scientists depicted as constellations on the ceiling of Grand Central Station in NYC.
The ceiling is 275ft long by 120ft wide. We used 32 Christie 4K 30,000 lumen projectors for a total of 960,000 lumens. 16 projectors were installed on the balcony on the north side of the Main Concourse, and 16 were atop a custom truss structure we constructed over the ramp from Vanderbilt Hall on the south.
Role: Creative Direction
The Tsz Shan Monastery is located outside of Hong Kong, built by Mr. Li Ka-shing as a spiritual center, bird sanctuary, and art museum. Obscura was invited to create a proposal for an interactive exhibit that would live under the 200 ft Guanyin statue inside the foundation of the structure. I was the creative lead on the project and designed a number of experiences revolving around Buddhist history and artifacts. Unfortunately the install was never green-lit due to HVAC requirements and unwanted sound that would disrupt the monastery. Regardless, it remains as one of the greatest and most unique opportunities of my career.
Role: Creative Director / UI & UX / Art Director
This past summer I built a new steel fire pit for my Burning Man camp, Jungle Oddity and hauled it out to the desert for all to enjoy. It’s plasma cut with a new CNC table I recently setup. I also built a custom ball bearing system up top that allows the pit to spin with ease. Thanks to the entire camp gang for supporting this project and helping make it possible.
Role: Sculptor / Fabricator
For the 4th Annual Qasr Al Hosn Festival in Abu Dhabi UAE, Obscura was tasked with creating an immersive tour through the historical fortress. The heart of the festival revolves around passing on the culture and traditions of the Emirati people and the fort itself. The Qasr Al Hosn immersive tour featured three separate projection-mapped environments that brought the past to life, through elaborate animations, historical footage, and an informative narrative.
Role: Creative Director
For the NY International Auto Show, Bentley requested Your Majesty in collaboration with Momentum and Red Paper Heart to build a pop-up exhibit in the Meat Packing District. So we created an interactive installation that used RFID cards with a custom Cinder based app and a Leap Motion device to pilot the experience with hand gestures. I lead the installation visualization process and physical build out, as well as other direction.
Role: Creative Direction, 3D Concept Artist, Interaction Designer, Display / Furniture Designer, Camera man, Video Editor
A fashion forward brand needed a rebrand and redesign of their eCommerce platform, which lead to sold out sales. Gilt Groupe’s digital presence consisted of an uneven collection of online properties, identities and sites. Through close collaboration, Your Majesty created a new visual identity, optimized the shopping experience and achieved a more profitable eCommerce platform. I helped with the Art Direction of the rebrand and worked on photo retouching.
Role: Art Direction / UX & UI / Graphic Design
This life-size 3D printed skull is a passion project that took over 6 months and 250+ hours to model using Rhino & ZBrush. I printed it in UV resin and it’s currently in production to get cast in bronze for a limited edition run that will be available in the near future.
This sculpture symbolizes the precise moment an idea is formed in the mind and activates the process of creation.
This piece was a personal experiment I created recently for a poster. First I photographed all the crystals, then photoshopped it all together. Researching the crystals was really interesting as I learned about each geode and it's origins.
A collection of recent AI generated images using Midjourney & Stable Diffusion. Some experiments with environments, portraits, and strange objects. In a lot of ways the AI behaves like a slot machine and most of the time it generates wonky crap, however after some time playing with the prompts and “whispering to the machine” it can generate some stunning images. Excited to blend AI into my workflow going forward.
Dual ouroboros sculpture inspired by shipibo ceremonial traditions. Modeled in Rhino and 3D printed in steel / bronze alloy using an industrial binder-jetting process which melts powdered metal layer-by-layer to form a solid object.
Jewelry making has been a part of my life since I was a teenager, working in my father’s jewelry studio in our garage. When 3D printing came around I jumped at the opportunity to create unique jewelry that could not be built any other way. Here is a selection of pieces I’ve created over the years for private collectors. I first 3D model each piece and 3D print them in high-resolution wax, then cast them in precious metals. Most of the stones I use are custom cut by my father, Tom Pipic who has an incredible rough stone collection.
Role: Art Direction, 3D Modeling, 3D Printing, Metalsmithing, Photography
This illustration is from a series of portraits of music artists I started a few years back. In this portrait Yolandi Visser (Anri du Toit) of Die Antwoord is looking tough as ever. Graphite on paper.
54 illustrators were asked to take part in the Creative Cards project and illustrate a playing card to create a complete deck of cards. I was honored to take part and create a card on behalf of Your Majesty. I was asked to illustrate the Three of Clubs card, so I came up with a piece that played off the concept of three medieval battle clubs.
This illustration is from a series of portraits of music artists I started recently. In this portrait Fever Ray (Karin Dreijer Andersson) is depicted wearing a tribal costume. She wore this costume during her last world tour. Graphite on paper.
Role: Illustration
