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Author Topic: Large canvas installation  (Read 2164 times)

Andre R

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Large canvas installation
« on: March 15, 2009, 06:01:45 am »

Hi all.

I have been reading this forum every day for some time now and most of my questions has been answered already by you guys.
Now I'm only looking for a confirmation that I'm on the right track...

I'm building/designing a members only (very vip) nightclub and one important part of the design concept is to be able to change the
look of the place almost over night. The main theme is black so the floor is black granite, all the wall tiles are black, the ceiling is black,
all furniture is black leather and so on.

The plan is to cover 80% of the walls (approximately 300 feet by 10 feet) with canvas frames/panels (40" wide, up to 10 feet tall),
mounted edge to edge. I don't have a large format printer so I'm planning on getting an Epson 9900 for this project. The images will be
a mix of photos and graphics, but as said it will change quite often. Some photos/graphics will stretch over as many as 20 panels (artwork 170ft x 10ft).

Most times the photos/graphics will be black and white (... white on black rather) and all the lighting is RGB LED spotlights changing all the time from
white, red, blue, purple, pink, yellow and so on. This will hopefully result in that what is white in the pictures will also 'change' color.

All the walls will be covered with a metal frame and the canvas frames will be attached to this frame using magnets. This system will hopefully make it
very easy and quick to change all the panels in minutes rather than days (the place is open 7 days a week and we can't 'afford' to close down).  

My questions are:

-Is the Epson 9900 a good choice for this project?
-Do I need a canvas stretcher, or can I do it by hand since it's not that many frames after all (and can the stretchers handle up to 10 feet)?
-What canvas brand is best suitable (wanting deep black and brilliant white)?
-What protective varnish do I use (assuming someone will splash champaign all over them once in a while)?
-What brand of stretcher bars are the 'best'?
-What is the best way of printing 'sections' of artwork in the size I need?
-Is it going to work? .. or should I forget about it and  just paint the walls black (boring...)


Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.


Regards

Andre R.
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Colorwave

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Large canvas installation
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2009, 01:10:28 pm »

Your plan and vision seem creative, as well as ambitious, but I think you will curse yourself if you don't invest in more of a sign printing machine rather than an aqueous fine art printer.  

Take a look at Mutoh (ValueJet-rotten name, nice printer), Mimaki, and Roland eco-solvent or mild solvent printers.  You will spend more initially, but recoup it in operating expenses and SPEED.  For the environment and viewing distance you are talking, a sign printer will be more than up to the task, imagewise, and more durable.  With solvent printers you can get away with printing on uncoated material, and can also print directly on vinyl scrim that isn't as nice a texture as canvas, but is more economical and durable.  Another advantage of a sign printer is that they are built to do roll to roll printing.  That will take a big hassle out of the process in one fell swoop.

Sign shops typically use clear laminates instead of spray or roller coatings when they want maximum durability, but you can spend almost as much on a good laminator as a wide format printer.  You are talking about changing graphics often anyway, so I'd take a chance, and reprint if there's a catastrophe, but try to avoid coatings or laminates altogether to save time and money with an additional process if I was doing 10' x 200'+ every time.

As for stretching, I spent 28 years in the scenery and modelmaking business, and in my previous life, we'd have hand stretched and stapled these on the back by hand.  It's no small undertaking to do that much, but you will get it down to a system over time.  A rolling table the size of your frames will make it more efficient.  If possible, a second set of frames would make it much less rushed and painful for each turnaround.

You probably already have it sorted out, but I'd mount a type of museum cleat idea on the wall, and have the top of each stretcher frame have an inverted u-shape that hooks over the wall cleat.  That way, nothing sticks out of the back of the frame to damage the next one when stacked, the cleat keeps the frame from moving left and right by being as wide as the frame, and all you need at the bottom is a keeper screw or two into a bracket on the wall.  The act of hanging each panel can be made almost painless.  Your biggest time spent will be in printing, removing canvas, and restretching.

Best of luck!
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framah

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Large canvas installation
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2009, 01:12:46 pm »

Personally, I would not stretch the canvas, i would mount it onto a hardboard like masonite with a wood stiffener frame behind or Coroplast or anything light enough to move around.  Canvas that large and stretched will sag quickly as printer canvas has that problem.  

Also a large panel with canvas on it without any support is asking for someone to poke a hole thru it... either a customer or a worker putting up/taking down/ storing the panels. Even something leaning against the back will leave a stretched spot making it look bad.

After the image is mounted, it needs to be laminated to protect the surface.  What you want to  do is find an exhibit house or a signage business that does this all the time. They should have the machine to mount onto very large surfaces as well as being able to laminate.

The panels can also be attached with velcro but not all the way around the edge or you will NEVER get it off the wall!!

How would you protect the edges of the panels from the repeated handling? How would you get ahold of the panel to get it off the wall? Will there be a place to put your fingers behind the edge?
Don't forget to figure how to store the panels so they don't rub against each other and mar the image surface.  Any screws or magnets on  the back will scratch the front of the next panel.

All in all, it sounds like a neat idea and something that can be done so don't give up on it and paint the walls(boring).
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a.lorge

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Large canvas installation
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2009, 02:33:48 pm »

What about either printing directly on to a magnetic paper or laminating the canvas onto a magnetic substrate?  I took a quick look on google found this website: magnetic substrate that sells a vinyl/magnetic substrate that might work well for your application.  It appears to be for a solvent printer, but as colorwave was saying above, if you are buying a printer anyway, and if you start with a solvent printer, it will save you from the hassle/expense of coating/laminating.
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Andre R

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Large canvas installation
« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2009, 08:12:47 am »

Thank you!

Based on your suggestions I have some experimenting to do over the next weeks...

...will also try to print directly on lightweight boards using a Vutek UV flatbed printer and see how that can come out.

regards

Andre R
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spotmeter

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Large canvas installation
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2009, 02:01:46 pm »

Quote from: Andre R
Hi all.

I have been reading this forum every day for some time now and most of my questions has been answered already by you guys.
Now I'm only looking for a confirmation that I'm on the right track...

I'm building/designing a members only (very vip) nightclub and one important part of the design concept is to be able to change the
look of the place almost over night. The main theme is black so the floor is black granite, all the wall tiles are black, the ceiling is black,
all furniture is black leather and so on.

The plan is to cover 80% of the walls (approximately 300 feet by 10 feet) with canvas frames/panels (40" wide, up to 10 feet tall),
mounted edge to edge. I don't have a large format printer so I'm planning on getting an Epson 9900 for this project. The images will be
a mix of photos and graphics, but as said it will change quite often. Some photos/graphics will stretch over as many as 20 panels (artwork 170ft x 10ft).

Most times the photos/graphics will be black and white (... white on black rather) and all the lighting is RGB LED spotlights changing all the time from
white, red, blue, purple, pink, yellow and so on. This will hopefully result in that what is white in the pictures will also 'change' color.

All the walls will be covered with a metal frame and the canvas frames will be attached to this frame using magnets. This system will hopefully make it
very easy and quick to change all the panels in minutes rather than days (the place is open 7 days a week and we can't 'afford' to close down).  

My questions are:

-Is the Epson 9900 a good choice for this project?
-Do I need a canvas stretcher, or can I do it by hand since it's not that many frames after all (and can the stretchers handle up to 10 feet)?
-What canvas brand is best suitable (wanting deep black and brilliant white)?
-What protective varnish do I use (assuming someone will splash champaign all over them once in a while)?
-What brand of stretcher bars are the 'best'?
-What is the best way of printing 'sections' of artwork in the size I need?
-Is it going to work? .. or should I forget about it and  just paint the walls black (boring...)


Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.


Regards

Andre R.

It would be much easier to use large LCD screens. In this way, you can change images during the night and run video as well.
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