Sphere Entertainment showcased a special Exosphere content show in celebration of Earth Day on April 22, featuring work from multi-GRAMMY Award-winning Grateful Dead and Dead and Company percussionist Mickey Hart, and filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg. Hart’s and Schwartzberg’s artwork was combined into an 11-minute content show that ran several times throughout the day, projected onto the world’s largest LED screen, the Exosphere, in Las Vegas.
Hart and Schwartzberg are the latest artists to design for the Exosphere as part of Sphere’s XO/Art programme, which features renowned artists’ work on Sphere’s immersive exterior. The Exosphere was first illuminated on July 4, 2023. It consists of approximately 1.2 million LED pucks, spaced eight inches apart. Each puck contains 48 individual LED diodes, with each diode capable of displaying more than 1 billion different colours – creating a vivid landmark on the Las Vegas skyline.
“Our XO/Art programme continues to make art available and accessible to the public in a highly innovative and unique way, both in Las Vegas and around the world,” said Jennifer Koester, president, Sphere business operations, at Sphere Entertainment. “Mickey Hart and Louie Schwartzberg are artists who utilise novel techniques to not only create impactful visuals, but also tell important stories, and we are proud to feature their immersive work in a first-of-its-kind show on the Exosphere to celebrate Earth Day.”
“I’ve always felt that music has the power to connect us to the rhythms of the earth and the universe,” said Mickey Hart. “The Sphere project is my attempt to harness those rhythms and create something that speaks to the interconnectedness of all life. It’s a visual representation of the rhythms and energies that inspire me. It is like a beat in a song, creating layers of texture and emotion on the canvas. Earth Day should remind us that we are all part of a vast, cosmic symphony, and that it is our responsibility to care for this planet and all its inhabitants.”
“I am excited to share nature’s wonders on the largest canvas on earth,” said Louie Schwartzberg. “These sequences make the invisible visible by exploring the foundations of Life. We start with earth’s majestic landscapes, to soil making fungi, to flowers and their pollinators, all of which propels life to flourish. When assembled together, they tell the magical story of unseen worlds that sustain life on earth. This is the greatest story to tell on Earth Day. Let’s celebrate life.”
Hart’s piece, entitled Rhythms of the Universe, was a 90-second visual symphony consisting of four phases, each characterised by unique movements and colour patterns. From gentle undulations and ripples to vibrant colour shifts and morphing shapes, the progression of phases is an exploration of a psychedelic cosmos.
Hart, an expert in sound vibrations from his experience as a drummer, uses sound waves and their vibrations to move paint around on his canvases. To create the details and intricate patterns in his Exosphere piece, a Pythagorean monochord was played through a subwoofer whose ultra-low frequencies induce vibrations that bring the artwork to life. Through this artistic method, the paints undergo a metamorphosis, allowing the flow of colours to manifest in a myriad of ways.
For his six, 90-second Exosphere pieces, Schwartzberg went back to his documentarian roots, drawing from nature footage and utilising his renowned time-lapse photography technique. The first piece, titled Earth Masterpieces features coral reefs, ocean views, waterfalls, and desert canyons. This is followed by a segment on mushrooms, featuring never-before-seen footage of lion’s mane and other species captured during the making of his 2019 documentary film, Fantastic Fungi. Next, Seductive Flowers captures the graceful movement of various blooms up-close, followed by Master Pollinators, which highlights the crucial role birds and bees play in the ecosystem.
In the final two segments, Organic Mandalas, transforms nature imagery into intricate circles that represent the cycle of life, and Nature Reimagined, takes viewers on a transcendent journey through time and space.
Multi-GRAMMY Award-winner Mickey Hart is best known as a drummer/percussionist for the Grateful Dead, and more recently as a member of Dead & Company, which will play 24 shows at Sphere this spring and summer. Hart is also an accomplished writer, painter, explorer, and expert on the history and methodology of drums. Over the years, Hart’s work has extended beyond playing music to ventures including advocating for music and rhythm as therapy, and actively participating in environmental advocacy. Hart’s groundbreaking painting technique – vibrational expressionism – merges art and music by using sound waves to manipulate paint.
Schwartzberg is an award-winning cinematographer, director, and producer renowned for his ability to capture the beauty of the natural world. Through his work, Schwartzberg explores themes of environmental conservation and the interconnectedness of life, aiming to inspire audiences with the diversity of the earth. His portfolio includes a range of projects, from documentaries to commercial ventures, each infused with his unique visual style and passion for storytelling. Schwartzberg’s dedication to his craft has garnered him numerous awards and accolades from the filmmaking community.
