Oracle had heard of my work I'd done at JavaOne in 2006, and we ended up producing a very similar piece for this show: an 80"x50" mosaic of a computer-related mascot (this time Tux the Linux Penguin, not Duke the Java... uh... the Java something). This was all rather cyclic for a couple of reasons. First, Oracle was in the middle of purchasing Sun Microsystems (the inventor of Java and JavaOne conference); and second, this is not the first time I'd actually built a version of Tux. Years ago, I'd built a 3D sculpture of the Linux mascot (I no longer have that statue, else I would have probably replicated it for this event).
Anyway, the project was fairly standard in that I've done many tradeshows at this point. Some of the mosaic was pre-built before the conference, it was shipped out to the venue, and then over the course of a few days I completed the mosaic as attendees came by and gawked, asked questions, and so forth.
Not a bad way to spend a few days in San Francisco.
Below are a few pictures which show the progress of the project.
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This is the original image that the graphic team at Oracle sent me; what they wanted the mosaic to portray. |
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Here is the mosaic-ized preview image. It was rendered with 10 LEGO colors, 256x160 studs, with no dithering (just nearest-color algorithm). Over 30,000 pieces were bought for the project. I followed the computer preview fairly accurately, but did the text/logo by hand as well as some of the silhouetted buildings so that more "artistic detail" could be rendered. |
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Progress. |
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With the penguin pretty much done, I then started to outline the areas of color (which I would then fill in onsite at the tradeshow. |
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The next few shots show me installing the panels at the show. This was done the night before the tradeshow opened so that I would be doing actual building once the event started. |
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Day One of building onsite. |
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Standing next to the completed mosaic after 3 days of building. |