Practitioners on Practice... On Projection Design: An interview with Rod Maclachlan

“When I see an inanimate object in space, I’ll be thinking about how it relates to me physically, how its form might impact its scale, how I feel about it.”

Projection designer Rod MacLachlan discusses the multidisciplinarity of his craft and how his sculptor’s background has shaped the way he approaches all ‘kinetic objects’, including actors. He talks through the process of creating a pause in the rapidity of the way we see things and constructing a multi-faceted viewpoint, through which to realise the true curiosities of an object or building.

MacLachlan describes projection design as the process of using video projections to paint the surfaces of sets in theatre, and how architecture, lighting and sound all directly inform that practice. He emphasises the collaborative necessities of his process, discusses how some aesthetic discoveries are pure luck and describes how projection can expand the scope of smaller productions, introducing additional characters, objects and atmospheres that escalate the sense of scale.