1988 ILDA Awards

Inaugural year of the ILDA Awards. Presented at the November 1988 ILDA Conference in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Hosted by Stone Mountain Lasers.

From The Laserist magazine, Spring 1989 issue

In the past 15 years, laser display has become a viable option for those interested in merging art and technology to form a visual stimulus. The next decade promises to bring about even greater advancements in this medium that originated 20 years ago, but which is only just gaining acceptance in industries like advertising, entertainment and art.

Permanent laser display installations and viewing facilities are scattered around the country and are expensive to operate. Shows are usually not documented for art purposes, and public awareness about lasers is still limited. But now a group of dedicated laser professionals are making progress to establish the medium's credibility. This past fall, ILDA presented the First Annual Awards for Outstanding Laser Display. Laser professionals from all over the world gathered at Stone Mountain Park in Stone Mountain, Georgia to view the winning entries.

Sixty-eight entries from 11 companies competed for awards in 18 categories ranging from Static Images and Sequenced Show Pieces to such applications as Atmospheric, Architectural and Technological.

Walter Gundy, president of Image Engineering, Corp. and coordinator of the event said that in addition to recognizing and encouraging creative achievement, this year's Laser Display Awards will "hopefully challenge and stimulate others to get involved." Further, he added that ILDA-sponsored events such as this, will "build morale for individual companies as well as for the industry as whole."

Two laser projectors were provided for the ceremony, allowing attendees of the awards ceremony to be treated to a laser presentation of some of the winning entries. Other winning entries were presented on slide or video.

The Judging Panel

The Judging Panel represented artistic, practical, and technical interests. Entries were judged according to: creative application of the medium, professional application of laser display, entertainment value, and unique application of laser technology.

John Whitney, Sr., a computer graphics pioneer who conducted some of the first experimental, computerized film sequences, represented artistic interests. Whitney, is considered as the "father of computer graphics and visual music coordination."

Larry Majorana, a technical engineer at Pasadena's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is a laser system designer.

Jim Feldman, a theatrical and club lighting designer, works with lasers and other special effect lighting at the Palace in Los Angeles.

Entries were viewed on VHS or 35mm slides to allow more equality in presentation. Whitney was disappointed in the video and slide transmission, however, feeling the electric quality of the lasers was lost. The means to document the technology adequately is still two to four years away, he explained. High Definition Television (HDTV) a hotly debated but inevitable new television standard, will allow the laser operator to record transmissions in vivid, life-like resolution and color.

Whitney was also concerned that technical sophistication was lacking in some of the entries, but felt this was due partially because of the newness of the medium and the lack of communication. "The creative process was like reinventing the wheel," he described. He suggested an International Center for Laser Display be established so artists and technicians could share up-to-date knowledge.

Laser Media's Creative Director, John Goss, was responsible for organizing the judging of the competition. Overall, he was pleased with the results. "The panel leaned towards compositions that were unique and experimental, awarding prizes to entries they felt were outstanding examples in each category," he explained.

For more information, visit our other ILDA websites:

ILDAmember.com: Membership database and event management, including joining ILDA

LasershowSafety.info: Information about safe laser shows, including laws, regulations, checklists, and more

No reproduction of the text or images on ILDA websites is allowed without written permission of ILDA or other copyright holders. "ILDA" and the ILDA logo are trademarks of the International Laser Display Association.

This site does not use cookies and does not track or gather information on individual visitors. Aggregate information is gathered by Google Analytics to determine overall visitor behavior. More information is on our Privacy Policy page.