A sphere is a perfect shape, and the historic Acid Ball on the Bellingham waterfront was made for light.

Retired from industry and retrofitted into a Waypoint Park landmark, the sphere sat quiet until Earth Day 2021. The City of Bellingham & Paper Whale wanted the holiday to mark its second life and give people a reason to gather.

NOVA answered with a projection mapping show that wrapped the full sphere in the planet itself: weather systems, satellite imagery, atmospheric patterns, all mapped true to the curve. For 1 evening the old steel relic became a slowly turning Earth, and scores of residents gathered on the grass to watch.

Seeing the Acid Ball lit this way was a highlight for the whole town.

For 1 hour that evening, a fixture most people walk past without a glance became something the whole waterfront stopped for.

The sphere carried a show with sound across its full 360º, Earth imagery fit precisely to the curve, and a hush settled over the grass as it played.

“This should be here every night it’s so cool to se the Acid Ball illuminated like that!”

James M.
Friend of the Studio

Making looks that read on a sphere takes some geometry and math.

Working from high resolution NASA and ESA imagery, NOVA built a run of luminous scenes from weather data, satellite views, and atmospheric patterns, each one true to the sphere's shape.

How do clouds move from south to north? What happens when ocean currents meet in the Atlantic?

On the Acid Ball, questions like these answered themselves.

Outdoor work in the Pacific Northwest means planning for any weather.

NOVA ran multiple weather ready contingencies and backup power for the 2 high powered laser projectors covering 210º of the sphere.

The redundancy held the show together start to finish, whatever the sky did.