Projection mapping on mountains, cliffs, and rock formations by NOVA Light Labs.

A rock face is already an ideal canvas. NOVA projects custom visuals onto mountains, canyon walls, and standing stone, matched to the exact contours of the terrain. Nothing touches the rock but light. When the projectors come up, stone that has held its shape for 100 million years begins to move in a new way.

Projection mapping at this scale is a site problem first. Every formation is surveyed and modeled in 3D so the imagery lands where the geology says it should: along the ridgeline, down the columns, across the strata. The same approach covers buttes, mesas, coulees, quarries, and roadside formations. The rock decides the design.

For one night or for the long run, projection and lighting design in environments like these have the power to transform events and venues into incredibly memorable experiences.

Real rock formations NOVA has mapped and lit.

Moab, Utah. Line art at canyon scale. White line work mapped across a red sandstone cliff in the high desert outside Moab, drawn to follow the fractures and ledges of the wall. The projection ran from the valley floor under a clear night sky.

The Feathers, Frenchman Coulee, Washington. Standing basalt near Vantage. Imagery mapped column by column across a row of basalt pillars above the coulee, minutes from George and the Gorge Amphitheatre. The beams carried past the rock into the open air above the ridge.

NOVA takes on mountain and rock projection for launches, festivals, film shoots, and private events.

Send the site and the date. NOVA scouts the formation, models it in 3D, and designs to the rock.

Simply say hello to start the show.