"The Epixx team have some of the most spectacular equipment we have ever known"
Henry Iddon
A Windermere open day is to take visitors on a virtual journey of adventure into the mountains next month.
Sound and visual tech wizards Epixx are joining forces with the Kendal Mountain Festival to showcase a taster of films and photos before the international festival opens a few days later.
Epixx Adventures will feature spectacular films of climbing, mountain biking, snowboarding and ski-ing on a home cinema screen with 13 speakers to show off the latest Dolby Atmos technology.
At the same time the open day, on Saturday November 12, will be a preview of the UK’s award-winning premier mountain film festival, hailed as the most diverse event of its type in the world.
The open day will also feature a preview of an unusual new exhibition by photographer Henry Iddon whose talks will highlight the common ground of old and new technology in pictures.
Iddon will present a preview of his exhibition, Instanto Outdoors, which is to open in the Lakes in the New Year. With the aid of an Arts Council grant, Iddon’s project was to photograph contemporary mountain sports, and mountain landscapes, using an antique Underwood Instanto camera previously owned and used by pioneering photographers George and Ashley Abraham.
Epixx, the young team which is transforming synchronised lighting, sound and screen experiences in homes and hotels throughout the country, is staffed by mountain and outdoor enthusiasts and led by snowboarders and mountain bikers Matt Holmes and Ben Tomlinson.
They set up Epixx in 2014 to supply top of the range audio-visual systems, home cinema, and lighting systems. They now have a staff of six, with a customer base and a tripled turnover way ahead of their forecasts.
In two years they have kitted out some of the most impressive homes, hotels and restaurants in the north including sound and lighting systems for the Church Suites at the Cranleigh Hotel, Bowness; and the entire electrical, sound, lighting, music, TV and security systems for the new Fizzy Tarte champagne bar in Bowness.
They are now the main AV contractor for the NW Design Centre in Manchester, the industry leaders for interior fit out and refurbishment projects, who design and manufacture innovative furniture to bars, restaurants and hotels throughout the UK and Europe, and for whose showroom Epixx installed all the AV systems. And they have a new deal to install sound systems in VIP boxes at Leicester Tigers rugby ground.
Epixx operate sustainably, providing options that not only monitor energy usage, but are intelligent enough to adjust the heating or air conditioning to focus on rooms in use and significantly reduce wasted energy.
“But we are also outdoor enthusiasts and are we are delighted to work with the Kendal Mountain Festival whose vision is to inspire more people to explore, enjoy and represent mountains, wilderness and their cultures,” said Matt.
“We are also great admirers of Henry Iddon’s work as a photographer and so we are thrilled to have a chance to bring together film from across the centuries, and showing what we can do with the most sophisticated technology in the world.”
The open day will be staged at the Epixx showroom in Woodland Road, Windermere, from 12noon on November 12, with refreshments served throughout the day. Henry Iddon’s talks are scheduled for 2pm and 3.30pm, and there will also be a trailer film for the mountain festival. Admission is free.
The famous Instanto camera was used by the Abraham brothers at the end of the 19th century, and was taken out into the hills again two years ago, to shoot an ascent of Central Buttress of Scafell on its 100th anniversary at Easter 2014 and also to film James McHaffie soloing during his 100 Lake District ‘extremes’ in 24 hours challenge. The exhibition will be staged at Keswick Museum starting in January 2017.
Henry Iddon said: “The Epixx team have some of the most spectacular equipment we have ever known, and it will be really exciting to see a preview of the festival, and on the same day to compare what old cameras can do with how new technology is used.”
