Rutgers athletes aren’t the only ones making a strong showing at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris: Peacock TV commissioned Art & Design alum Dave Cicirelli’s (BFA’05, pictured) kaleidoscopic artwork to serve as the splashy centerpiece of the streaming service’s promotional campaign for the Summer Games.
Cicirelli’s patented Infinity Cube is an immersive art installation combining video with coated glass to create a dynamic visual experience that repeats an image endlessly in all directions. In this high-concept promotional spot, shot over five days on a Universal Studios backlot in Hollywood, multiple athletes from the 2024 games move—even, ahem, peacock—around the glassy, light-filled Infinity Cube environment.
Despite the installation’s whimsical air, Cicirelli says the Infinity Cube is also a practical choice for this kind of promotional spot. In fact, over the last few years, his Infinity Cube Studio has filmed high-voltage collaborations with several NFL and NBA teams, as well as Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game.
“Athlete shoots are a lot like red carpets, where you have a high volume of important people passing through for a very short window of time,” Cicirelli says. Because the Infinity Cube is see-through, mirror- and video-based, even a brief shoot can generate a wide variety of kinetic shots and angles that production teams can play with; plus, it doesn’t hurt that the subjects seem to be having a ball interacting with the setup.
“Athletes are immersed in the environment. An engaged subject creates engaging content,” Cicirelli says. “The result is a ton of great capture and shot variety despite the time restrictions, with genuine excitement from the athletes and requiring minimal post-production to make it ready for air.”
Look for the Infinity Cube woven throughout Peacock’s Olympic and Paralympic broadcasts, popping up in commercials, as well as in athlete- and station-identification spots.
Cicirelli credits his time at Mason Gross with providing a solid grounding in design’s broader uses. Faculty “really made sure we understood design as something deeper than technical mastery of the tools—but as the fundamentals of communication itself,” Cicirelli says.
Still, the Olympic experience, which he describes as “surreal” and “validating,” is a long way from downtown New Brunswick.
“It’s surreal to think back to just a few years ago when the Infinity Cube was just an acrylic box on my coffee table, and now it’s on the world stage,” Cicirelli marvels.
“I mean, you’re on a soundstage next to…the virtual set they shoot Star Wars on and hosting VIPs like the president of the International Olympics Committee and Snoop Dogg,” he says. “…These are extremely discerning audiences who have seen a lot of things, and for them to come up to you and say, ‘You’re the cube guy!’…it’s just really cool. I’m a boutique agency. And we showed people who’ve seen an awful lot something they’ve never seen.”
Catch the Infinity Cube in the lead-up to and throughout Peacock’s 2024 Summer Olympics coverage, July 26 through August 11, and as part of their Paralympic Games coverage, August 28 through September 8.
Photo credit: Rhet Bear