How Las Vegas’ Sphere brings art to the masses on ‘the world’s biggest canvas’, and creates fun with a giant emoji

The giant Exosphere in Las Vegas uses millions of LEDs to display images such as a smiling emoji, and others that tie in with sports events and holidays

Specially commissioned art is shown too as a way of ‘giving back’, says one of Sphere’s creative leads, who sheds light on what displays to expect in the future

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Emoji is one of the “smash-hit successes” that has helped Las Vegas’ Sphere garner almost 2 million Instagram followers. One of the brains behind the attraction talks about using the huge LED canvas to bring art to the people, and what to expect in the future. Photo: TNS

Published: 6:15pm, 11 Apr 2024

It is the world’s largest LED screen, offering nearly 580,000 square feet of artistic freedom. Each of Las Vegas entertainment venue Sphere’s diodes can display 256 million colours, and there are 48 of those diodes in each of the approximately 1.2 million LED pucks that blanket its exterior.

Yet for all of its bells and whistles, every state-of-the-art this and never-been-done-before that, the most popular piece of content to have graced Sphere’s Exosphere resembles something that could have been texted on a smartphone.

He/she/it/they or however the smiling, yellow Emoji identifies – Sphere executives are not saying – has become the giant public face of the US$2.3 billion venue.

When Sphere was named by The New York Times among its 71 Most Stylish “People” of 2023 – between Utah ski crash trial defendant Gwyneth Paltrow and The Traitors host Alan Cumming – it was Emoji in the photo.

People watch and film the Exosphere during its unveiling on July 4, 2023. Photo: TNS

Guy Barnett, who oversaw Sphere’s brand strategy and creative development before recently transitioning into a consulting role, declares it one of the venue’s “smash-hit successes”. And he knows a thing or two about pop-culture icons.

During his previous career in advertising, Barnett was the driving force behind a new spokesman who helped American broadcasting company NBC promote its acquisition of English Premier League football.