INTERACTIVE BACK PROJECTION AND SOUND INSTALLATION, ECKERSLEY’S OPEN SPACE, 97 FRANKLIN STREET 

The original idea for ‘Trace’ came from discussions on how traditions were passed down through generations. Young people saw traditional
 culture as something that was solid, reliable and added to a sense of community. The idea of learning a cultural dance or learning something from someone else became a central idea in the development of this work – a ‘big picture’ idea that imagined a projected image of a person teaching a dance to a player. People playing the game would progress the dance by bringing another person in and teaching them the dance. This would trigger their reward, which was to be surrounded by projections showing the laneway as a ballroom with hundreds of people dancing with them.

The finished work, an immersive interactive 
video installation, supported by a camera, audio equipment and three projectors, explored the ‘trace you leave in the world’. The game’s clue invited players to stand in someone else’s shoes. Players were directed to a dark space where a spotlight
 lit up two dance shoeprints on the ground. By moving into position, they activated the artwork, lights illuminated a dance area and the video camera and projectors were triggered. The player’s movement was captured and projected back into the collective dance of previous players.

Trace was a work that emphasised the importance of being mindful of how we move in the world, and of how we are all connected.