This article is based on a case study presented at DUX 2007. A video clip of “Dancing in the Streets” can be accessed on the interactions website. ( http://interactions.acm.org)

light that linked everyone in the space. As users moved into the space, the ribbons of light immediately extended to include them in the web, changing the projected geometric shape to accommodate the new body. The instant, dynamic response promoted a sense of connection that was fundamental to the work. It did indeed tie people together in a playful and communicative engagement with the space, resulting in spontaneous choreography of duets and groups. The linking of strangers via light beams sometimes led to eye contact and laughter, rather than necessarily engendering speech. People were not only dancing in the streets, but dancing together in the streets.

Individuals became totally engrossed in the experience of playing within the installation. One woman came into the space and discovered as she walked around it that white squares appeared to light up under her feet. She became entranced by this and started to twirl as she moved around the space, holding the edges of her long coat out and looking down at the floor to watch the morphing light patterns. She seemed unselfconscious and at ease in the experience, despite the presence in the square of other people whom she did not know. She appeared to be reacting to the experience with a child-like playfulness. Apparently she had not understood that the lights were responding directly to her body heat and not to her clothing or how she manipulated it. This did not affect her obvious enjoyment. In fact her circling movement, with constantly shifting projections on her extended coat,

became a beautiful and hypnotic image. As a user she seemed unaware of the image that she was creating, but it served to attract attention from other passersby who then also entered the space and interacted with the projected light.

Many people admitted that they had initially been self-aware and slightly embarrassed about interacting with the installation in front of people whom they did not know, but once they started to play with the light, they quickly lost their self-consciousness and became unaware of their surroundings as they looked down at the lights on the pavement.

The space and the choice of
light as a medium had set up an
environment in which there was
ambiguity, liminality, and safety.
The small square became a safe
place to play in a public environ-

ment where play is not usually an assigned activity for adults. Not only did a large proportion of people interviewed describe their interaction as magical, they also experienced moments of self-transcendence. When they left the space, they carried the memory of those experiences with them, but nothing was left behind.

 

Beyond York City Centre The remit of this installation was not simply to engage individual participants in the potentially transformative experience of dancing in the streets. “Renaissance Project: Illuminating York” sought transformation of the city itself after dark. Light has the potential to reveal, sculpt, and enhance the buildings and spaces of urban landscapes. Dramatic lighting of the environment dates back at

Figure 2. The white squares in development in the theater space.

May + June 2008