[ 3] Shedroff, N. “Research Methods for Designing Effective Experiences.” In Design Research: Methods and perspectives, edited by Brenda Laurel, 155-163. Cambridge: MI T Press, 2003.

[ 4] Attali, J. Noise: The Political Economy of Music. Translated by B. Massumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1985.

May + June 2008

city’s name would appear in the center of all five courts. This was a popular event, running for one night only. The concept behind “Dancing in the Streets” has also been employed on a much larger scale in KMA’s installation “Flock” in London’s Trafalgar Square in 2007 and 2008’s “The Hive” in Dublin.

“Dancing in the Streets” invited users to improvise together as unselfconscious performers within the urban landscape. Attali’s manifesto for composition proved influential in our work: “We are all condemned to silence unless we create our own relation with the world and try to tie other people into the meaning we thus create. This is what composing is. Doing solely for the sake of doing… Playing for one’s own pleasure, which alone can create the conditions for new communication… it relates to the emergence of the free act, self-transcendence, pleasure in being instead of having [ 4].”

Playful communication was evident through all aspects of the installation. Attali’s metaphor of tying other people into the meaning that we create is particularly exemplified in the purple ribbons of light used in the game of Cat’s Cradle in a visual interpretation linking everyone together in the space. For the duration of the installation, the space became a new meeting point for participants, a place of gathering where the urban community was reaffirmed through engagement via embodied rather than verbal discourse.

interactions

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least to the Renaissance spectaculars of the Italian courts and their light festivals and water feasts, where eyewit-nesses spoke enthusiastically of the dazzling, glittering brilliance of the outdoor theatrical performances and their associated processions. Light was worshipped and represented a triumph of life over death and darkness. Festivals of light invariably begin with darkness, into which light encroaches as a transformative element. The power and subtlety of light as a tool for transformation are inherent in such festivals, long celebrated in societies all over the world. Associations with peace, pleasure, and safety are deeply embedded in the concept of light within these cultural events.

The temporary or permanent lighting of city buildings and areas has developed significantly in recent years. Town planners and regional arts coordinators have increasingly recognized light as having a transformative impact on the urban environment. Today many civic authorities consider light to be one of the main components of their policy for urban development and for enhancing their international influence. Light is used to show off architectural heritage while also playing an important role in improving the quality of life in the city.

The focus of such urban lighting designs has remained largely on the buildings and edifices. The city of Lyon, France, has chosen to use light to make a dramatic urban statement, employing lighting designers to transform more than 200 buildings and public areas into

nocturnal panoramas. York has embarked on a similar program, aiming to animate its historic environment while inspiring and showcasing creative talent.

In “Dancing in the Streets,” we chose to prioritize people and their relationships over the buildings and the urban space. Through sensing the heat of participants’ bodies and then projecting the light sources back onto those bodies in space, we revealed the dynamics of human movement rather than the facets of historic buildings. Thus the interface was dependent upon people moving and interacting with both the light projections and each other. Nathan Shedroff might say that we were making the interface essentially “human [ 3].”

There have been a number of further projects directly related to the original “Dancing in the Streets.” In 2006 the same installation was shown at the Esterni Festival in Rome, but it was less successful due to the fact that it was installed in a larger, more public square, with more ambient light. In the summer of 2006, the football element of the installation was developed into “Five Courts” for Light Night in Northern England. The cities of Bradford, York, Leeds, Hull, and Sheffield each had a projected square football court, and all five courts were networked together.

The sides of each square represented goals into each of the other four cities, so the court in Sheffield had four goals marked “Bradford,” “Hull,” “York,” and “Leeds.” If you kicked a ball into the Hull goal, it would appear in the court in Hull. At the end of a set time period, the winning

Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge their collaborators in this