Strange Stranger

Drawing upon the notion of a 'data shadow’, the digital profile formed from the traces of information we unintentionally leave behind through our routine interaction with technology, Strange Stranger explores the paradox of how, the more information we have access to, the stranger and more incomprehensible the world seems. It questions the idea of presence in the information age, considering the growing divide between the spaces in which our bodies are situated and the places in which we are active, asking: How can you be present but not here? How can you be here but not present?

Within a grid of three metre high towers, structures appear, transform and vanish into the shadows as light dazzlingly animates this live interactive space. Data from activity inside the installation is captured by motion sensors, leaving traces in the light and altering the subsequent character of the space. A performance by four dancers to Beatrice Dillon’s composition of driving and fracturing rhythms provides the initial data for the installation, placing a ‘shadow’ within the space for the public to encounter as they explore its dynamic forms.

Developed in collaboration with British composer Beatrice Dillon, Dutch duo, Children of the Light (renowned for their stunning lighting designs and scenography for Nicolas Jaar) and Italian creative technologist, Luca Biada.