Technology fitted into street lights in Bristol captures people as they walk underneath and then plays back an image of the person for other pedestrians to see. Photo: Toby Farrow/PA WireA new public art installation in Bristol launched last week is to record people’s shadows and play them back for others to interact with.
For six weeks technology fitted into street lights will capture people as they walk underneath and then play back an image of the person for other pedestrians to see.
The commission, called Shadowing, by Jonathan Chomko and Matthew Rosier, has won the Playable City Award which aims to use technology to connect people.
The precise locations of each of the eight installations is being kept secret so people can discover them for themselves, but all are in pedestrianised areas of the city.
A map pointing to general areas where they can be found will be published on the website for the Watershed arts venue, which is behind the Playable City Award.
If nobody passes by for a time, the street light goes into a “dream state” which triggers the installation to play a history of shadows for people to watch.
Chomko said: “Shadowing is an open invitation to the people of Bristol to come and play in the shadows of the city, leaving traces of themselves behind, and encountering the traces of people they have never met.
We hope that people will enjoy discovering something truly extraordinary hidden within the fabric of their everyday surroundings
“We’re not releasing exact locations of the Shadowing street lights, as we want this experience to meld into the everyday – not necessarily a destination, but something along the way.
“We hope that people will enjoy discovering something truly extraordinary hidden within the fabric of their everyday surroundings.”
At the end of the six-week period Shadowing will be taken on tour internationally.