Immersion, interaction & participation in art & technology

An invitation to dance with your shadow...
A shadow always follows you, what if you follow your shadow?
Your body casts a shadow, but what shape does it take?
Every light causes a shadow, but what if a shadow alters the light?
And if we loose our shadow, do we loose ourselves?

Lost Shadows is a multi-player game with light and shadows. A participant enters the space and is introduced to a set of simple rules for interaction with her own shadow and the shadows of others. Within the space the lights are shifting and with that the shadows.

The game makes the participant aware of her own shadow - a trace in the environment of which one normally isn't so aware. While playing you loose sense of yourself, as you are drawn into the strange shapes a shadow can take.

The setup of Lost Shadows consists of

• a number of DMX-controllable lights, which are aimed at the playing area
• on the floor of the playing area, there is a grid of light sensors
• an adaptive algorithm drives the lights based on the input from the light sensors, creating a shifting pattern of lights and shadows in the playing area
• A sound scape also driven by the input from the light sensors accompanies the experience

Initial idea developed in a blackbox space set up to try out new ideas at a small larp event A Love Piece in Copenhagen in January 2017.

From two initial play tests with a scripted change of lights and discussions with the participants afterwards, the idea is now developed further, adding adaptive algorithms for the lights and light sensors.