Program Note
This is a demo of the interactive installation "Only footprints", it is recommended to wear headphones. To start, click on the forest scene above. Then press and hold the spacebar, release at any time. While the distorting process in the full installation is indeterminate in length, this demo is limited to roughly ~6min of distorting.
Only footprints examines how the human occupation of nature inherently begins to destroy it. The inspiration for the work came from hiking in a state park and the sounds of the other hikers drowning out the natural sounds around me. The installation itself consists of a live video projection, live audio, and a camping chair housing a light sensor. The audio component of the work uses recordings of birdcall/song from three extinct (or presumed extinct) birds, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Bachman’s Warbler, and the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō, all of whose extinctions were influenced by loss of habitat to either climate change or direct destruction by humans. The video component consists of a computer generated image of a forest scene with a small brook running through it. When an audience member walks through the space there is only ambient birdsong, but when an audience member “occupies” the space by sitting in the camping chair the projection and audio will begin to progressively distort. When the audience member exits the seat, the scene will immediately revert to its ambient state. The work's title comes from the common hiking/camping axiom “leave only footprints”, meaning to have the only evidence of your excursion be the footprints you leave, not trash or destruction of the natural habitat.