Leave A Trace

May 15, 2022

9:14 p.m.

Online

Free for UCI Students

Launching on May 15, 2022 at 9:14 p.m. PDT in conjunction with a total lunar eclipse of the full Flower Moon, "Leave a Trace" is a new online participatory artwork, emerging at a time when many students are interested in creating mementos of their time at UC Irvine. The objective of the project is to empower people to "leave a trace" of their presence on campus by using their mobile devices to capture a short video or still image of their personal engagement with one or more specific locations on the UCI campus. An online portal accepts videos and images uploaded by students and other participants, transforming the submissions into a series of ever-changing video artworks with characteristics responding to the locations.

The creative team consists of John Crawford (UCI faculty), Jes DeVille (guest artist) and JoVia Armstrong (UCI graduate student), who are filming a series of environmental dance and music segments called sitefilms at significant outdoor locations on the UCI campus. The sitefilm locations include Aldrich Park (e.g., special trees, rock features), Jao Family Sculpture Garden, Infinity Fountain and Water Table Fountain, among others. The dance segments are choreographed and performed by Jes DeVille, with particular attention to eco-embodiment and environmental engagment. The musical soundscape is composed and performed by JoVia Armstrong, including interactive elements that respond to movement data captured by sensors during the performances on location. Director John Crawford's custom software employs machine intelligence and computer animation techniques to complete the sitefilms, combining dance and music with video processing that responds to the movement captured on location.

On viewing the sitefilms on the "Leave A Trace" online portal, students are prompted to visit the locations for each film to record their own short video or capture images that respond to some aspect of that particular place, perhaps inspired by some aspect of the related sitefilm. They can access an online portal to upload videos and images. Through an automated process, Crawford's intermedia software system combines the submissions into a continuous dance and music montage, resulting in a continually growing representation of participants and their contributions to the project. All submissions are curated for appropriate content prior to being published online.

The "Leave A Trace" project is co-produced by Emergent Media Research Group and Eco ArtLab, and is made possible by generous support from UCI Illuminations.

More info: trace.artlab.eco/uci/