undertoe is a fully immersive, interactive environment which traces the invisible vibrations of participants’ footsteps visibly into a pool of water above their heads. Wherever the viewer steps, water ripples out from directly above where their foot landed. Soft light passing through the undulating water illuminates bands of light and dark on the space’s walls and floor. As more participants cross the threshold into undertoe, their waves disperse and dissipate over time, interfering with one another, and emerging as ever more complex waveforms.

undertoe is the experience of walking on water and watching yourself from beneath the surface. It re-presents the imperceptible currents of vibration our bodies unwittingly produce; these are sensed by the piece and transduced into water - a medium that slows down and re-embodies this resonance as perceptible. Our sweeping effects slowly creep across the water’s surface, and perform potential interactions with other bodies in space.

undertoe is an experiment in material memory, shared affectivity and the realm of the intangible.

details:

The sculpture itself is a suspended blue tank, four by seven meters, in an even larger room with wooden floors and a marked-out interactive area. The space is charged, light refracting through the water, revealing its surface tension. A first step across the threshold onto one of the interactive pads results in a faint hum, and then waves in the water overhead. As the water ripples out, light bands itself across the room, redoubling its energy. Each step produces another hum and more waves just above where you step. If you stomp harder or softer, the waves themselves seem to form longer and shorter ripples - each combining and reforming with the last. You can tiptoe or jump, fall or run.

If more participants enter the space, the moving water in undertoe’s tank erupts outward from them, seemingly taking long strides towards you across the room. You can respond in kind, using the floor to send out signals that answer or disrupt, or you can venture a more collaborative effort; two or more carefully choreographed individuals working in tandem, whether from across the room or side by side, can create improbable and beautiful forms in the body of water above. The constantly changing light and shadow in the room only act to accent the delicacy of your collaboration…

undertoe’s participants may experience it as a moving landscape, an enveloping kinetic sculpture, an intimate collaboration, a complex and elaborate dance, or a playful game of tag.

see undertoe’s technical specifications at undertoe.org
undertoe was initially conceptualized in collaboration with greg shakar