Star Catcher is an immersive installation that encourages participants to engage with their environment in a playful and imaginative manner. Using projection and magical objects, the installation creates a simulated night sky that is brimming with an ethereal constellation of stars that participants can catch. Blurring the line between audience and performer, they become symbolically connected to the power of imagination and the wonder of the universe.
Star Catcher explores themes of extraction and collective care, through the metaphor of capturing and releasing stars. This piece invites audiences to reflect on the impact of joint actions on the ecology of a fictional world, emphasizing the consequences of resource exploitation in space. “Star Catcher” encourages collaborative engagement among the audience through collective movement and actions.
Combining responsive projection, virtual reality, interactive lighting sculpture, generative soundscapes, and voiceover narration, Star Catcher creates an engaging journey where audiences become protagonists. The audience is led through an interactive narrative premise and taught to catch stars with interactive celestial nets. The piece underscores the urgent issues of our planet’s dwindling resources, the risks of the space race, and the potential dystopian future from relentless resource extraction in the universe. Star Catcher is accessible to adults, children, and individuals with disabilities.
The artwork resonates with Carl Sagan’s iconic words about our interconnectedness: ‘The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.’ This theme invites audiences to consider the world they wish to shape, emphasizing collective stewardship of our planet and the universe.
Collaborators
- Technical Director / LED Technician: Matt Pinner
- Sound design: Corey Bertelsen, Kevin Doucette
- Animations: Andy Wallace
- Art: Sal Chen
- Voice narration: Adelle Lin, Mitch Heard
