The unseen life force of Aotea Square is made visible in I Extend My Arms, an interactive screen-based work that transforms pedestrians, skateboarders, and all who pass through into geometric avatars that move in real time across the larger-than-life Auckland Live Digital Stage, leaving colourful trails in their wake.

Aotea Square is a living organism. Human activity flows through its veins – cars driving to the movie theatre, the criss-crossing of walking paths at the traffic intersection, arm gestures as a story is told. 

I Extend My Arms, rendered live on the larger-than-life Auckland Live Digital Stage screen in Aotea Square, makes this ever-changing life-force visible. People are transformed into geometric avatars that move along the ground – a cube, a sphere, a pyramid. They leave behind coloured walking trails that slowly dissipate over time. This builds an abstract image of everyday life in the area and how its inhabitants change the collective energy of the space over time.

The title of this project takes its cue from artist Claude Cahun’s photograph of the same name (1930). In this photo, a large stone monolith has human arms reaching out – a seemingly inanimate object (like Aotea Square), animated

This work was presented as part of Auckland Arts Festival earlier this year.