Footnote join Jesse Austin-Stewart, Sabrina Lawson, Stuart Foster, and Jon He for the interactive spatial installation Elastic Proximity, as part of the Performance Arcade 2026 Container Series.

Elastic Proximity is an interactive spatial installation that reanimates archival field recordings from urban sites, resituating them within a new sensory ecology. Three standing objects, each a sentient node of sound and light, respond to the presence and movement of bodies in space.  As visitors approach, dormant atmospheres awaken: traffic hums become harmonic pulses, air vents translate into tone, memory turns acoustic. Through proximity sensors, spatial sound, and colour-coded illumination, the work compresses distance, inviting audiences to slip between place and time, and turns the sculptures into agentic participants with the audience.

The work investigates how sound archives function as portals, teleporting listeners into different spaces and times while interacting with audiences, anchoring them in the present moment. Elastic Proximity invites listeners to interact with disconnected moments through spatial encounter; hearing with the body, moving through the past, and shaping an environment that listens back.

Performance info

Wellington Waterfront

Free entry

Performance times:

Saturday 28th Feb

2pm-2:30pm Levi Siosi

4pm-4:30pm Ella Williams

6pm-6:30pm Levi Siaosi

8pm-8:30pm Ella Williams

Sunday 1st March

2pm-2:30pm Airu Matsuda

4pm-4:30pm Cecilia Wilcox

6pm-6:30pm Airu Matsuda

8pm-8:30pm Cecilia Wilcox