Tracks - Tidelines Project

My temporary installation for Tidelines will begin with the repetition of a simple formula: visitors to Wynyard Quarter are invited at random to be followed as they walk around North Wharf, making their way over and along the exposed train tracks that run from Silo Park past the Viaduct Events Centre. Each of their steps is transcribed into a unique patterned sequence using Washi masking tape. Every footstep they take is traced, leaving a trail of shapes that map their interaction with the site.

The installation process will be very immediate but the tape lines will last on the ground for many weeks. The participants' meandering routes will give a playful randomness and a paced rhythm to the formation of patterned lines on the ground. Gradually, over a series of days, these plotted tracks will layer and accumulate to suggest the swarm of bustling activity to be found on the waterfront. Made visible, these plotted journeys will display the way people consciously and unconsciously navigate around other pedestrians, over the historical railroad tracks and towards the many points of attraction along the newly redeveloped and now more accessible site.

Tracks temporarily picks out a small sample of the many multitudes of footsteps that have fallen along the historic wharf over time. The work will create a tangible contrast between the permanence of the old metal railway tracks and the ephemeral passing of people over them. This places each individual's passage within a legacy of layered human interaction that has unfolded on this site over time.

The installation aims to prompt everyone, from tourists to workers to local residents, to become more physically aware of their movements within these surroundings. As each individual step is highlighted the movement of human bodies becomes a measure for transcribing space and the fall of footsteps on this reclaimed land becomes more visible as one of the many means of traversing the Waitemātā Harbour.

Special thanks to TapeSpec.

Aerial shot:
Veronica Herber, Landform, 2km super-sized Masking Tape, 4000+ wire staples,60 x 40m. Photo Copyright Andrea Haumer.