Carr Street in Ipswich came alive Friday night thanks to The Windows Project, which invites artists to use the former Co-op Department Store shopfront as their canvas.

Ipswich Star: Behind the scenes of the installation with Adam Seaman. Picture: Lucy TaylorBehind the scenes of the installation with Adam Seaman. Picture: Lucy Taylor

The idea of CSV Media creative co-ordinator Cad Taylor, it launched with the CSV commissioned Geminate. Funded by the Arts Council in partnership with RECREATE, the interactive installation was created by Ipswich-based video production and projection specialists as described.

With access to UCS’ academic network and help from Nexus Globalnet’s Wil Currie, as described’s artistic directors Jim Horsfield and Adam Seaman have used an Xbox Kinect camera to record images in Ipswich and Lens in northern France.

Plugged into a laptop and then run through custom software patches created by as described, the augmented images are then put out to a projector and live-streamed to Lens where they’re combined with the images taken by an identical set-up there. When people walk past windows in both towns it triggers a moving display of the finished picture in real-time.

“It’s basically a meeting point in created virtual space between Ipswich and France (that) people walking past can play with. Disused shopfronts are a big problem around the UK and they (can be) a canvas for people to (use),” said Seaman.

Taylor has been overwhelmed by the support she’s had.

“So many people came forward to be involved. People feel this part of town is a bit neglected... Tonight, we’ve very easily been able to transform it into the liveliest part of town. The windows are full of films, full of art,” she said.

Geminate runs to December 18 at the former Co-op site, now Age UK Suffolk. Future displays will include projections, artwork, performances, live radio broadcast and more. Want to get involved? Email cadtaylor@gmail.com. Read more about The Windows Project here