The project connects deeply with the concepts of environmental and human relations. It invokes questions about our current understanding of the spaces we inhabit, and how we might reimagine these relations in a fluid, dynamic digital context. The Newcastle and Tyne river, and its broader environmental system, serve as a symbolic reference for how communities relate to their surroundings. The project also draws parallels to the Ukrainian experience, creating a dialogue between localised environments and larger, global narratives of displacement, transformation, and reconnection.

We Are Points Floating Around is an exploration of the complex relationships between humanity and its environment, as captured and abstracted through a combination of depth camera sensing and generative computation. The core of this work lies in converting the physical world into a point cloud, a digital space of floating data points representing human movement and the surrounding environment. Using depth-sensing technology, the real-world is transformed into a virtual environment, where every movement and interaction generates a continuous flow of points, dynamically rendered within a generative ecosystem built in the computer programme Unity.

The project explores themes of disconnection and reconnection, drawing from the methodology of deterritorialization, where established territories and boundaries are dissolved and redefined. In this case, the human body and environment are deterritorialized into a fluid digital space, reforming within a generative framework that reflects new kinds of social, physical and environmental connections.

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The process begins with a depth camera that captures the environment and human movements. This sensor generates a point cloud, which consists of thousands of floating points in 3D space. Each point represents a unique aspect of the captured environment, whether it be a surface, a body or an object. These points are then processed and interpreted by a generative system in Unity, which re-visualises them within a dynamic environment.

In this generative environment, the point cloud evolves in real-time, responding to movement patterns, proximity, and spatial orientation. The Unity engine serves as the computational space where the points are not only rendered but manipulated using custom formulas, including Gaussian splatting and wave collapse functions. This creates an immersive visual experience where the user can interact with and feel part of this new liminal digital space.

Drawing from photogrammetry techniques, such as those used in bridge research, and point cloud methods, the project pushes the boundaries of how digital spaces can reflect, reshape and reimagine the material world. The 3D scans of environments are merged into the point cloud, forming a hybrid space where real-world geography and speculative generative elements coexist.

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By converting the material world into floating points, We Are Points Floating Around suggests a speculative future where physical boundaries dissolve, leaving us as points—free to float, connect, and form new realities.

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(Re)Grounding is a partnership between IZOLYATSIA (Ukraine), D6:EU (Cyprus) and D6: Culture in Transit (UK). 

The programme is supported by: the UK/UA Creative Partnerships programme created by the British Council in partnership with the Ukrainian Institute; European Cultural Foundation; Arts Council England; the Paul Hamlyn Foundation; the Cyprus Department of Contemporary Culture of Deputy Ministry; the Goethe-Institut Zypern; the NewBridge Project; Vsesvit, and EKATE (Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts).