Last night, we headed to Testing Grounds for the dinner party that we had been talking about in the past few weeks. We were going to try out Joseph’s backpack projectors, and all of us were pretty excited about that.

By having the dinner party at a place such as this, it made me think about how we might reuse a place for our own purposes. I took several photos to illustrate the environment that we were in. On a wall right next to the electric blue TESTING GROUNDS sign, was a lovely projection setup. It reminded me of the Wednesday Night Market – they, too, have weekly projections of old movies, sometimes the silent kind, and people could gather around to watch short films from long ago while feasting on whatever night market goodies they could lay their hands on.

It was a lovely night, complete with food – each person was required to bring something to the table – and a barbecue pit as well. There was salad, fruits, hot sausages, and even a homemade cake topped with bright blue icing, chocolates, and lollies.

We sat on plastic chairs around the little bonfires, enjoying the music and embracing the cold that came along with it. All was well, and it was a very pleasant evening.

It then came the time for us to try out Joseph’s projection backpacks. I admit to not quite knowing what I could project for that night, so I chucked in a random selection of photos and videos that I had.

When the time came for us to head out in the cold to try out the totally cool and advanced – excuse my use of simple language – projection backpacks, Dea managed the gadget while I helped take some video footage with her camera. It was cooler than I expected, as we projected different images and videos onto various places.

As I reflected on the evening, I thought about how different visuals are capable of reacting with a particular environment and the various meanings that could be concocted out of it. Apart from that, the use of different textures and shapes in which we projected on could too be something of consideration. It was an eye-opening exploration piece, and it was something that we were left to think about in regards to space and place, and the way in which it was utilised.

The entire evening was both enjoyable and interesting, and it ended with Jordan presenting us with a short musical accompaniment on the outdoor piano that had a spot at a quiet corner of Testing Grounds.