We Are Stardust — by George LeGrady — is a two-screen projection installation that uses infrared sensors to connect the real-time location of the audience in the exhibition gallery with the total vastness of space. It is part of CODE Live at the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad Festival.

Based on data and observations of the sky collected by the sun-orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope from 2003 to 2008, over 36,000 observations are represented and projected in a five-hour cycle. Simultaneously, a FLIR thermal sensing infrared surveillance camera repositions its gaze on the audience based on the positions of the Spitzer’s observations. As one screen represents this galaxy as it evolves, the other screen, using a similar sensing device, represents the changing space within the installation itself. The universe is projected and visualized, and the exhibition space records the spectator’s thermal presence and actions, creating a work of art that is truly universal and local at the same time. We are Stardust reminds us of how small we really are, yet how interconnected we can be beyond what we can normally see with the human eye.