Football and art, though often seemingly worlds apart, share a deep connection – evoking human expression and emotion. Internationally renowned artist Ryan Gander sought to explore how the integration of technology could combine art and football to create a playful exhibition at this year’s Manchester International Festival (MIF).
Collaborating with innovative AV technology leader Naostage, Gander was one of six artists to work with football stars – including Manchester United’s Eric Cantona, Lioness Ella Toone and Edgar Davids – to create Football City, Art United, an interactive group exhibition conceived by World Cup and Champions League winner Juan Mata.
Using Naostage’s K SYSTEM, Privileges of Hindsight 2025 allowed a spotlight to dynamically track visitors throughout the gallery, creating an interactive, ever-changing experience. This gave visitors the ability to envision the spotlight their favourite football hero is placed under – and reflect on the emotions this might have.
The collaboration began through discussions with Ryan Gander and his studio, Holly Shuttleworth’s team for Factory International and Naostage’s team, focusing on a concept that merges cutting-edge technology with artistic vision. The project called for a spotlight capable of automatically tracking visitors as they move through a space, following each individual until they exit, and then engaging with the next visitor entering the gallery. The system adapts fluidly to multiple viewers in the space, creating a playful and unpredictable interaction.
The installation needed to feel simple, plug-and-play, and adaptable to a variety of gallery spaces. Both Naostage and Ryan Gander’s team were very committed to ensuring this became a full-fledged artwork, and Naostage’s K SYSTEM provided the precise technology needed to bring this vision to life.
The project was initially tested at Ryan Gander Studio, Solid House in early 2023, allowing the team to refine the system’s capabilities before installation at MIF. Testing at the studio provided the opportunity to calibrate the tracking behaviour and ensure the spotlight responded seamlessly to visitor movement.
Installation was executed by 2B Heard, Naostage’s UK distributor, using two KAPTA units to cover the exhibition space. The K SYSTEM, with its beaconless tracking capabilities and intuitive KRATOS interface, enabled conditional logic scripting to control spotlight behaviour—allowing the light to switch between targets, follow visitors precisely, and adapt dynamically to multiple people in the gallery. Naostage’s technology removed the technical limitations often associated with traditional interactive tracking systems, giving the exhibition an easy-to-use, reliable platform to realise a creative vision that would have been extremely complex to achieve otherwise.
The success of this project has informed future development at Naostage and opens the door for further international artistic exhibitions, demonstrating the K SYSTEM’s versatility beyond traditional AV applications. “The public reaction has been incredible,” added Alexis Reymond, CSO at Naostage. “Visitors were delighted and often amused to realise they were being followed by the spotlight, bringing a sense of wonder and engagement to the gallery experience.”
