Hi GH and List,
Great story about your path to smart-phone geographic enlightenment around
NYC. I can definitely picture you wandering around having this
experience/performance. Too bad you didn't have a smart phone to document
it ;)
Thanks for mentioning Lucy Pawlak. She has some unique strategies for
bridging the screen/cinematic with the physical when she passes out objects
in a paper bag for viewers to use during her video-accompanied live
performances. http://www.lucypawlak.com/ I have not seen her performances
myself but know others on the list have... I would be interested to hear more
about her work in relation to this topic if anyone has seen it live.
Jonah discussed "the hybrid relationships we have between physical
interfaces and digital interfaces". I wonder about this in my own
practice, in which I build unique/custom physical interfaces that act as a
bridge between the human "user" and the code. I consider channels of
transmission between code, body and object and how the written code is
moving from the artist's intent (all the while altering that intent as it
is written, then run) through a custom object (such as wool felted
strawberries and a pin/receipt printer in my *Witch Pricker* project), then
it is interpreted by the body of the visitor. In *Witch Pricker *(
http://blurringartandlife.com/vb/witchPricker.html ), a printed receipt
includes a QR code that the visitor can use to find a website displaying
the names and images of the "witches" they have found (
http://blurringartandlife.com/witchpricker/found4.html ). Here, they
encounter a browser-based version of the work that indicates that they can
take their receipt to the gallery desk to redeem it for chocolate coins,
another folding-back of the physical into the equation and another
level/type of code. *Witch Pricker *applies a variety of coded contexts
that meet the body of the visitor in different ways.
Victoria
On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 2:15 PM, gh hovagimyan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi List,
>
> I had a curious thing happen to me the other day that was very telling.
> I have an old cellphone that I use. It's not networked. I rarely use it so
> I use a pay as you go plan.
> I buy a thousand minutes for $100 dollars and it lasts a year.
> On the day in question, I was returning from a chore and was running to
> get to a panel discussion.
> I was one of the guest speakers. I had written down the address of the
> gallery on a piece of paper that I left on my desk at home.
> I also forgot my cellphone. Since I am of a certain age I thought, I
> would simply go to a pay phone and call information. Then I realized
> there are no more pay phones!
> Then I thought, maybe I can ask someone on the street, if they would call
> for me, they all had cellphones and were walking down the street staring at
> them. Then I thought, no that's too weird.
> People wold take offense. Desperate, I thought well maybe if I ask someone
> to google the gallery. That was a good plan but It necessitated me engaging
> someone on the street. I thought, maybe there's an internet cafe or
> someplace I could log on for a moment. Finally I formulated a plan, I
> thought if I went to a bar/restaurant maybe someone would help me. I
> walked into a bar walked to the back where there was a dining area and
> looked for a phone booth. A waiter came up to me and asked if he could help
> me. I asked if there was a pay phone. He said there's one in the back but
> it doesn't work! I thanked him and was about to leave when he opened a
> drawer and pulled out a smart phone. He said you can use this.
> I then coyly asked if it was a smart phone and if he would google the
> galleries name to get the address. He said ok and while he was searching he
> said he knows the gallery and its a couple of blocks down the street.
> That particular experience illustrates how we interact and perceive the
> world. The human thing is to ask a person if they know where an address is.
> The early tech thing is to phone information and our current situation is
> to use GPS and Google. In a very fundamental way this can become a basis
> for a performance.
>
--
Victoria Bradbury
[log in to unmask]
PROJECTS
www.victoriabradbury.com
Researcher at CRUMB
www.crumbweb.org
New Media Caucus
Communications Committee
www.newmediacaucus.org
|