[Y]ourspace v.1 & v.2

Collaboration with: Stefani Bardin, Nicholas Bruscia, and Gautam Malik.

Version 1 of [Y]our Space riffed off of Henri Lefebvre and Guy Debord’s notion that the way in which we inhabit a city can bring about change, and we endeavored to carve out and define [Y]our space within downtown Buffalo. We created a representational space using the blank, bare, and bland wall of video rental store and a second conceptual space was created using a digital projector, and camera mounted to an automobile. Projections on the wall repopulated the city, creating new modes civic engagements and interactions through a layered video of recorded public footage to create a crowd space.

Version 2 of [Y]ourspace uses location specific sound toward a phenomenological under sting of shared public spaces. Senses Pallasmaa writes that, “Sight isolates, whereas sound incorporates; vision is directional, sound is omni-directional”. Inspired by this reference we had developed a prototype for a wearable context sensitive aural device named the 8bit Hoodie. Embedded with geo-spatial technology (GPS, GIS) audio speakers, and micro-processors the individual wearing the digital attire (the player) navigates the liminal data space beyond perception. The same statistical information that partitions the city into zones predicated on census data which measures socio-economic conditions. The information that emerges from this imbrication are non-visible zones of each district that reveal locations of danger, safety, peacefulness, poverty and wealth. 8–bit sound bytes are then assigned to each zone – a sensible reduction in which a minimal aesthetic is employed for navigational purposes only. This non-visible rezoning takes place in the aural arena, exploiting what Pallasmaa says about sound providing the temporal continuum in which visual impressions are embedded.

Links:
Silent Agenda