27 May LAYERS OF PLACE: A conversation about augmenting public space to reframe and reveal the stories of place

Posted at 16:43h in Past Lectures by

Documentaries have long helped us to challenge dominant narratives and to see the world anew. They have explored the “real” by bringing its images and sounds to the screen, radio, mobile phone, or VR headset.  In these conversations, we want to consider a different approach that is less about bringing the world to the participant, and more about bringing the participant into the world.   We will explore how artists today are appending information directly onto public places and spaces, using augmentation technologies to carry on the documentary mission.  From audio walks to projections to holograms, we will consider how the act of layering virtual media in physical environments changes our relationship to place. How can accessible media technologies and techniques enhance inclusivity, giving voice to more people and bringing to light stories that are hidden, buried, and left out of dominant narratives of place?  What role can augmentation play in reframing how and what we see in physical public spaces?  Can we use it to radically reimagine our condition and to generate dialogues within, between, and beyond communities?

The Art of Augmenting Public Spaces and Places with Stories and Technologies
Tuesday | 6/15/21 | 12PM – 1:30PM EST
An interdisciplinary group of pioneering artists including Jackson 2bears,​ Halsey Burgund, Glenn Cantave, and Tamiko Thiel will discuss the aesthetics, audiences and ethics of working with and within communities to augment public spaces and places with new meanings, stories, and voices. Moderated by ODL director Sarah Wolozin.

Watch the panel.

Bringing Communities Together by Augmenting Places with Stories, Voices, and Technologies
Tuesday | 6/22/21 | 12PM – 1:30PM EST
An interdisciplinary group of artists, scholars, and civic leaders including artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, cultural strategist Shey Rivera Ríos, planner and futurist Lafayette Cruise, and filmmaker Carla Bishop will discuss the potentials and challenges of augmenting places within communities and with stories to build bridges and bring people together. What policies, strategies, and environments are needed to make them work?  Moderated by civic media scholar Benjamin Stokes.​

Watch the panel.

Session Details and Panelist Bios

The Art of Augmenting Public Spaces and Places with Stories and Technologies
Tuesday | 6/15/21 | 12PM – 1:30PM EST
An interdisciplinary group of pioneering artists including Jackson 2bears,​ Halsey Burgund, Glenn Cantave, and Tamiko Thiel will discuss the aesthetics, audiences and ethics of working with and within communities to augment public spaces and places with new meanings, stories, and voices. Moderated by ODL director Sarah Wolozin.

Jackson 2bears is a Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) multimedia installation/ performance artist and cultural theorist from Six Nations and Tyendinaga, who is currently based in Lethbridge Alberta, Canada—Treaty 7, Blackfoot Territory. Since 1999, 2bears has exhibited his work extensively across Canada in public galleries, museums and artist-run centres, as well as internationally in festivals and group exhibitions.

Halsey Burgund is a sound artist and technologist whose work focuses on the combination of modern technologies – from mobile phones to artificial intelligence – with fundamentally human “technologies”, primarily language, music and the spoken voice. He is the creator of Roundware, the open source contributory audio AR platform.

Glenn Cantave is an activist, performance artist, and social entrepreneur. Past pieces include running the NYC Marathon in Chains, a slave auction pop/up AR exhibit, and a fast for the duration of Black History Month 2020 calling for a more equitable blueprint of NYC. Glenn has been advocating for equitable representation in public spaces since 2017. He is a Camelback Fellow, TED Resident, and former artist in residence at Eyebeam.

Tamiko Thiel is an internationally recognized digital media artist who explores the interplay of place, space, the body and cultural identity in works encompassing an AI supercomputer, objects, digital prints, videos, interactive 3d virtual worlds (VR), augmented reality and deepfake AI installations as both gallery installations and as art in public space or on the Internet.

Sarah Wolozin is director of the MIT Open Documentary Lab, where she develops and oversees lab projects, operations, and collaborations. She is the founder and editorial director of Docubase, co-founder and a member of the editorial collective of Immerse, and co-founder of the Co-Creation Studio.

Bringing Communities Together by Augmenting Places with Stories, Voices, and Technologies
Tuesday | 6/22/21 | 12PM – 1:30PM EST

An interdisciplinary group of artists, scholars, and civic leaders including filmmaker Carla Bishop, urban planner Lafayette Cruise, artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and interdisciplinary artist Shey Rivera Ríos will discuss the potentials and challenges of augmenting places within communities and with stories to build bridges and bring people together. What policies, strategies, and environments are needed to make them work?  Moderated by civic media scholar Benjamin Stokes. 

Carla Bishop is a filmmaker and Assistant Professor in Digital Storytelling at The University of Oklahoma. Her work explores ways that media can be used to bring communities together and promote social change. From Denton, Texas to thirteen all-Black towns in Oklahoma, she has been using in-school workshops and community residencies to promote intergenerational conversations, create local archival strategies, and develop skills in geo-tagging, augmented reality, 360 video, and documentary storytelling techniques.

Lafayette Cruise is an urban planner and futurist. He leverages the radical imagination and world building capabilities of speculative fiction and the multi-disciplinary, strategic implementation tools of urban planning in order to imagine, plan, and build a more just, liberating, and sustainable future.  He currently serves as Arts Strategist for AI for the People. He’s an active member, writer and facilitator with the Guild of Future Architects, and has worked in urban planning and governance in Chicago, New York City, and Wisconsin.

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is a media artist working at the intersection of architecture and performance art. He creates platforms for public participation using technologies such as robotic lights, digital fountains, computerized surveillance, media walls, and telematic networks. Inspired by phantasmagoria, carnival, and animatronics, his light and shadow works are “antimonuments for alien agency”.

Shey Rivera Ríos (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist, cultural strategist, and arts administrator. Their artistic creations span a myriad of topics, from home to capitalism to queerness and magic. Rivera has 11 years of experience in the nonprofit arts sector where they combined their creative practice interests with urban planning and racial equity. Rivera has a BA in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR-Rio Piedras), and graduate studies in Contemporary Media and Culture from the University of the Sacred Heart, Puerto Rico.

Benjamin Stokes is a civic media scholar, game designer, and director of The Playful City Lab. He is also an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at American University, and at the AU Game Center. Previously, he co-founded Games for Change, the movement hub for advancing social change with games. His new book is Locally Played: Real-World Games for Stronger Places and Communities (MIT Press, 2020).