“NONUMENT 01::McKeldin Fountain” by Lisa Moren, Neja Tomšič, Jaimes Mayhew, Martin Bricelj Baraga

Title:

NONUMENT 01::McKeldin Fountain

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Medium:

Augmented reality monument

Artist Statement:

NONUMENT01:: McKeldin Fountain is the first augmented reality [AR] monument in Baltimore Maryland’s Inner Harbor and free speech zone. The egalitarian nonument or “no monument” recreates the destroyed Brutalist-style monument where citizens can put back the fountain and experience first- hand memories of the activities from ordinary activities to numerous protests including uprisings following the death of Freddie Gray, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ issues and Occupy Baltimore. The story of McKeldin Fountain is part of the escalating privatization of public spaces worldwide, a trend that continues to diminish access to full participation and free speech for ordinary people in everyday urban life. This socially engaged intervention is an ambitious take on the latest AR technology in order to address the politics of reclaiming public space including: how public behavior is controlled by a variety of mechanisms?, and, who has more exclusive access to what spaces? When viewers hold up a mobile device like a protest sign, the participant will put back the fountain with 18 animated waterfalls including an infamous double waterfall. Viewers will see and hear documented interviews and “whisper chambers” of underrepresented voices in Baltimore City that are often unheard but significant to the life of an urban environment.

Sponsors:

This project is grateful for the generous support from the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film + Media at Johns Hopkins University, The Andy Warhol Foundation for The Visual Arts, The Grit Fund [Contemporary Museum], the Imaging Research Center and CAHSS at UMBC (University of Maryland – Baltimore County, USA).