“Discovering Urban Pasts: Activating Archival Material with Site-Specific Urban Media Installation” presented by Stoyanova and Auguiste

Symposium:


Session Title:
  • Mediated Spaces

Presentation Title:
  • Discovering Urban Pasts: Activating Archival Material with Site-Specific Urban Media Installation

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Abstract:

  • Cities are living information systems, undergoing continued evolution and reconfiguration. Most frequently, media in this landscape is aimed at commerce/marketing. However, contemporary technology is increasingly being used to create affective, embodied, and/or meditative experiences that are not primarily commercial in nature. The novelty of this project is in working with local culture bearers and community stakeholders to inject site-specific cultural and historical narratives in the urban landscape. Currently focused on the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, LA, this project uses contemporary technology to draw attention to and to celebrate the many contributions of the historic residents of the oldest black neighborhood in the United States.

    Moreover, by working directly with community stakeholders in the curation and development of these media outcomes, this project intends to outline a model for centering the voices and narratives of underrepresented groups in any urban environment. Finally, these works are part of a larger research project towards the creation of a strong, location-based augmented reality mobile application that also allows individuals to experientially discover the history of a place.

    In this work-in-progress artist talk, I will discuss the successes and challenges of the installations created to date – covering both the technical and the social components of the project. I will also discuss intended plans for both the media installations and the augmented reality component – discussing my work with the Google’s MediaPipe as well as Google’s global localization system.

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