NONUMENT 01::McKeldin Fountain
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Presentation Title:
- NONUMENT 01::McKeldin Fountain
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Abstract:
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.
Project Team: Lisa Moren, Director and Co-Production; Jaimes Mayhew, Co-Production; Martin Bricelj Baraga and Neja Tomšič, NONUMENT founders; development by Balti-Virtual; music by Erik Spangler with “Whisper Chambers” by JMoney fur and “Artist Audio Tour” and additional audio engineering by Lexie Mountain and Timothy Nohe; 3D models by Ben Shaffer and by Ryan Zuber, IRC at UMBC (University of Maryland – Baltimore County, USA). Nonument01.org
