Sep 20, 2007
street screens
I attended the Scott McQuire presentation recently tilted ‘MOBILITY, COSMOPOLITANISM AND PUBLIC SPACE IN THE MEDIA CITY’. Which was part of the RMIT ARCHITECTURE + PHILOSOPHY PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES. Part of his summary:
What happens when the TV screen leaves home and moves out into the street? Public space in the 21st century is increasingly shaped by interactions between media platforms and architectural structures. The result is the formation of media-architecture complexes which are fast coalescing into ‘media cities’.
It was a comprehensive presentation on this subject matter and it provided me with a strong reminder of using historical context to set up an argument or even as a thorough way to present your research. The talk had particular relevance to my own research as there was direct connections with video and screens, which meant I could refer to the presentation as a model for talking about online video. Scott showed historically the development of large public screens in a simple clear way, which provided the perspective he needed to discuss his particular research interests on these types of screens in a more contemporary context. His project ARC funded also demonstrated the background and clarity that is needed to explain that type of research publically. Practice references that interested me was the artistRafael Lozano-Hemmer work alzado vectorial; Repositioning Fear; underscan.
During the talk I was attracted to the terminology and phrases used to describe what is happening in this area. I jotted down ones of interest, almost from a semi-poetic perspective. Some of these quotes are Scott’s and they are mixed in with other theorists that he quoted in the presentation (they are in order from start to end):
adept dwellings
mobile and variable
computer city
mass customisation
user-directed feedback
brainscape
control space
traceable record
electronic footprint
surveillance society
spatial mobility
consumption profiles
digital networking
interconnected systems
data circulation
crowd circulation
commodity display
experimental interfaces
personal participation
collective engagement
collective choreography
encounters with strangers
visual voice
shared experience
media dense spaces