Software on Demand
In the Loop offers visitors a multi-sensory way to explore the intersections of Central Square
not only as coordinates, but as narratives reflecting personal experience. We have created a way to change
how people view and relate to a place that many may already consider familiar. Rather than functioning only
as a guide to outsiders, the project takes on more meaning and function when the visitor has great familiarity
with Central Square. The installation offers visitors a change in perspective during their future encounters
with the neighborhood. This exploration of how we use, talk and think about urban space constitutes our
approach to Psychogeography.
Watch the movie here.
For OpenLab, we chose to create an installation that explored the unique character of Central Square
from the eyes of people who have regular contact with the neighborhood. In realizing the project, we sought
a wide range of locals and asked them to narrate their experiences in Central Square as they stood or walked
through the area. These narrations, in the form of recorded phone calls, are a record of what these streets
and intersections evoke for each person. Using a video camera while listening to the narratives, we retraced
the paths of the contributors creating a sort of video dream that reconstructs the walks. The video footage
was recorded on September 18, weeks after the audio recordings. The floor map allows a user to navigate
through Central Square and find 42 unique stories narrated by 12 individuals.
As creators we had limited knowledge of Central Square and so we derived our initial knowledge from maps
and the location of landmarks. As we made visits to neighborhood and communicated with people with far
greater experience with Central Square, our perspective became infinitely more vibrant and layered. This
installation reflects the layers of understanding that we achieved through our work on the project. The
piece embodies a contrast between knowledge of a map with coordinates and experiential knowledge of a place.
On opening night at Art Interactive a number of the people who had contributed narratives joined us and
many others familiar with Central Square. The interactive play included an area resident triggering
narratives near her home in hopes of catching a glimpse during one of the depicted walks. Other visitors
alternated between gravitating to familiar locations and places that they never spend time. Some
contributors explored other narratives that came close to their own walks. We had one contributor pushed
her button again and again out of sheer delight and disbelief that she was part of the project's larger web
and that other people would hear what she had to say. The combination of ownership and discovery fulfilled
our hope to create something rich for Central Square, Cambridge, which explored the diverse population and
layered complexity of the neighborhood through people's relationship to and use of space.
This project is documented online at the glowlab site.