1. Pac Manhattan New York April 2004 Pac-Manhattan is a large-scale urban game that utilizes the New York City grid to recreate the 1980's video game sensation Pac-Man. A player dressed as Pac-man will run around the Washington square park area of Manhattan while attempting to collect all of the virtual "dots" that run the length of the streets. Four players dressed as the ghosts Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde will attempt to catch Pac-man before all of the dots are collected. Using cell-phone contact, Wi-Fi internet connections, and custom software designed by the Pac-Manhattan team, Pac-man and the ghosts will be tracked from a central location and their progress will be broadcast over the internet for viewers from around the world.
2. Adobe Interactive Wall Union Sq. New York July 2007 Interactive wall in Union Square. The display grants the closest passerby control of a slider button on the bottom that manipulates what's projected based on their walking speed and direction, producing different effects in the animation. It also reacts incidentally to the crowd around it, which should make the glorious pedestrian congestion in that area even more awesome.
3. Creative Commons Online Ongoing Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. Creative Commons has been described as being at the forefront of the copyleft movement, which seeks to support the building of a richer public domain by providing an alternative to the automatic "all rights reserved" copyright , dubbed "some rights reserved." Beyond that, Creative Commons has provided "institutional, practical and legal support for individuals and groups wishing to experiment and communicate with culture more freely”.
4. Potion Café Ongoing Bushwick, NY A café on McKibbin St. in Brooklyn, which is a thriving hub of the mainly arty/musicy/hippy crowd that lives in the area. While it does have an owner and prices, it is largely run by volunteers who work for an hour or two to pay for food/coffee if they cannot afford it. But if no volunteers were present to work, then you were welcome to help yourself and pay (saving money by not having to tip yourself). As they say themselves “We are proud to support organic growers, fairtrade and local businesses. They provide homemade fine and 'slow food' dishes. We aim to create a forum for creative minds, whether its critiquing the featured art on the walls, discussing the anarchist model for your future eco-village or just plain enjoying someone bringing our old piano back to life at the Monday open mic.
5. Walking Down O’Connell Street Dublin Jan –Nov 2008 Some new magnificent sights on Dublin’s main thoroughfare are the big walking LED people. This is the work of renowned artist Julian Opie. It’s like the characters on the pedestrian crossings as animated giants, walking but going nowhere. A selection of installations line the central aisle of O’Connell Street and outside the Hugh Lane Gallery on Parnell Square. Their names are Sara, Julian, Jack and Suzanne.
6. Mobile Shadow Projection Theater Minnesota August 2009 Mobile Shadow Projection Theater is a series of urban projection performances. Andrea Steudel has collaborated with numerous artists to assemble and deploy a portable projection system tailored for shadow puppetry and live-drawing. Critical to this venture is custom performance software created by Ali Momeni. It is deployed ubiquitously in the public sphere; on city structures and landscape.
7. Grafitti Research Lab Several years, based in NY, projects worldwide Graffitti Research Lab is an art group dedicated to outfitting graffiti writers, artists and protesters with open source technologies for urban communication. The members of the group experiment in a lab and in the field to develop and test a range of experimental technologies. They document those efforts with video documentation and DIY instructions for each project and make it available for everybody.
8. Rossecourt, Stewart’s West Dublin Nov 2008 ongoing Stewarts Foundation presents a new model of social interaction, in an integrated community development in Balgaddy in West Dublin. Featuring Primary Schools, Adult Education and Vocational Training facilities, as well as Residential and Retail accommodation, this new development has been built as part of an overall residential development containing 254 privately owned residential units. Working in partnership with FÁS and with the Health Service Executive, Stewarts is promoting this new and dynamic approach to integration by creating a new community to meet the social, educational and cultural needs of all. Main thing I want to highlight here is the restaurant that is run as a part of Stewarts Hospital that is a supported working environment for people with intellectual disabilities so the focus isn't on making money, rather connecting with the community so it can operate without being a fully viable business.
9. Life Underground NY subway stop 14 th St & 8 th Ave, 2000 to present An installation by artist Tom Otterness called Life Underground features bronze sculptures emerging from the floors and playing along the ceilings of the station. Tom Otterness's "Life Underground" has emerged as one of the most popular pieces of subway art in the system. Regular riders doubtless noticed that installation took several years, owing to long disputes with bureaucrats. Otterness now creates exclusively public works and like other poublic artists -- Christo and Jeanne-Claude come to mind -- he considers dickering with officials part of the creative process. In the meantime, parts of this installation appeared all over town, from Central Park to Battery Park City to Downtown Brooklyn and Pratt Institute. The entire installation, as Otterness conceived it, is now in place.
10. Vertical Gardens, one example of many Variety locations, 2008 ongoing A green wall is a wall, either free-standing or part of a building, that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and, in some cases, soil or an inorganic growing medium. The vegetation for a green façade is always attached on outside walls; with living walls this is also usually the case, although some living walls can also be green walls for interior use. Green walls are found most often in urban environments where the plants reduce overall temperatures of the building which in turn reduces energy consumption. Living walls may also be a means for water reuse. Living walls are particularly suitable for cities, as they allow good use of available vertical surface areas. The living wall could also function for urban agriculture or urban gardening . It may be built as a work of art for its beauty. It is sometimes built indoors to help cure sick building syndrome .
11. Chinese Lantern Festival Ancient – present, mainly China, but also other countries A Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunar year in the Chinese calendar . During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night to temples carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns. In ancient times, the lanterns were fairly simple, for only the emperor and noblemen had large ornate ones; in modern times, lanterns have been embellished with many complex designs. For example, lanterns are now often made in shapes of animals. “A gathering in which the primary focus is not the glimpse of a sports prize, or of Santa, but derives in large part from the crowd itself- the pleasure gained from being part of a large number of people with a roughly common aim.” Pip Cheshire, Auckland
12. Bluejacking Last few years, worldwide Bluetooth enables devices within a few metres of each other to exchange information wirelessly -- a technology that users with Bluetooth-enabled mobiles are making the most of to send text messages to strangers anonymously.This drive-by messaging has been dubbed 'bluejacking'. It can be permissions based, user initiated, and interactive. It needs to be location based. It can allow users connect to a specific point and upload/download information. This can be location specific.
13. Umbrella.net 2006-2009 Trinity College UMBRELLA.net is an experimental platform for developing ad-hoc networks based around coincidence or chance occurrences. This approach is meant to challenge traditional conceptions of how networks form and function by correlating their existence to circumstances beyond people’s direct control. It establishes a visual footprint of a network in public space and creates a framework for sharing localized information among connected nodes.
14. Oscillating Windows Trinity, Dublin but also workshops in New York 2004 (ish) An application for close-proximity network communication. The project uses physical co-location, proximity, and group interaction to move a digital image from one location to another. With this project we explore the concept of 'enforced cooperation' and the effect it has on the spatial and social behavior of individuals in public space. Oscillating Windows provides an opportunity to exploit the natural formations and patterns of individuals and groups in social and public space. The way in which people sit and orient themselves while socializing, or the way in which their movement in a public space is directed/constrained in a public space can be exploited within this framework.
15. Art of Decision Digital Hub, Dublin May 2005 The Art of Decision is an interactive multimedia exhibition that encourages the individual to realize their significance in relation to political decision-making. The exhibition consists of a series of rooms that immerse visitors in situations that invite them to reconstruct their perception of political structures and political involvement. The project particularly addresses those who feel excluded from the political process. Contributors’ ideas are presented alongside statistical information in a meaningful and innovative fashion using sound, film and interactive installations.
16. Texting glances: Ambient Interludes from the Dublin Cityscape Dublin, part of Trinity Research 2002-2003 This paper concerns a system, texting glances, that can create ambient interludes, moments of entertaining interaction in public urban space at which people gather such as a bus stop. The system proposes to introduce a personal yet sociable and visual activity into urban "waiting" spaces. Texting glances uses everyday technology, a cell phone, as a tool which we can use to modify the cityscape. By texting to the system, the cell phone in partnership with a database of images acts as an expressive device. Will texters cooperate with other texters to bend astory in a particular direction?
17. Can You See Me Now? Murcia 2009 (previously in other cities from 2002) Can You See Me Now? is a chase game played online and on the streets. Players are dropped at random locations into a virtual map of the streets around the Centro Parraga in Murcia. Tracked by satellites, Blast Theory's runners appear online next to your player. Situated in the real city, handheld computers showing the position of online players guide the runners in tracking you down. If a runner gets within 5 metres of you, a sighting photo is taken and your game is over.
18. The Big Urban Game Minneapolis/St. Pauls 2003 The Big Urban Game was commissioned by the Design Institute of the University of Minnesota as a part of its Twin Cities Design Celebration, with the goal of encouraging the residents of Minneapolis and St. Paul a way to see their surroundings in a whole new way, and to think about the design of urban space. The game is a race between three teams, each of which is attempting to move a 25-foot high inflatable game piece through a series of Twin Cities’ checkpoints in the shortest amount of time.
19. The Beast Worldwide Summer 2001 The Beast was a sub-dermal narrative that drew consumers into the world of AI, and made them active participants in the fiction before the film’s release. Starting with a fictitious credit on the film’s marketing one-sheet, the audience soon found themselves immersed in a murder mystery. Involved thousands of webpages, as well as phone lines, fax machines, email accounts, and live events. Over 3 million people actively participated in The Beast, playing in dozens of countries around the globe. Web communities with hundreds of thousands of members were self-built to play, discuss, and solve The Beast.
20. Duck Races Variety of locations & times Numbered/labelled rubber ducks are put into the river, and race downstream to a finishing point. Prizes are awarded to owners of winning ducks. Generally events are held to raise money for charity.
21. Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain Movie 1995 set in Wales in 1917 Two English cartographers visit the small South Wales village of Ffynnon Garw, to measure what is claimed to be the "first mountain inside of Wales". It's 1917, and the war in Europe continues. The villagers are very proud of their "mountain", and are understandably dissapointed and furious to find that it is in fact a "hill". Not to be outwitted by a rule (and the Englishmen who enforce it), the villagers set out to make their hill into a mountain.
22. Light Hotel Stockholm Ongoing Red for energy, blue for rest and relaxation, or a rainbow lightshow. In our Mood rooms you can set the lighting and colours to create the mood or environment of your choice. Colour is not just something we see but also something we feel. Colour and light influence our minds and bodies. In our Mood rooms you can enjoy a personal “light therapy treatment” that we hope will help lift your spirits and awaken your senses. The Mood rooms are furnished with a light-bed that lets you set your own colours, tempo and intensity.
23. Walking School Bus Various cities, ongoing A walking school bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. If that sounds simple, it is, and that’s part of the beauty of the walking school bus. It can be as informal as two families taking turns walking their children to school to as structured as a route with meeting points, a timetable and a regularly rotated schedule of trained volunteers. A variation on the walking school bus is the bicycle train, in which adults supervise children riding their bikes to school. The flexibility of the walking school bus makes it appealing to communities of all sizes with varying needs.
24. Giant Pillow Fight San Francisco, Valentine’s day ongoing L This giant pillow fight is a flashmob-type event that takes place on Justin Herman Plazza (San Francisco) on Valentine's day (Feb 14) between 6 and 8pm.There were about one thousand people in 2009 at the San Francisco Pillow Fight. It was a lot of fun like always!
25. Cinema Nosso Rio de Janeiro 2000 - present Cinema Nosso is a social organization whose institutional mission is to "broaden the cultural universe and contribute to the development of critical thinking of children, adolescents and young people belonging to disadvantaged groups through the use of audiovisual language. This hugely successful media and film project has allowed disadvantaged young people the chance to tell their stories to the world.
26. Popular Culture, the City and Identity General idea The idea that popular culture and urban myths contribute to a cities identity. Considers whether examples of popular culture reflect wider urban, social and cultural change and discuss what impact this popular culture has had on changing the landscape and fortunes of the city.
27. ArtBots Science Gallery Trinity, 2008 and other locations other years The 2008 ArtBots show took place September 19-21, 2008, at Science Gallery at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. The show featured 15 works by 16 artists from 9 countries, as well as performances, workshops, lectures, and an awards ceremony. Participating works were selected from an international open call for "robotic art and art-making robots", and represent a broad and inclusive cross-section of the tremendous range of creative art and robotics activity.
28. Giant Lego Man Brighton Beach A Dutch artist is thought to be behind the mysterious appearance of a giant Lego man on Brighton beach. The 6ft-tall (1.8m) red, green and yellow figure has the slogan "No Real Than You Are" painted on the front. Brighton resident Peter McNiven said he had spotted the figure in the sea while walking to work this week. A spokeswoman for Lego said the artist responsible, Ego Leonard, would be exhibiting artwork in London in the coming weeks.
29. Mud Tub Unknown Unknown By sloshing, squishing, pulling, punching, etc, in a tub of mud (yes, wet dirt), users control games, simulators, and expressive tools; interacting with a computer in a new, completely organic, way. Born out of a motivation to close the gap between our bodies and the digital world, the Mud Tub frees the traditional computer interaction model of it’s rigidity, allowing humans to use their highly developed sense of touch, and creative thinking skills in a more natural way.
30. StoryBoard Dublin, part of Multimedia TCD final show Summer 2008 Through the narratives we create and share we relate our inner selves to the outside world. Storyboard is an interactive multimedia installation that explores the city of Dublin through the personal stories that exist in its space and seeks to enrich the interpersonal connections of which it is composed. Enter the installation/city space and move through the urban soundscape, reading a selection of various writers' thoughts on and impressions of, the "city". From there you will journey to the heart of the space where Dubliners and their stories are waiting to meet you. Approach them to hear what they've got to say.
31. Street Portraiture Variety of locations Ongoing Street portraits taken of random people walking past. It is a good primer on overcoming your shyness of photographing others -- and how to interact with them in a quick, fluid environment. Something I suspect many people reading this site will appreciate.
32. I,ball Netherlands Sep/Oct 2007 ‘ I, ball’ was created specially for the exhibition ‘Vooruitkijken’, or ‘looking forward’ in VillaNuts, the Hague. As the name suggests, this piece deals with identity and perception. Several images of eyes are projected onto six shop-windows. Tracking every movement, the eyes observe any passersby. In an ordinary situation, the pedestrian would peer at the window, but this piece inverts reality, swapping the audience for the exhibit. The intention is to question the position of the consumer in an increasingly distrustful society.
33. Stephens Green Preservation Society Online July 09 - ongoing What we hope to achieve with this blog is to give people out there some ideas about things to do in Dublin when you're alive. Gigs, markets, exhibitions, good pubs - nowhere is safe from our gruesome grip of tyranny. Or our recommendations. To be honest, we're just going to do whatever takes our fancy on any given day.
34. Thisisnotashop Dublin, 2006-ongoing Thisisnotashop is an alternative, not for profit gallery founded in January 2006 in Dublin, Ireland, dedicated to supporting the work of emerging artists from both Ireland and abroad. To be a centre for the development of new work and artistic practices by actively organizing workshops and events that provide the space, time, and support to create new works. To create and maintain an open friendly transparent welcoming space to enjoy and celebrate art.
35. Delacorte Theatre/Public Theatre Central Park, NY 1962 – ongoing The Delacorte Theater , established in 1962, is an open-air theater located in Manhattan 's Central Park . The Delacorte is owned by the City of New York and operated by The Joseph Papp Public Theater . Each summer, the Joseph Papp Public Theater presents a series, generally of two productions with two-week runs at the Delacorte, in recent years always including at least one work by William Shakespeare . These are presented free to the public: two tickets per individual are distributed at one p.m. of each performance day on a first-come, first-served basis, although subscribers to the Public Theater may purchase tickets.
36. Pavement Ipanema/Copacabana Rio de Janeiro Ongoing Pavement areas in both beaches that stretch the length of the boardwalks. Both have become branding symbols for the beaches, being used for postcards, scarf, towel designs etc.
38. Arte das Portas Abertas Santa Teresa, Brasil, annually in winter The leafy hillside neighborhood of Santa Teresa is renowned for its high concentration of artists, musicians, and other bohemian types, and each winter a week-long festival celebrates the best that the resident artists have to offer. Dates vary each year, but Arte das Portas Abertas (which roughly translates as ‘art with open doors’ always takes place in the months of June or July. The festival sees the many Santa Teresa artists fling open the door of their studios and invite the public to take a look, and there’s a lively programme of street parties, live music and specially-commissioned events too.
39. Town twinning All over the world Sister cities, also known as town twinning, is an agreement between towns , cities and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties. In the European Union , such pairs of towns are known as friendship towns, partner towns or twin towns.
40. Photowalk Dublin, 2009 The plan is to have a nice stroll around Dublin’s city centre at night. Get some lovely shots and have a bit of banter. This is open to anybody and everybody with an interest in photography. Whether you’re a veteran pro or only had your camera a week, everybody’s welcome! The main aim for tomorrow is to get out and meet more people interested in photography (note how I didn’t say photographers). It really doesn’t matter what level you are at, it’s all just good fun! Who: Everybody is welcome!! Cost: Freeeeeeeee, Zero, nowt, nothing, €0,00.00
41. Creative Limerick –Connect to the Grid Limerick, September 2009 A LOCAL authority has come up with an initiative which will enable local college graduates to benefit from the use of prime empty retail space. Creative Limerick, Connect To The Grid, launched yesterday, enables creative industry graduates from the city’s third-level institutions to use vacant shopfront space to sell work. The initiative will temporarily fill vacant retail window space in the prime retail spaces of the city centre with work from students. The initiative not only supports the creative industries in Limerick but assists vacant property owners by keeping their premises clean and active, at no cost to the owner .
42. Work in Space Dublin, 2009 ongoing What's going to happen to all the empty office buildings around the country? On the floors above and below, it’s another day at the office. People are working at their desks, having meetings, making notes, taking calls. To get here, we have signed in at the front desk and taken the lift to the first floor. We’re in a huge, exciting space that extends off towards distant windows, giving views onto the tops of trees. There are no desks here, no carpets, and the walls aren’t quite finished. But placed around the empty shell there are pieces of art: installations, films, special constructions.
43. Young Hearts Run Free Collective Dublin, events ongoing The Young Hearts Run Free collective have organised parties in some pretty unusual spots – the last one was in the (wonderfully-decorated) basement of an office block, before that was in an old warehouse which now houses photo studios. Elements that make these events work are here – live music, alternative venue, art, cake (guests are invited to bake and bring one) and charity support (this time it’s the Simon Community).
44. Swap a Skill Online & communities Swap what you can give or can do for what you need Get what you want - do something you're good at, or give something you don't need. Swapaskill is an online community of giving, sharing, fun and friendship where people make friends and swap favours and we're delighted to let you know that you can also now swap items! It's a place that nurtures community spirit and a genuine caring for the environment - and it's all completely free!
45. Swap Shop Dublin, Shebeen Chic, Saturdays Ongoing Canny shoppers are already finding ways to have their retail cake and eat it. Various websites are offering plenty of options to acquire goods without a penny changing hands. And the swap shop is making a huge comeback in these leaner times. Monday saw the launch in Dublin of a new weekly event, Swap Idol, in the city-centre bar and restaurant Shebeen Chic, which itself was completely kitted out using recycled material and sundry items found in skips and auctions. The owners of Shebeen Chic are inviting anyone with old clothes, books or records - "anything you can carry in" - to swap for those left in by others.
46. Housing Works Bookstore Café Soho, NY Ongoing Fighting Aids one book at a time. Housing Works Bookstore Cafe has established itself as a New York downtown institution and tourist destination for the last decade. Special events and a fully stocked cafe make this a great place to meet friends, relax and shop the best book, movie and music selection in New York City. Our one of a kind space is available for rental and all of our merchandise is donated. We are staffed almost entirely by volunteers and 100% of our profits go to Housing Works, Inc.
47. Le Cool Magazine Online, variety of cities Ongoing le cool magazine is a free, weekly magazine presenting a selection of concerts, djs, exhibitions, odd movies and other cultural events and happenings. It is also a clever guide to the city's most worthwhile bars, restaurants, shopping and other experiences, without being necessarily trendy - just really good. Instead of printing and distributing a paper magazine it is sent every Thursday to its subscribers as a graphical e-mail, laid-out in a horizontal format with pages, as if it were a traditional magazine.
48. Dog Beach San Diego & other Ongoing Ocean Beach Dog Beach is open to canines any time. This small beach has plenty of sand for the dogs to run on, and waves for them to run through.
49. Metronome Union Sq. NY Ongoing No visit to New York's Union Square is complete without pondering, and then subsequently becoming frustrated with the Metronome, a digital display of 15 numbers changing at various speeds, designed by Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel in 1999. It is clear that the clock, embedded in the facade of a building on the southeast corner of the square, has the time for its left-most digits--hours, minutes, seconds...but what does the rest of it mean?
50. SimpleTEXT Various cities, 2003 - Ongoing SimpleTEXT is a collaborative audio/visual public performance that relies on audience participation through input from mobile devices such as phones, PDAs or laptops. SimpleTEXT focuses on dynamic input from participants as essential to the overall output. The performance creates a dialogue between participants who submit messages which control the audiovisual output of the installation. These messages are first parsed according to a code that dictates how the music is created, and then rhythmically drive a speech synthesizer and a picture synthesizer in order to create a compelling, collaborative audiovisual performance. SimpleTEXT was originally funded by a commission from Low-Fi, a new media arts organization based in the UK.
