An emergent narrative based on movement and proximity, exploring the anonymous and homogenous nature of global shopping culture.

About

Shopping centers are sites of consumption which, despite their varied locations across the globe, tend to share the same anonymous and homogenous features. As a backdrop for desire, projection, and the acquisition of material objects, the Arndale and the experience of shopping is explored in order to locate experiences and concerns that bind us together in small and large ways.

Project participants wander with one of five characters as part of a flock of mobile devices whose coincidental intersection triggers awareness and contemplation about the bigger picture. Ambiguity and elision are emphasized in the piece, highlighting a culture of connectivity which often hints at a greater whole, but often eludes full apprehension.

Process

The project utilizes a wireless network infrastructure delivered through mobile body-mounted units. The unfolding narrative is intended to structurally resonate with the relative physical positioning and actions of those experiencing the work.

Deploying a piece in a site like the Arndale is a rare opportunity, and ideally the technology employed recedes into the background. Where awareness of the network and its operational characteristics does become part of a participant's experience, the title of the project finds its truest embodiment.

Achievements

Commissioned by the Futuresonic Festival in 2007 as part of "Art for Shopping Centres."