PDA, GPS Mutate City Streets into Archaeology - Narrative Archaeology
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So what sorts of things did the 170 people who donned one of 20 HP iPAQs outfitted and available for “Scape the Hood” experience as they walked through the three-block area of the mediascape? At the very beginning, they might have circled Project Artaud, a former can factory, and heard from artists how it got started as an artist co-op. This particular vignette also explained that the bricks on the sidewalk came from the former factory’s furnace, and how the money for the renovation was raised. One of the residents came forward with the cash. Another resident artist, Pico Sanchez, remembers that “It turned out the guy was saving the money for a sex-change operation.”
A short distance away, they might have heard a gurgling stream and other nature sounds. A voiceover would have told them that marshes and meadows once covered Mission District, back in the days when the only people who lived in that area were Native Americans.
Even more recent changes are reflected in the mediascapes. On one street, those experiencing “Scape the Hood” could have heard the sound of trains. These once carried corn oil to a mayonnaise factory that has since become a Starbucks.
One particularly moving mediascape is described by Project Artaud artist David Lawrence. Participants walking past a mural on 17th and Florida streets are treated to a description from the mural artist himself. “As you walk the corner and you see the mural, one of the artists starts talking about the story of his mural, which is dedicated to his mother…It becomes a magical moment…You’ll be out there and hearing something, and immediately, it appears in your visual field…It’s very powerful…”
Abbe Don, a researcher at HP Labs and executive producer of the “Scape the Hood” project, explains some of the rationale behind it. “These stories aren’t obvious from the streets. We call this ‘narrative archaeology,’ because we’re peeling back the layers of the neighborhood.”
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