Located within Boston’s historic (brick) core, and using the history of Boston as example, this site-specific, immersive, kinetic art installation was a humorous commentary on our use and trust of the internet for learning.
The project made tangible (physical) and spatial, the experience of unfiltered, virtual information found on the Internet:
the disconnected, true/
The quotes on the bricks came from conducting a typical Internet search, starting with a key phrase – in this case “history of Boston” – and evolving from there, randomly, to terms discovered or thought of along the way – such as “puritan,” “city on a hill,” and “Cambridge Agreement.”
Whatever information was found was placed on the bricks. Sometimes this information was true; other times it was false. Sometimes it had absolutely nothing to do with the subject (the history of Boston); other times it had a mere tangential relationship to it. In this, it tried to stay true to the experience of learning through the Internet.
Elegantly organic and light, the installation swayed in the wind like an extension of the grass. Its kinetic properties highlighted the experiential qualities of art which engages nature.
It was interesting to observe how different people interacted with it. Children mostly saw it as a challenging obstacle course, running through its maze-like layout and sometimes frighteningly swinging the lightweight bricks at each other. Adults, on the other hand, walked through it slowly, curiously reading the text painted on them and taking photos, laughing once they figured out the hidden critique.
The idea for the project came from three sources:
- · a concern of how the Internet is negatively affecting our brains, particularly as regards learning, memory, and critical thinking
- · a personal interest in history, particularly that of urbanism/cities
- · a reference to Boston’s educational Freedom Trail, the site the installation was conceived for, which I developed while I worked as designer on the North End Parks
FOR / CLIENT
Figment Boston, National Parks of Boston, The Freedom Trail Foundation, & The Shirley Eustis House Association
SITES
- · Rose Kennedy Greenway at Rowes Wharf, Boston, MA
- · North End Parks, Boston, MA
- · Shirley Eustis House, Roxbury, MA
MATERIALS + DIMENSIONS
- · 120 floating bricks, 4′-7′ tall over a 30′ x 50′ area
- · Balsa (wood), steel, paint
WORK / CREDITS
Design & Photos: Ioana Urma. Fabrication: Ioana Urma, with minor help from Zach Hoevet (lasercutting stencils) and Josh Burgel (color check of bricks in Boston). Installation: Ioana Urma with help from Raluca Sisu (all sites), Figment volunteers + Dragos Diaconescu (Rowes Wharf), Bogdan Urma + Randall Imai (North End Parks), Narbey Derbekyan (Shirley Eustis House).







![2 fake bricks with the following text on them:
(upper brick) CAMBRIDGE AGREEMENT, (AUG. 26, 1622), PLEDGE MADE… BY ENGLISH PURITAN STOCKHOLDERS OF THE MASS. BAY CO.
TO EMIGRATE TO NEW ENGLAND IF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COLONY COULD BE TRANSFERRED THERE,
(lower brick) ON MAY 18, 1631, REVEREND WILLIAM BLACKSTONE… TOOK THE “FREEMAN’S OATH”.
HE WAS THE FIRST ONE TO DO SO… BEFORE THE… [RESTRICTION OF]… RESTRICTION OF FREEMEN TO CHURCH MEMBERS.](ioana-urma_freedom-of-information_4dH.jpg)








![2 fake bricks with the following text on them:
(upper brick) CAMBRIDGE AGREEMENT, (AUG. 26, 1622), PLEDGE MADE… BY ENGLISH PURITAN STOCKHOLDERS OF THE MASS. BAY CO.
TO EMIGRATE TO NEW ENGLAND IF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COLONY COULD BE TRANSFERRED THERE,
(lower brick) ON MAY 18, 1631, REVEREND WILLIAM BLACKSTONE… TOOK THE “FREEMAN’S OATH”.
HE WAS THE FIRST ONE TO DO SO… BEFORE THE… [RESTRICTION OF]… RESTRICTION OF FREEMEN TO CHURCH MEMBERS](ioana-urma_freedom-of-information_4dH.jpg)













