Freedom of Information
Located within Boston’s historic (brick) core, and using the history of Boston as example, this kinetic, immersive, and site-specific art installation
is a humorous commentary on our use and trust of the internet for learning.
The project makes tangible (physical) and spatial, the experience of unfiltered, virtual information found on the internet:
the disconnected, true/false, incomplete, and tangential “facts” we are exposed to on a daily basis, that lead to chaotic, fictive, composite memories:
a lot of time; a lot of data; a lot of spelling errors; a lack of a conclusion; gossip.
What do you remember from surfing the web? This is how we learn today.
Art Installation
- + Rose Kennedy Greenway at Rowes Wharf, Boston, MA
- + North End Parks, Boston, MA
- + Shirley Eustis House, Roxbury, MA
For
Figment Boston + other public and historic sites
Dimensions
120 floating bricks, 4′-7′ tall over a 30′ x 50′ area
Materials
Balsa (wood), steel, paint
Located within Boston’s historic (brick) core, and using the history of Boston as example, this kinetic, immersive, and site-specific art installation
is a humorous commentary on our use and trust of the internet for learning.
The quotes on the bricks come from conducting a standard, typical search on the internet, starting with the key phrase “history of Boston” and
evolving from there to information found in the initial discoveries (webpages), such as “Cambridge Agreement”, “puritan”, and so on, as they struck interest.
The project makes tangible (physical) and spatial, the experience of unfiltered, virtual information found on the internet:
the disconnected, true/false, incomplete, and tangential “facts” we are exposed to on a daily basis, that lead to chaotic, fictive, composite memories:
a lot of time; a lot of data; a lot of spelling errors; a lack of a conclusion; gossip.
What do you remember from surfing the web? This is how we learn today.
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.
The quotes on the bricks come from conducting a standard, typical search on the internet, starting with the key phrase “history of Boston” and
evolving from there to information found in the initial discoveries (webpages), such as “Cambridge Agreement”, “puritan”, and so on, as they struck interest.
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.
Work/Credits
Design & Photos: Ioana Urma.
Fabrication: Ioana Urma, with help from Zach Hoevet (stencil lasercutting help), & Josh Burgel (color check of bricks in Boston).
Installation: Ioana Urma with help from Raluca Sisu (all sites), Dragos Diaconescu (Rowes Wharf), Figment volunteers (Rowes Wharf), Bogdan Urma (North End Parks),
Randall Imai (North End Parks), & Narbey Derbekyan (Shirley Eustis House).