GPS coordinates as art? On Friday in L.A., a technology performance art event called "34 NORTH 118 WEST" debuts as part of the LA Freewaves art festival. Using a GPS-enabled Acer Travel Mate Tablet PC and headphones provided for audience members, participants' coordinates are tracked and integrated into the performance. Where each audience member moves determines how the story flows. The landscape becomes the interface, and the performance is rendered in real-time according to participants' movements.
Imagine walking through the city and triggering moments in time. Imagine wandering through a space inhabited with the sonic ghosts of another era. Like ether, the air around you pulses with spirits, voices, and sounds. Streets, buildings, and hidden fragments tell a story. The setting is the Freight Depot in downtown Los Angeles. At the turn of the century Railroads were synonymous with power, speed and modernization. Railroads were our first cross-country infrastructure, preceding the telegraph and the Internet. From the history and myth of the Railroad to the present day, sounds and voices drift in and out as you walk.
