IamGonnaSurvive.com |
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IamGonnaSurvive.com is a locative media art - sculpture installation commissioned by Stichting Natuurkunst Drenthe for the 2009 Sculpture Symposium. The theme of the symposium is “Surviving / About Live” and this project involves Google Maps. Canned food, matches, First Aid kit, a diary, etc. are installed at various places of the forest, near each metal Google placemark sign. In addition to that, a series of several objects - maybe not commonly considered as essential as the first set of items mentioned above but equally important for a decent survival 1, such as a book (Walden; Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau 2), a credit card, a Tetris game, Amazon ads, bus tickets, mobile phone charger, etc. The “equipment” (I am going to use the generic term “equipment” from now on every time I refer to all the above mentioned items) is sealed in plastic and protected from the weather conditions so that it will still be functional if/when needed. Every part or combination of parts of the “equipment” has its own Google “Placemark” name (spot) and includes information about the “equipment” and a photograph of its specific location, in order to be accessible to the user. The user is able to locate and then access the “equipment” in one or all three (3) of the following ways:
1 The choice of this set of items is based on contemporary urban notions of well-being, hence the pick of chargers, bus tickets, etc. 2 The visitor coming across this particular book will have an interesting encounter; written by H. D. Thoreau, Walden details Thoreau's sojourn in a cabin in the woods. In contrast with the visitor, the book’s main character, (Thoreau himself), is someone who deliberately sought closeness to nature and distance from consumerist attitudes by staying in the woodland. On the other hand, both Thoreau and the visitor will crave and seek contemporary treats: if it was cookies for Thoreau, it is a Nintendo game for the visitor. |
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