Site-Specific Doc at Visible Evidence 22

Last weekend we had a great panel/workshop at the Visible Evidence 22 conference in Toronto: Site on Screen: Emerging Technology and Site-Specific Documentary Practice

Track: Expanded Documentary and Immersive Technologies.Type: Workshop Keywords: Mobile media, Locative media, Site-specific, Participatory, Collaborative, Psychogeography, Documentary, Experimental, Socially engaged, Interactive

In this workshop, documentary media artists Laura Chipley, Sarah Nelson Wright, Samara Smith, A.E. Souzis and Rachel Stevens will discuss site-specific documentary practice, highlighting their individual and collaborative location-based documentary projects and exploring how site-specific documentary practices have evolved with changing mobile and locative technology. All of the documentary projects to be discussed are site-specific explorations of physical spaces that augment or invite public participation in chronicling the physical world with mobile media. Technologies explored will include: audio, SMS messaging, augmented reality, sensors, go-pros, underwater cameras and aerial photography. Each presenter will open with a short overview of her body of site-specific documentary work focused on the central questions of the panel: How has your site-specific documentary practice evolved with new mobile technologies? How have new technologies influenced concept, form, collaboration, participation, interaction and audience experience? How do new technologies expand documentary audiences? Each artist will reflect on a body of experimental documentary work that demonstrates an evolution in engagement strategies blurring the lines between subject/audience and location/screen to expand the traditional documentary form and experience. After brief introductory presentations, the panel will engage in a discussion exploring questions central to the documentary work and evolving technologies: How do new and emerging technologies serve or complicate each project’s themes, motivations and goals? How does moving away from traditional narrative toward non-linear structures and “user-driven” mobile technology experiences impact documentary form and experience? How does it change or expand the documentary audience? What is unique about site-specific documentary practices? What is the relationship between screen/site and audience/subject/director? Projects discussed in brief opening presentations will include Oyster City, The Newtown Creek Armada, Architextour and COMMotion. Collectively, these projects draw on a variety of mobile technologies to increase interactivity and participation.