I´m born into a house with no computer

We can also change creatively the use of a Wall, transforming is original "function" of separating space or protect/defend.
Even if it is a transitional Wall, I think the project Gamelan PlayTime is a excellent example of that.

Gamelan Playtime is an interactive sound installation that was presented in London at the Royal Festival Hall Education Centre. It's in my opinion, an interesting experience and creative use of the center's hoardings while the building was closed for refurbishment.

The installation is a 30m long "wall" that engages users in a playful and informative experience. Its tactile surface attracts people to stroke the wall while they pass by; sensitive to their touch,it responds with various sounds.

It was the first installation for the Royal Festival Hall Education Centre “Keeping in touch” project. The project aims to promote awareness of the education center's activities

What interests me so much in this first installation created by the British female collective Milk and Tales is mainly two things. Besides the main aim of the project, this installation wanted to bring back the life that usually inhabited the area when the building was open. They wanted to transform the transitory nature of the location where hundreds of commuters pass by everyday by offering an unexpected moment of creativity.
At the same time it brings people together, encouraging social interactions since the interaction occurs not only between each individual and the surface but also amongst the all the different groups of people engaging with the installation at the same time.

Take a look of the here . You can also see this project the second installation that this collective did at the same "Wall".

Have a Seat - Reclaiming Public Space
by Caroline Woolard

Sidewalk Series
by Antenna Design

Public Domestications
by Huong Ngo and Colin McMullan

"Best known for the politically charged images he has projected onto buildings and monuments from New York to Warsaw--images of rockets projected onto triumphal arches, the image of handcuffed wrists projected onto a courthouse facade, images of homeless people in bandages and wheelchairs projected onto statues in a park from which they had been evicted. In projects such as the "Homeless Vehicle," which he designed through discussions with homeless people, Wodiczko has helped to make public space a place where marginalized people can speak, establish their presence, and assert their rights."

Wodiczko give participants the opportunity to speak about their traumatic experiences, creating spaces for individual therapy and public reflection. I saw I saw the documentation of the Tijuana Projection that was part of the Open City exhibition at Eyebeam. The aim of this project was to give voice and visibility to the women who work in Tijuana's "maquiladora" industry. The women's testimonies focused on a variety of issues including work-related abuse, sexual abuse, family disintegration, alcoholism and domestic violence. A headset with a camera and a microphone was connected to two projectors and loudspeakers that transmitted the testimonies live, on two consecutive nights, to an audience of more than 1500.
I remember that when I saw it last year it was a bit strange because the way the image and personal histories were recorded created a very intimate space but they were exposed in a huge projection.

I think that is very interesting the work he is been developing by creating several "psychocultural prosthetic equipments". Take a look of some of his work at the Interrogative Design Work at MIT

Besides his public art installations, Wodiczko also developed a series of vehicles for homeless and immigrants that " function, not without a touch of irony, as implements for survival, communication, empowerment, and healing." They provide this social group with a ‹street tool› that responds to basic necessities of survival economy such as living, sleeping and washing, as well as collecting and reselling cans and bottles.

Here is a link to an interview with him

Please do disturb is a social experiment, a community based project that aims to encourage social interaction in the context of a building. How many neighbors do you know in the building where you live ? do you interact with them ?
The idea is to design a communication system that encourages interaction inside a building.
The idea of this project came from the "Please don't disturb sign" that normally we see hostels that informs that certain room/ person doesn't want to be disturb. So the idea was to subvert it and create a visual system that invite people to disturb. I thought that the perfect place for this to occur is a building. Shared by so many people that don't know each other or if do, don't say more than a "Hi!" or " Bye!" .
Instead of using the signs posted in the door of each apartment, the idea is that each person when wanted to be disturb, should post a sign in the mailboxes. The mailboxes acts as a "shortcut" for the door, since it is visible to all the persons that lived and that entered in the building.
The system is composed of different signs, showing different availabilities:
- Throwing a party - you are welcome!!
- I did extra food!
- Want to watch a movie?
- I'm available to chat a little while
- Let's go for a walk
- I need someone to take care of my cat, please!!!

link to presentation
(please click to focus and then use the arrow right and left (keyboard) to go to next and previous slide

Thanks Meng for bringing Sophie Calle to this conversation. I love her work and for several times that i felt compelled to do something similar as a personal experience to see how following strangers go take me to new paths and explore the city in a different way. It's interesting how we create our own paths to go from point A to point B and how that paths are transformed so quickly into daily routines that are hard to break.

In 2004 Spectrapolis event in NY, Christina Ray and Lee Walton "performed" Following The Man of the Crowd, a 24 hour/walk in which both artists, linked by text messaging, drift separately through the city in an alternating pattern according to the movements of strangers, inspired by a Vito Acconci piece.

Sometimes I stay in the streets or squares looking to the people passing by. I really enjoyed to do that, imaging where they are going, what they are thinking, who they are. I create the same imaginary stories in the subway, trying to entertain myself when I’ not reading or thinking about assignments and in the subway is much easier to recognize people that you had seen before, the Familiar Strangers that Meng also pointed out and that reminded me of a project by Eric Paulos and Elizabeth Goodman. They developed a wireless device that you can use or wear that try to capture and extend the essence of the Familiar Stranger concept. Take a look of the project . What I enjoy so much in this application/device is the way the device can be used both ways: to visualize the network of Familiar Strangers and find places where you can feel more "familiar " or use it to avoid familiar people and go to places where you are "more" anonymous

I should try to follow people one of this days!