Year:

June 2017

Type:

Public Art

Location:

San Francisco, California

Status:

Proposal

The variety of occupants on Market Street make it a unique location within the urban landscape of San Francisco. This busy thoroughfare fluctuates drastically from being filled with businessman on their way to the office, wandering tourists with their cameras in hand, deliverymen transporting goods to the many commercial spaces that line the street, or a hang out spot for the homeless community. These individual scenarios all cross paths at Market Street and change greatly depending on different times of the day or different days of the year. The intervention we propose offers opportunities for pedestrians to pause and observe the dynamism and complexity of experiences and activities on Market Street at any time.

Weaving wooden slats diffuse light and sound without entirely disconnecting the occupant from the sights and noises of the urban setting.

By creating a physical structure, pedestrians remove themselves from the crowded sidewalks to have more intimate interactions that could otherwise not occur in the busy cityscape. When occupying the installation, focus is drawn towards a semi-transparent screen looking outwards to Market Street. Projections are displayed on the semi-transparent screen overlaying predetermined data onto what viewers can currently observe on Market Street. Weaving wooden slats diffuse light and sound without entirely disconnecting the occupant from the sights and noises of the urban setting. By angling the form of the structure towards the end with the screen and leaving the end with the projector open and lifted from the ground, the form also iterates the similar essence of being on Market Street but semi-removed from its chaotic nature.

Acting as an urban lens, the installation alters the mundane activity on Market Street which opens the door for more complex experiences and realizations about human interaction in urban environments.

The medium of displaying data through projections prescribes a diverse use for the installation such as public presentations, pop up theaters, historical overlays, time-lapse projections, local art displays, and so on. We imagine multiple installations which set up specific scenes of Market Street that are also located along the entire stretch of Market Street to show the diversity of San Francisco neighborhoods. Acting as an urban lens, the installation alters the mundane activity on Market Street which opens the door for more complex experiences and realizations about human interaction in urban environments.

Gradient Matter Team:

Andrei Hakhovich, Holly Hodkiewicz