The project Transmedia Gatherings addresses the unequal access of certain populations to new communication technologies, which leads to forms of isolation and exclusion.
The split between physical and digital spaces is obsolete, as they are now intricately intertwined, influencing and impacting each other seamlessly. Our social lives occur across media, in transmedia spaces whose design and regulation nobody takes responsibility for. As we gather through multiple layers of media we merge environments and create possibilities for meaningful exchange between people globally as well as further opportunities for manipulation, inequality, and concentration of power. Our increasing reliance on commercially-driven digital platforms -often referred to as public squares or civic forums- raises concerns. Even though they are far from serving the public interest, these platforms fulfill a role that physical public spaces fail to perform. In them, corporate natures conflict with civic expectations, presenting an urgent challenge as their services become integral to everyday life.
Transmedia Gatherings will address such issues through two parallel initiatives: the design and development of a hybrid gathering platform for a selected social group which takes the shape of a transmedia installation activated through live events and a site for experimental testing and feedback; and the development of a report for strategic institutional/governmental action towards hybrid space and immersive media in the form of an open source publicly available document.
The internet enabled social interaction in and around previously disconnected physical spaces and digital assets, turning the formatting of information into the shaping of unprecedented transmedia realms. Our social lives occur in transmedia spaces whose design and regulation nobody takes responsibility for.
Spatial practitioners and thinkers must take the lead in shaping the civic-minded transmedia spaces. Space Popular
Project selected for our European Digital Deal residency Digital Public Infrastructure for Engaged Communities. In addition, during the residency a group of experts composed of Marta Peirano, Javier Fernández, Alejandra López, Ramón Rubio and Hugo Díaz will support the artists during the development of the project.
Consult expert group [+]
Space Popular
Space Popular (Lara Lesmes + Fredrik Hellberg) is an art and architecture studio that explores spatial media experiences and their impact on everyday life through research, design, and artworks. Commissioners and exhibitors include institutions such as MAK, Vienna; MAXXI, Rome; Sir John Soane Museum, London; ArkDes, Stockholm; and MMCA, Seoul. Lesmes and Hellberg are Visiting Professors at UCLA AUD in Los Angeles, and previously held academic positions at the Architectural Association in London, University of Toronto, and INDA Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
