A new exhibit in Brooklyn shows how a community can utilize this technology to do just that.

Sabine Gruffat and Bill Brown are the creators of Bike Box, a “participatory locative media project and database” now showing at the Devotion Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The bicycles, available for public use, have been “outfitted with iPhones and speakers” and are equipped with an application Sabine and Bill developed which “allows users to record and geotag audio as well as play back geolocated audio.” For those new to the term, geotagging uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) to link content to specific locations based on the device. In this case, participants are able to listen to site-specific audio recorded by others as well as add their own contribution where available spaces exist. The audio content ranges from hearing the sounds of Beijing streets similar in character to the street the bicyclist is traveling, to a detailed recorded history of the waterways around Red Hook. It is a compilation of sounds and stories from artists, historians, scientists, neighbors.

“We were thinking of the bicycles as mobile recording and playback machines,” Sabine Gruffat explains, “creating a space for participation and discovery.” Part of the way this discovery takes place is by taking the focus off of the iPhone. As Bill Brown states, “There is very little to interact with onscreen…we want people looking at the world, not the screen.”

Surely the act of cycling while connecting with the way others see the same path you’re on is bigger than the box it comes in. Nevertheless, I sought out this particular experience because it speaks to a specific fear I and many others have about connective technology: that it can leave us feeling ultimately disconnected.

Bike Box is good example of a different posture we might assume with our PDAs and smartphones. Or, as Bill Brown says, “Bike Box hopes to model a relationship to technology that is interactive, investigatory, and productive. We hope it will also encourage an engaged relationship to space, and an interest in the geographical extension of our lives, our histories, and our memories. Given the current tendency toward virtualized human contact, we hope Bike Box will bring bodies into the street, that shared space of community and collision.”

Information about participating from the Bike Box site:
BIKE BOX will be at Devotion Gallery from July 16th- 25th, 2010. During that time, everyone is welcome to come by and participate in the project. There will be 3 technology-enhanced bicycles at the gallery that can be checked out. These bikes will allow cyclists both to listen to pre-existing audio as they ride around Brooklyn, as well as to add their own site-specific audio to the BIKE BOX database. If you already have an iPhone, you’re also welcome to come by the gallery and download the free, open source BIKE BOX application and enjoy the audio on your own.

–Sarah Brown

Click for more photos!

As LAMPcamp wraps up its first full week, LAMPers have explored media in their own neighborhood, looked at how gender is portrayed in media, explored how narratives are used to construct a message, got into the basics of podcasting and began their own short-form documentary video projects. Click here for the first pictures available from LAMPcamp in Brooklyn, and read on for Brooklyn facilitator Lorenzo Tijerino’s account of Day 4:

“Today went well. We began with a screening of three documentaries;  two were student-produced documentaries and one was from Rooftop Films. The students responded strongly to the documentary featuring Merlin, the boy in the pink scarf. The LAMPers discussed their feelings and impressions regarding gender roles and stereotypes. The third film was about a female fan of hip hop and her response to the objectification of woman in music videos. This led into a discussion about the responsibility of the viewer and the role that we all play in propagating negative imagery.

Before long, LAMPers were out on the street asking the hard-hitting questions. They returned to base just in time for lunch. Tomorrow they’ll get started on the editing process armed with technical skills they picked up over the course of the week.”

Click here for the video!

Yesterday marked the first day of LAMPcamp 2010, running concurrently in the Bronx with the Mount Hope Housing Company and in Brooklyn at the Park Slope Armory with the Prospect Park YMCA!

In The Bronx, News 12 stopped by to interview LAMP students and teachers for a video segment on LAMPcamp. Click here to check it out!

Brooklyn LAMPcamp also got off to a fantastic start. In the words of lead facilitator Lorenzo Tijerina:

“The group was, as expected, very boisterous and lively and eager to get started. We began with the entrance survey, which everyone filled out. We moved on to to viewing commercials and got to use the fancy new projector, which I love by the way. We got the kids talking by showing them a few sensational videos involving BP and the World Cup, asking them to describe the purpose of these commercials in their own words. They had a great understanding of the intent and techniques used by the advertisers. We also showed them a re-cut BP commercial on YouTube and they were very excited about the idea of expressing opinion through satire and video.

We introduced the class to some of the vocabulary of persuasion, and with the help of the facilitators they really seemed to get it. By the halfway point we moved into the first exercise, the Media Scavenger Hunt. We ended up with about 16 kids, which allowed us to divide them up pretty evenly into four groups. I stayed behind while the kids hit the streets with the YMCA staff and the other facilitators. Katherine, Chrissy, Scott and Mike all agreed that the children were calm and well-behaved outside, but still excited about the exercise.

The children videotaped their findings, paying particular attention to ads that are not supposed to be directed at them, such as alcohol and cigarette advertisements. They did describe many of these ads as being very colorful and attention grabbing. This led into a discussion about their interest in these products, peer pressure and the glamorization of adulthood.

Finally, at the end of the class I went around with a Flip camera and got to know everyone. Then, everyone signed my cast and we called it a day.”

Stay tuned for more LAMPcamp news!

Lorenzo Tijerina

Occupation: Currently, I am doing freelance videography and editing, working on everything from music videos to weddings to profile pieces. I’m also involved in some very rewarding work with The LAMP, teaching kids how to be more proactive when it comes to their media consumption.

Favorite blogs & websites: I use blogs to stay in the loop about what’s going on in Brooklyn and the rest of the city: Kinetic Carnival, McBrooklyn, Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, Brooklyn Vegan. TheSkint is a great place to find great deals around the city. I have an electronic subscription to The New Yorker and I’ll also turn to the New York Times Online and the Guardian for news. The Onion has a great website and I enjoy checking out their A/V Club. Sites like Gawker, Geekologie, and Videogum keep me hip. My son and I spend a lot of time together on YouTube not only posting our own content, but watching old music videos. Another favorite site of his is Sploder, where we can make our own video games. And with Netflix and Hulu it seems there are less and less reasons to turn on the television these days.

What got you interested in media literacy? I would have to say my interest in media literacy began with watching television as a child and recognizing patterns in the shows and commercials. I began asking myself why these patterns existed. Why, for example, did cartoons like He-Man always go to a commercial about eight minutes into the show and how did that effect the structure of the show?

In school I gravitated toward whatever audio/visual options were available, even if it was just operating the projector on movie day. By the time I was in high school I was very aware television was always trying to sell something and viewed even my favorite shows with skepticism.

In college I studied radio, television and film and that took my media literacy to a whole new level. We studied mass communications and learned the techniques used by broadcasters to manipulate their audience. When you think of what the average young person is up against when they turn on a television or, now, their computer, the need for media literacy is more important than ever.

You used to be an editor at Fox News. How does that experience change the way you look at media? I worked at several news stations. It was a great experience and I would be less than honest if I didn’t admit that I absolutely loved it. The pace and the excitement of live television is undeniable. Working in television you see that there is no grand conspiracy. The higher ups are driven by ratings and everybody else is just trying to do the best job they can. It’s very competitive. A great deal of what you see on television is motivated by stations just trying to keep up with one another. A lot of the theory I learned in school went out the window and it all became a matter of trying to outdo what the other guy’s where putting up. I did, however, see the answer to my He-Man question first hand. News has a very strict format dictated by commercials, i.e. all the real news is in the first block while the last block is reserved for the kicker (a fluffy story about water skiing squirrels or whatever).

You’re also teaching one of The LAMP’s workshops at Brooklyn Prospect Charter School. What has surprised you the most so far in working with the students? Working with the kids at Brooklyn Prospect, the biggest surprise was how aware so many of them are about things like target audience and viewer tracking. These kids are very cognizant of their value as consumers and as the children of consumers. It was just below the surface, but once we started asking them questions their response was immediate. You could literally see the realization on their faces when they were asked to think about why their favorite websites are set up the way they are. (Click here to see pictures from this workshop and others!)

We know you do a lot of video projects with your young son. Tell us more about that–why do you think that’s important, and what do you hope to impart? For us it’s mostly about having a good time, exploring ideas creatively. I want my son to be able to express himself any way he sees fit, so that’s part of it, too. I also try to pass on whatever knowledge I have about technique and get him to think about the ways stories are told, but mostly it’s just a way for us to spend time together.

Dates: December 1st, 8th and 15th

Times: 3:00-6:00pm

Ages: 6th-8th grade

Cost: FREE!

Explore the many ways you can present yourself on the Internet through social networking websites and blogs.  Learn what to include (and what not to include) in an online profile, and how to build your own blog!

To register, call us at 718-789-8170 or send us an email.

Times: Mornings

Dates: Tuesdays and Thursdays from September 16 through October 30

Ages: 3rd grade

This fall, the LAMP is in residency with P.S. 107, exploring news and reporting with third graders.  In the workshops held twice a week for six weeks, students will explore the news and how it is made, exploring what makes news, where it comes from, how it is made, how it changes in print and digital formats, the use of text and pictures to tell a story, and more.  Students will also work hands-on in creating their own news stories, conducting interviews, writing and researching stories, while also creating and editing photography and video footage.

If you are interested in having the LAMP at your school, we would love to speak with you.  We can design curricula tailored to your needs and interests. Please call us at 718-789-8170 or send us an email.

Dates: October 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th; November 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th

Time: 3-6pm

Ages: Families of all ages

Cost: FREE!

The whole family comes together to make a video memory book! Shoot and edit a video of parents and children interviewing each other, sharing favorite memories and stories while creating a lasting record to be enjoyed now and forever.

Skills learned include:

• Group collaboration
• Exploring representations of family in commercial media
• Using visuals, words and sound to create a family narrative
• Video editing

To register, call us at 718-789-8170 or send us an email.

Dates: November 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th (possible addition: Dec. 3)

Time: 4:00-5:30pm

Ages: 8-10 years

Cost: FREE!

Explore how different editing techniques are used for sounds and images when you make a video poem! Use your original artwork and writing to learn how different elements come together to make a piece of multimedia art.

Skills learned include:

• Group collaboration
• Exploring poetry using visuals, words and sounds
• Videocamera use
• Video editing

To register, call us at 718-789-8170 or send us an email.