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Massive media: when cities become screens

Published: 01 June 2016 Publication History

Abstract

This paper describes, historicizes, and evaluates a phenomenon I refer to as massive media: an emerging subset of technical assemblages that include large outdoor projections, programmable architectural façades, and urban screens. Massive media are massive in their size and subsequent visibility, but are also an agglomeration of media in their expressive screen and cinema-like qualities and their associated interactive and network capabilities. I demonstrate how these situations enable and necessitate the development of new practices of expanded cinema and public data visualization that blend the logics of urban space, monumentality, and the public sphere with the aesthetics and affordances of digital information and the moving image to support a more participatory public culture in which we identify and engage with collective presence, memory, and action through new screen scenarios that merge information, architecture, and the moving image.

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Manovich, L. 2014. "Introduction to Info-Aesthetics." Lev Manovich website. Accessed December 20, 2014. http://manovich.net/content/04-projects/058-introduction-to-info-aesthetics/57-article-2008.pdf
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Colangelo, D., and P. Davila. 2011. Public Data Visualization: Dramatizing Architecture and Making Data Visible. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA) (Istanbul, September 14--21, 2011). http://isea2011.sabanciuniv.edu/paper/public-data-visualization-dramatizing-architecture-and-making-data-visible
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Brougher, K. 2008. The Cinema Effect. In The Cinema Effect: Illusion, Reality, and the Moving Image, London, Giles, 15--41.
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Cited By

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  • (2022)Augmented Placemaking: Urban Technologies, Interaction Design and Public Spaces in a Post-Pandemic WorldInteracting with Computers10.1093/iwc/iwac03735:5(637-649)Online publication date: 19-Dec-2022
  • (2021)Decolonising the Urban Screen: An Argument and Approach for First Peoples-led Content Programs in Massive MediaProceedings of the 5th Media Architecture Biennale Conference10.1145/3469410.3469417(66-78)Online publication date: 28-Jun-2021
  • (2018)Media FaçadesProceedings of the 4th Media Architecture Biennale Conference10.1145/3284389.3284494(19-27)Online publication date: 13-Nov-2018
  • Show More Cited By

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      cover image ACM Other conferences
      MAB '16: Proceedings of the 3rd Media Architecture Biennale Conference
      June 2016
      84 pages
      ISBN:9781450347495
      DOI:10.1145/2946803
      Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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      • University of Sydney: University of Sydney
      • MAI: Media Architecture Institute

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      Association for Computing Machinery

      New York, NY, United States

      Publication History

      Published: 01 June 2016

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      Author Tags

      1. cinema
      2. data visualization
      3. media architecture
      4. screen culture
      5. urban studies

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      MAB '16
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      • University of Sydney
      • MAI
      MAB '16: Media Architecture Biennale 2016
      June 1 - 4, 2016
      Sydney, Australia

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      Overall Acceptance Rate 27 of 68 submissions, 40%

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      Cited By

      View all
      • (2022)Augmented Placemaking: Urban Technologies, Interaction Design and Public Spaces in a Post-Pandemic WorldInteracting with Computers10.1093/iwc/iwac03735:5(637-649)Online publication date: 19-Dec-2022
      • (2021)Decolonising the Urban Screen: An Argument and Approach for First Peoples-led Content Programs in Massive MediaProceedings of the 5th Media Architecture Biennale Conference10.1145/3469410.3469417(66-78)Online publication date: 28-Jun-2021
      • (2018)Media FaçadesProceedings of the 4th Media Architecture Biennale Conference10.1145/3284389.3284494(19-27)Online publication date: 13-Nov-2018
      • (2018)Hyperlocal Media ArchitectureProceedings of the 4th Media Architecture Biennale Conference10.1145/3284389.3284490(76-83)Online publication date: 13-Nov-2018
      • (2018)Times Square in the Era of Post-truth PoliticsProceedings of the 4th Media Architecture Biennale Conference10.1145/3284389.3284394(11-18)Online publication date: 13-Nov-2018
      • (2017)Emojis on the facadeProceedings of the 6th ACM International Symposium on Pervasive Displays10.1145/3078810.3084354(1-2)Online publication date: 7-Jun-2017

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