UPDATE
Downtown Wayfinding is one of the four primary initiatives in Illuminating Downtown, and in order to pursue the goal of an technically-driven interactive wayfinding platform for downtown, San Jose Public Art teamed up with the ZERO1 Fellowship program to identify an artist that could work on this project. In July, ZERO1 and San Jose Public Art selected ANTIVJ (http://www.antivj.com/) as the project artist team for the wayfinding project. Following an RFQ, we received several dynamic statements of interests from artists near and far. We seated a panel that included technical, artistic, and community partners to select the right artist for this exciting project and ANTIVJ was selected.
The goal of the ZERO1 Fellowship program is to impact the ecosystem of innovation by creating a collaborative center for the best artists, creative and thought leaders of our times to co-contaminate, disrupt and catalyze the new. Working in collaboration with partner companies, such as Google, Adobe, and Cisco, cultural institutions, and academic research centers, ZERO1 Fellows are charged with developing lines of artistic research and cultural production in response to specific innovation challenges. The perfect incubator for this project!
ANTIVJ, identify themselves as a “visual label.” They group of artists whose work is focused on the use of projected light and its influence on our perception. Their work has been featured at the Centre Pompidou, Metz; New Songdo City, South Korea; and Nuits Blanches Bruxelles. While they made their name in building projection projects, they were looking for a platform in the United States and on a project that would allow them to bring their lighting experience to the table and expand their technological capabilities. San Jose proved the right mix at the right time. For their first major commission in the U. S., ANTIVJ will participate in a ZERO1 Fellowship where they will prototype an innovative technological platform that serves as an interactive, illuminated pedestrian-oriented navigation system.
RECENT WINS
European artist collective, AntiVJ (http://www.antivj.com/) has been selected as the project artist for Illuminating Downtown’s innovative wayfinding project! (oh, we already said that huh?)
INSIGHT/QUESTION
San Jose’s downtown, like many downtowns, has had upswings and downturns of activation, engagement and relevance. San Jose is definitely on the upswing, particularly due to an influx of residential construction, retail growth and business relocations. Yet challenges remain in getting feet on the street during working hours in particular. San Jose has great festivals and events downtown, the challenge is more of a day-to-day nature; how to get workers out of buildings during lunch hours, or stay after work to enjoy cultural offerings, restaurants, and retail. Illuminating Downtown was born out of the idea to “shed light” on the positive opportunities of downtown and to grow engagement.
From the original charette about Illuminating Downtown, and other community outreach, we learned that navigating through downtown is a challenge, especially for the many convention center attendees and hotel guests, and also for people who might come for something at one location (sporting event, a play, a restaurant), and then wonder where might be an interesting place to go – and is it safe to get there? We believe from the comments of our extended group of collaborators that providing these “bread crumbs” of local knowledge will help people’s enjoyment of the location, and encourage continued re-engagement in the future.
Fingers crossed.