Public space can be a contentious concept. Here’s a selection of global interactions encompassing New York, Palestine and Liberia – all aired out in the open – and thus subject to the court of public opinion.
New York’s lively Public Ad Campaign aims at “expanding curatorial responsibilties in the city”. It seeks to question the commodification of public space via outdoor advertising. This week it co-ordinated the volunteer whitewashing of over 100 illegal street-level billboards between Soho and Chelsea and their subsequent transformation by street artists.
Brings to mind another global activism platform in the public space – Palestinian peace efforts at Send a Message. You pay: Palestinians spray. For €30 you get your message sprayed on the Israeli Palestinian separation wall and 3 digital pictures disptached to you by email. Proceeds go to local NGOs. Check out the Guardian interview with the project’s co-ordinator Faris Asouri.
And finally on a less activist note but definately in the realm of ‘public’ is Liberia’s Blackboard Blogger. Alfred Sirleaf chalks up daily news on blackboards which are centrally located in the country’s capital city, Monrovia. He co-ordinates news feeds through his mobile phone – and as part of his objective to deliver news to those who can’t afford newspapers, includes symbols and pictures on his boards so as to assist illiterate viewers.
No longer patronisingly for ‘dummies’ – it’s a welcome relief to note the emerging host of savvy communications for clarifying complex information. These de-mystifying initiatives are not only potentially transformative but have implications of being powerfully inclusive as well.
First up: a timely animation explaining the Credit Crisis which is the result of “exploring the use of new media to make sense of a increasingly complex world” by Jonathan Jarvis over at the Art Centre College of Design in Pasedena. In fact it also shows up the failing of mainstream media to shine a clear light on this subject and raises the notion that they have then traded on the resulting confusion.
Xplane, the Visual Thinking Company who employ the method of visual collaboration and acknowledge that “effective communications… move people to action” have co-created a plethora of visual initiatives aiding understanding of complex information – rendering concepts like How Obama Reinvented Campaign Finance both palatable and digestable.
And on a topic dear to my heart: co-design. I’m over trying to bumble my way through explaining this concept to people and this beauty from thinkpublic does a great job. If this is combined with case studies from public & corporate arenas then one can easily begin grasp the concept. But hey – that’s another post!
Finally – if you’re still confused about Twitter: here it is in plain English and perhaps check out more humorous clarifications over at More New Math.
We increasingly need better filters for information (in both commercial and public spheres) and I’m a big fan of these being executed in a compelling way. If more people understand stuff surely we can expect better dialogue. And lets face it – life isn’t getting any easier – and attention spans certainly aren’t getting any longer.
