As I was going through the research options on the website, I was having a hard time finding something that was simple enough for me to explain while also being a pretty cool subject to talk about. I don’t really like anything that has to do with really abstract art or something that “peaks into the soul”. I just find things like that to be uninteresting. So after a few minutes of going through the topics I found a topic that was simple and related to my favorite place on this planet, NYC.
Recalling 1993, is a project done by Droga5 and the New Museum, in 2013, to celebrate 20 years since 1993. The project allowed people to call a certain number from any of 5000 payphones in Manhattan and the caller could hear the voices of people from 1993. The voices people were hearing were adjusted to fit the neighborhood the caller was on down to even the street.
When we think of interacting with the past, mediums that come to mind are things like pictures, journals, videos, and maybe a voice recording. Here we have an example of interacting with the past people of New York City through a payphone. These people would talk about many things, from regular conversation, to the crimes they were experiencing since 1993 was the second most violent year on record since 1990. Hearing someones voice about a past experience gave a more human touch because hearing a voice is a lot more human then just reading an article or an eye witness account.
In a video I watched one of the recordings was a man saying his name and that had just graduated NYU and was looking for work. It was kind of surreal to hear someone from 25 years ago actually speak and say something that I could see myself saying.
I will be presenting a power point in class for more information and video.
https://droga5.com/work/recalling-1993/
Droga5’s ‘Recalling 1993’ Project Turns NYC Pay Phones Into Geo-Located Time Capsules
Recalling 1993 sounds like a really interesting project, and it seems like a dynamic way to learn about the history and experiences of the people and the city. I’m curious to know why they chose 1993 for the project, and not 1990.
Hooray! I love this project. Using technology in a project doesn’t have to be screen based. There’s a bunch of work out there that uses everyday objects in surprising ways. The city is full of weird artworks like this too; for example, Max Neuhaus’ Times Square sound piece : https://www.diaart.org/visit/visit/max-neuhaus-times-square
Similarly, you can think of something that isn’t about the technology, but leverages it in a fun way like Pac Manhattan did http://www.pacmanhattan.com/
Are there other works like this that use the city in some interesting way?
This is very interesting to me as in a sense it is a form of interactively logging history and is a form of memory management. i have heard of people researching a form of recreating a persons conscience in the form of data to ask questions to people who have passed away and this seems like a very fun way to listen to the past like you were truly there.
This is such an interesting concept! It seems like a really engaging concept, even disturbing to a degree. I wonder what the process was like in setting it up.
This is definitely something different than other artist and projects we talked about in class. I love this idea of “recalling 1993” and how I can have a conversation with someone 24 years apart from me. I am interested to hear how this project was done, and the relation it has with our class.
Haha, “I have graduated NYU and am looking for work”, too real! This is really interesting. It’s not clear to me though whether they are playing recorded voices from 1993 or if they are simulating voices from that time. How can you have a conversation? Looking forward to your presentation and the class discussion.
Wow haha this is awesome! I have no idea how this works, but it’s definitely a cool concept to talk to people from the past. I’m wondering how they actually have a conversation with the voice from 1993?
Wow! This sounds so cool! It really makes me think about the things people could have said back in the day. I was wondering if there is any modern device that would store conversations that we could hear in the future?
This is a unique approach to interacting with history with technology. Good choice in picking out a topic that is not related to screen-based medium! It really increases the diversity of our research project blog. I am excited to hear more about this payphone project in class today. I wonder where they collected all the voices from the past that give callers a realistic experience of talking to someone of the past. Was this like a one-way conversation or was it interactive?
The project sounds really cool and I can’t wait to see what you present in class. It would be really interesting if you played one of the conversations in class. I like that this project is different from the ones we’ve talked about in class.
This project is fascinating. We rarely think about sound as a relic from the past, yet audio is one of the oldest forms of storytelling and documentation. 1993 isn’t exactly the radio age, but it’s interesting that sound is still one of the most distinct and accessible means of hearkening back to that time.