SEVEN MILE BOOTS. SIEBEN MEILEN STIEFEL. SEITSEMÄN MAILIN SAAPPAAT
2003 / 04 beloff-berger-pichlmair
On foot in the medium
of possibilities; walking on line.
Seven mile boots, the magical footwear which is known from folk tales enables
its owner to travel seven miles with one step. With little effort one can cross
the countries, to be present wherever it seems suitable and to become a cosmopolitan
flaneur with the world as a street.
Chatting in the net has become a phenomenon during the last decade. There is
an endless communication among the online communities in the chats. Walking
and wearing shoes is an everyday exercise for humans. The seven-mile-boots piece
is built upon feet and shoes as an interface to move in this text-based non-space
of the chatrooms.
The visible/physical part of the piece consists of a pair of boots, which are
available for use. The boots have two different modes; walking through the net
and standing/ listening/ observing the chat-activity.
The seven-mile-boots can be thought as a hole which is attached on the body
of a user. Through the hole s/he is "seeing" behind it, at the same
time s/he is aware of the hole itself in a physical environment and the hole
becomes a part of the user wherever s/he goes. The piece shifts the viewpoint
from the physical to the conceptual. It is focusing on the ordinary, on the
everyday activities and desires of people and it offers a perspective into the
processes, which are an inherent part of our current lifestyle.
Observer/Flaneur/Voyeur.
Technology enables us to observe real people communicating in real time from
several remote places simultaneously. The user/observer is not in control, s/he
is dependent of the existent situation and appears into it as a passive observer.
S/he acts like a flaneur, who is satisfied in the midst of the crowd and waits
for the next sensation to appear (footnote / flaneur).
The user wearing the seven-mile-boots becomes a kind of a super-voyeur, who
is able to search in several places and observe various situations simultaneously
in the net. When the user is wearing the seven-mile-boots and standing still
s/he can listen several chat rooms simultaneously. S/he can observe the life
in the net and listen to the on-going conversations between the people in chat
rooms.
The pleasure of walking.
The feet are a human device to move oneself from one location to another. While
wearing the seven-mile-boots the user is walking to one or several directions
in the physical world and simultaneously strolling in the net in a search for
the crowds. It is a different mode of moving with diverse speeds and directions
simultaneously. The piece is designed as a common apparel -shoes, which don't
demand any special skills from the users. While having the boots in the feet
the audible real-time/life situation becomes part of the user's intimate environment.
Open process.
The artistic focus of the piece is in the construction of an open structure,
which is filled by real people in real time; real life. A possibility space
which pushes the users forward in a search for more. This deficit creates the
desire for substance, a desire to consume and to experience. The piece seduces
in one hand with knowing and on the other hand with not yet knowing; What will
happen now? What will be the next response?
Technical details.
After putting on the boots they start looking for active chat channels. When
the user walks around s/he can locate a chat activity through audio. S/he will
hear himself passing through a group of chatters or s/he can decide to stop
for closer observation. The boots log into the chat rooms automatically under
the name of "sevenmileboots". The channels are selected according
to their activity and topic. Everytime while walking, the boots are looking
for a new selection of channels from the net. The boots contain all the necessary
techniques in them, a computer with wireless network, microprocessor, sensors,
amplifiers and loudspeakers. The boots are ready to function in any location
with an open wireless network.
Footnotes.
Flaneur.
In essays written in the 1930s Benjamin was led to examine the work of Baudelaire
who had earlier popularized the concept of the Flaneur, drawing attention to
this figure who takes an almost voyeuristic pleasure in detachedly watching
the doings of fellow city-dwellers.
http://www.man.ac.uk/sociologyonline/Vccc/1_2_Benjamin_Flanerie/flanerie3.htm
http://www.othervoices.org/gpeaker/Flaneur.html
http://www.modcult.brown.edu/Courses/MC90-01/student/ctaylor/lab3.html
http://www.cyberartsweb.org/cpace/politics/wodtke/flaneur.html
Datadandy.
http://mitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo/isast/articles/datadandy3.html