Conflux

is an art and technology festical in NYC whose goal is the "creative exploration of urban public space." It starts on September 11th, so if you live in the city please go check it out for me. Here some cool "walks" I read about:

Every Step

Every Step allows a participant to create a short experimental animation while they walk. Each participant is given an armband with a mounted camera and pedometer. The pedometer acts as a trigger for the camera and an image of whatever is above the participant is taken every time a step is made.

To create an animation the participant simply puts on the armband and takes a walk wherever they would like to go. When the participant returns from the walk the images are transferred from the camera’s memory and loaded into a custom software program. The software program uses the images to create a frame-by-frame animation and to create a soundtrack for the animation. When the program completes the animation a DVD is made and given to the participant.

Website: http://www.mattroberts.info/step

Self-Sustainable Chair

Self-Sustainable Chair, a dress made out of polyethylene, connected to shoes that pump air into an inflatable bubble attached to its rear part on each step. The dress slowly transforms into a chair with each step and holds the person to sit on it naturally. With his or her body weight the chair is slowly deflated and forms back to the original flat dress. Self-Sustainable chair is a conceptual garment that motivates users to consistently switch between walking and sitting as a loop behavior on the street. The balance between exercise and rest would be maintained by wearing this suit. The purpose of this project is to transform the humdrum experiences produced by routine walking commutes into an amusing interactive performance.

Website: http://jooyounpaek.com

(Thanks, Eve)