Locative Media & The City

kudos to the murmer project.
It was a compliment to the location-based/place dynamics we've been discussing in class lately.
I was a little surprised at how 'natural' the idea of using cell phones to hear murmers from strangers at certain locations. Perhaps its because it reminds me of other media projects that encourance participation of ordinary people. Habermas, for instance, has been involved in the debate over the democratization of access to information/participation.

I can also see the resemblance oral history project sponsored by the US through the WPA of the 1930's. I agree with Diedie in that I would like to hear more from the participant but I recognize that each technology (and busy people) have limitations. Maybe keeping you wanting more is a good thing!

One key difference with the Oral History Project is that murmer not only does it take the microphone from the institution and puts it into the public's hand but it also takes the project to the streets. Hearing the stories in a location based environment allows for a unique deployment of locative media. This is not a knock on the Oral History Project, rather an attempt to point out that Murmer is different experience that listening to audio tapes in the library.