Digital Publics brings together technologies and the cultural practices that create public space. My Melbourne symposium on 9 February examined the kinds of public spaces that are made with and without creative intervention. My Sydney symposium looked at the future of public screens: as gathering point, as smart façade, and as media architecture.

Our key questions:

  • In the age of the mobile device and on-demand content, can public screens counter a highly individualised mode of media consumption? With Daniel Latorre, Stephen Rubie and Bruce Duyshart.
  • More responsive than ever, public screens offer artists a canvas of significant scale and impact. What’s next for art that touches individuals and connects communities? With Bruce Ramus, Chang Zhigang and Susa Pop.
  • In the complex mediatised city, can civic engagement be curated? How can screen technologies reinvent public spaces, and what tools do they offer urban planners? With Gernot Tscherteu, Ava Fatah and Ron Gauci.

Digital Publics Sydney was presented at the Concourse, Chatswood by Urban Screen Productions as part of the Media Architecture Biennale and Vivid Ideas. Curated by Esther Anatolitis with Glenn Harding.

Here’s my Storify of the event.

 

IMAGE: Esther Anatolitis in conversation with Project for Public Spaces’ Daniel Latorre and Federation Square’s Matt Jones at MAB16. Photo by Emma Shearman.