"City Portraits": An Experience in the Interactive Transmission of Imagination

Abstract

I n French, a parcours (literally, 'itinerary') is a Each language ir model for circulation. It does not have to be actualized, ticular way of pc though it may well be, as a bus route is, many times each day. ordering experi( The telecommunications project, City Portraits [1 ], contains why we accord s at least four interlaced parcours. The first parcours is within tance during this each city: participants armed with cameras tread the streets tual images and of their home towns, translating their trajectories into imtion. ages. The second parcours is the route taken by the pictures The creation , from city to city, following the path mapped out in the ite portrait, gen project's protocol. The third parcours is that of the partici11 points at roug pants and viewers in the exhibition spaces. The last itinerary time, requires r encompasses the project itself, the many routes it could have cerning the possil taken, the one it finally is taking. tronic media: sl City Portraits purposes to explore the workings of our vision (SSTV), cc imagination through the exchange of images. By using facsimile (fax).' traces of a physical, verifiable reality to create cities that are dures require a m unknown to us, we are confronted with our own image-formof the image, wh ing processes. At the same time, the exchange lets us disgin, into signals cover our cities and ourselves through the eyes of others. transmitted by tel Each participant is both tourist and native, both subject and artist must think < object of the project's research. In this fundamental sense, finished product, our work really is about communication, its possibilities and a sense, the final r its limits. in retrospect, as v In order to carry out this exploration, it was necessary for exchanges, this 'v me to set up a network of artists, teachers and students [2]. place or at any The project was conceived not only to bring together people network. from different cultures but also to create new links between Most of us, the members of one culture. Long-distance telephone connecoften, our audiel tions are complemented by the interaction of participants (and the public) within each city. Obviously the world does Karen O'Rourke (artist), I not appear the same when viewed from Brazil as from France de lArt, 162 rue Saint Cha or Hawaii. The reasons for this are not only geopolitical. Received 8 November 19K nposes a parerceiving and ABSTRACT ence. This is pecial imporThe author describes City project to texPortraits, a telecommunications pheiroj toantxproject in which artists, students their translaand teachers from 11 universities

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