Blu Dot Studio put 25 of their chairs on the streets of Manhanttan, and then followed the chairs through a combination of GPS and video surveillance as people picked them up and took them home--which, by the way, the public could follow in real time on Twitter. Then the filmmakers interviewed the chair-collectors.
Though the movie is fundamentally advertising for the Blue Dot, there's so much I love about this project. I love the witty way it's filmed, the friendly use of mobile and surveillance technologies to reveal and enhance the shared nature of urban experience, and the exploration of how today's brick-and-mortar cities are fused with real-time electronic interactions. I love the way these people talk about how the chairs intersect with their lives, and the passionate way they speak of "curb-mining" and upcycling the things they find on the city streets.
The chairs don't look at all comfortable to me,** but the film is beautiful, playful, and shareable:
** Andrea Loukin at Blu Dot responded to that little comment: "Actually, the chair is surprisingly comfortable—and if you want, there is a pad that fastens on with magnets," she says.
Comments
Otiena wrote on 01.11.10, 10:00pm:
I think this is a unique and awesome way (not to mention elaborate) to advertise. Kudos to them.
What other projects/experiments like this one are out there?
Sophie wrote on 08.05.10, 2:59pm:
This was hilarious, especially if you have lived in NYC or an artist. I've been known to pick up a few things myself, not to mention chairs, especially when I was in graduate school!
That was both informative and, more importantly, fun!