PROXY Florence was exhibited at the Beyond Media 2009 Festival, Visions in Florence, Italy from July 9th to 17th.

PROXY Florence is a dynamic map and a collective story of Florence created through the interplay of virtual space and physical space and the interaction of 500 collaborators from 27 countries.

The project used facebook to connect and collaborate. It used Google Panoramio’s interface to collect and organize the individual images of Florence captured, envisioned, or remembered by each of the 500 contributors from across the globe. PROXY Florence used Variable Data Printing to convert the individual images collected into 500 unique, tangible postcards that were organized spatially by their coordinate data.

These images were mapped according to the image’s remembered or imagined location. These numerous images were returned to their origin in Florence, Italy and specifically, as a scale down version of this city, at Stazione Leopolda, the space of the exhibition. The focus of PROXY 1.0 was [43°46’22”N – 11°15’27”E] from July 9 – 17.

The visitors of this event were invited to dismantle the exhibit by removing the postcard of their choice. By taking a postcard, mailing to a friend, the cycle is continued.

PROXY Florence is mapping the route of the image and connecting the recipient of the postcard with the origin of the photo and its taker.

If you took a postcard in Florence, go to www.proxyproject.org to register your postcard.

Thanks for participating! Thanks also to our sponsors and to everyone who worked on this project!!!

Sponsors:

Clemson Advancement Foundation, Clemson University
http://www.clemson.edu/caah/caf/
Fieldoffice
http://www.field-office.com/
McMahan Fund for Excellence, Clemson University
http://virtual.clemson.edu/caah/architecture/
College of Architecture, Arts & Humanities, Clemson University
http://www.clemson.edu/caah/
Modern Postcard
http://www.modernpostcard.com/
Each of our 500 collaborators who gave a dollar with each image submitted
http://www.proxyproject.org/

Check out the videos and photos posted here and at the project’s website www.proxyproject.org

Asheville, North Carolina – Jan 11, 2011 — A project to honor the lives of 9/11 victims, Dispersed Memorial, is setting its goals for the 10th and 11th anniversaries of the tragedy. Thousands of glass plates, inscribed with written dedications to victims and an outline of the missing Twin Towers, will populate New York City in locations where the towers were once visible. The memorials will create a dispersed constellation of markers throughout the city that will connect the stories of loved ones and materialize a collective memory.

Each glass plate outline of the Twin Towers will correspond to the memory of the city’s skyline in varying locations. At night, the markers will light up one by one as an echo to the candles that were lit for the lives of victims in the days following 9/11, and will illuminate the inscriptions of stories, letters, poems and names that honor each victim. The memorial allows each contributor to choose the location of the glass plates where they wish to honor victims.

Dispersed Memorial was conceptualized in 2001 by Martha Skinner and Doug Hecker of fieldoffice, an interdisciplinary practice which challenges the distinctions between architecture, urbanism, and art. Their design response was related to their firm’s focus on the temporal quality of social responses to tragedy. Co-founder Martha Skinner explained, “As a former resident of New York City, I felt like I needed to be there, to be part of people coming together to deal with the situation, to heal, and to share something in common.” In anticipation of the 10th and 11th anniversaries of the event, fieldoffice has expanded the team to work with individuals ranging from urban planners, university professors, artists and architecture students, and is inviting additional collaborators.

By collecting and installing the stories behind the lives of 9/11 victims, Dispersed Memorial explores concepts of dispersed memory as a continual presence in a city and how that memory can connect people. “There is a sacredness within the fabric of the city. It is about the memory of the Twin Towers as an orienting device, and entire lives, and the losses that affected so many people,” Skinner said.

For more information about the project team and collaborative opportunities, visit the Dispersed Memorial website: http://www.dispersed-memorial.net/.

For high resolution images of the project,
Contact:
Martha Skinner
Co-founder of Dispersed Memorial
864-650-8570
skinnermartha@gmail.com
http://www.dispersed-memorial.net/

PROXY Florence collaborated with friends from many coordinates in the world. The volunteers and contributors represented the following 27 countries:

Hungary, Spain, Greece, China, Iran, Israel, France, Portugal, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Germany, Romania, United States, Chile, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Colombia, Jordan, Venezuela, Canada, Serbia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Project team:

Martha Skinner, Douglas Hecker, Lauren Mitchell, Charlie Bryant (sound), Joshua Kehl, Brian Miele, Brian Leounis, Sarah Moore, Suzanne Bodson, Ayaka Tanabe, Liz Corr, Clay Montgomery, Nathan Asire, Jake DeMint, Adam James, Carla Landa and Jason Butz.

Assistance:

Chris Wilkins, Hali Knight, Virginia Black, Sofia Avramopoulou, Benedetta Cavallini, Erica Bucciarelli, Marco Caroti, Kristian Fosholt, Laura Tedeschi, Mauricio Skinner, David De Sevi Bruzual, Eric Brockmeyer, Nathaniel Zuelzke, Olivier Ilegems, Guillaume La Belle, and Kyle Perry.

Translators:

Katalin Beck, Gerard Cuartero-Betriu, Anat Katsir, Mostafa Zaafari, Vassilis Kyriakopoulos, Rachel Sellers, Ayaka Tanabe, Erhmei Yuan, Matilde Cassani, Adie Hailat, Patricia Muñiz Núñez, Catalina Gomez, Mea Zatric, Speranta-Octavia Maior, Gerald Lehmacher, Youssef Boubekeur, and Gijs Beesems.

Guest critics:

Enrique Larrañaga, David Lee, Dan Harding, and Chuck Krekelberg.