ITP Spring Show 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2-6pm & Monday, May 11, 5-9 pm
 

Lina Giraldo

Do you have a dream

This is a project that intends to explore children’s visions of their community, their family and their future, bringing them to the audience by means of small interactive screens.

http://doyouhaveadream.org/

Classes
Interactive Documentary


With this piece I would like to explore immigrant children’s vision of their community, their family and their future. It’s very important to hear what children are thinking, questioning and expecting from life. They are the future and we need to teach them how to respect each other. They need to talk and be heard regarding their dreams and expectations. Children are more open-minded to understanding the errors of the adults. They a have a fresh mind in order to think about change. Children have another way of looking at the world. They are honest, playful.
The footage I’m collecting reflects their playfulness. Here, they are learning how to use cameras and new technologies, making mistakes, hiding from each other and always having fun. It was their opportunity to speak out, but also a moment to play and discover. Almost all of the children that I’ve been working with are sons and daughters of immigrants or live in a Hispanic majority community. In Santa Fe, New Mexico I worked with two middle Schools with 6 and 7 graders. In New York, I’m working with 4th graders from the after School program at Henry Street Settlement.


Background
United States is a country build by immigrants from all over the world. It is a country that represents freedom and opportunities. Unfortunately the immigrant’s conditions have been deteriorating. Prejudice between different races, religious and cultures are more notorious. In places like New Mexico the number of gang members has been increasing. The economic crisis doesn’t help and people are constantly loosing their jobs. This is why it’s so important to listen to what children are thinking.

Audience
The audience in this project is really anybody interested in children's dreams and the problematic they experience in their community. As the piece is shown in more public spaces, hopefully it will be accessible to people outside the art realm and move towards the general audience

User Scenario
The experience from the audience will be somewhat subtle. The screens will be off most of the time. When the spectator crosses in front of one of them, it will trigger it to start showing the videos. The LCDs will be placed on the walls in a random manner, creating curiosity. They will remain off if there is no movement in front of them. They will be on if people are walking in front. The sound is very soft so you have to get close in order to pay attention.

The audience will either ignore the screens or get curios and come closer. This behavior is similar to the contrast of when the children’s opinions are ignored by their parents versus when they are in their playful moments. Since the spectator has to actually stop and stand in front of the screen, it is a soft way of forcing them to pay close attention to the messages. By generating curiosity and playfulness, I want to bring the spectator closer to the children.

Implementation
The project consists of a private website accessible only to the children in order to protect their privacy. This part cannot be exhibited or shown publicly and hence is not part of this proposal.

The second part which will be displayed publicly, consists of nine small LCD screens set up on a wall in a somewhat random position. They have been fitted with a proximity sensor that triggers them to turn on when a spectator is in front of them.