Tant lluny, tant a prop
Whispering secrets from 25 meters away. In the wake of COVID-related lockdown, sound mirrors transform compulsory physical distance into a tool for communication, social interaction and wellbeing in public space.
‘Far away, so close' is a proposal that is part of the unit that MEATS dedicates each year to emergency architecture. The global pandemic generated by the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 has pushed us in this edition to focus our energy on studying its effects and providing solutions to improve a new reality of uncertain duration.
‘Far away, so close' has its origin in an exhaustive research on the transformations that the pandemic is causing in the organization of our domestic and collective habitats, as well as on the effects that these changes have on physical health, mental and emotional of our society. One of the main conclusions of this research has been the urgent need to review the concept of social distancing, a very controversial term that can have devastating consequences if, as we can foresee, the new reality is prolonged over time.
It is time to make new proposals that work with physical distance as an opportunity to generate dynamics of creating empathy and social cohesion, avoiding regulatory and coercive solutions that represent a degraded version of what we used to have before the pandemic.
‘Far away, so close' raises new relationship dynamics in the collective space that work with physical distance as a factor for activating intimate relationships. It is about understanding the social distancing forced by the pandemic as an opportunity to generate interaction instead of isolation. A series of mobile sound mirrors located in the public space facilitate the construction, through game logic, of multiple interaction scenarios: a gigantic telephone game; a concert where spectators, walking around, can listen to the music on separate tracks; a personal message transmitted through a crowded square...
‘Far away, so close' allows us to whisper a secret in our ear 20 meters away, a very intimate experience that distance turns into magic.
‘Far away, so close' has its origin in an exhaustive research on the transformations that the pandemic is causing in the organization of our domestic and collective habitats, as well as on the effects that these changes have on physical health, mental and emotional of our society. One of the main conclusions of this research has been the urgent need to review the concept of social distancing, a very controversial term that can have devastating consequences if, as we can foresee, the new reality is prolonged over time.
It is time to make new proposals that work with physical distance as an opportunity to generate dynamics of creating empathy and social cohesion, avoiding regulatory and coercive solutions that represent a degraded version of what we used to have before the pandemic.
‘Far away, so close' raises new relationship dynamics in the collective space that work with physical distance as a factor for activating intimate relationships. It is about understanding the social distancing forced by the pandemic as an opportunity to generate interaction instead of isolation. A series of mobile sound mirrors located in the public space facilitate the construction, through game logic, of multiple interaction scenarios: a gigantic telephone game; a concert where spectators, walking around, can listen to the music on separate tracks; a personal message transmitted through a crowded square...
‘Far away, so close' allows us to whisper a secret in our ear 20 meters away, a very intimate experience that distance turns into magic.
2019 - 2020
MEATS (Toni Montes, Roger Paez, Xevi Bayona, Alexa Nader, Assil Naji, Brentsen Solomon, Dalia Al-Akki, Eirini Sampani, Elena Caubet, Jad Karam, Jana Antoun, Joelle Nader, Juan Arizti, Kuan Yi Wu, Ines Fernandez, Marta Borreguero, Mokshuda Narula, Montserrat Sevilla, Selen Kurt, Stephanie Ibrahim, Tanvi Gupta, Tiago Rosado, Tracy Jabbour, Yunling Jin)
MEATS (Toni Montes, Roger Paez, Xevi Bayona, Alexa Nader, Assil Naji, Brentsen Solomon, Dalia Al-Akki, Eirini Sampani, Elena Caubet, Jad Karam, Jana Antoun, Joelle Nader, Juan Arizti, Kuan Yi Wu, Ines Fernandez, Marta Borreguero, Mokshuda Narula, Montserrat Sevilla, Selen Kurt, Stephanie Ibrahim, Tanvi Gupta, Tiago Rosado, Tracy Jabbour, Yunling Jin)
