Locative Art

Wiki defines "locative art" as art which uses location-based media such GPS or Wi-Fi as its medium. It is a sub-category of interactive art or new media art, which explores the relationships between the real world and the virtual or between people, places or objects in the real world.

That being the case, I believe (in the not too distant future) that there are going to be amazing opportunities for all different types of locative art; locative commercial art — that is.

For example, with all mobile devices, particularly phones, heading toward having GPS capability — "content owners" will be able to restrict their content to be viewable in certain longitude and latitude trangulations. (Damn! I wish I had taken trigonometry!)

So, what does that mean?
 

Scenario: I am on the top of the Empire State Building and to enhance my viewing pleasure, and also to ensure I get a great interactive history lesson — I can tune-in to my cell phone and watch a video describing the Manhattan skyline. Not only that but the interaction is such that the system will be able to tell if I am facing north, south, east or west. Thus giving me different video feeds for different views and allowing some sponsor to pay for the whole thing.

Think about this for a second — the applications are endless.

• If you were Disney, you could get all of your guests to utilize services based upon where in the various parks you were located.
  
• If you are the a museum with an outside sculpture gallery your guests could learn all about the statues right from their phones.
  
• The fields of the Civil War could take on a new dimensions by piping in Ken Burns epic movie on the Civil War straight to the Battlefield at Antietam
• Or, you could do a performance of William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice and have it only be available in Venice, again with the required sponsors
  

And on and on and on. I previously spoke about "locative art" when I reviewed William Gibson's book "Spook Country" back in December of 2007: (http://techno-travels.blogspot.com/2007/12/spook-country.html).
Reading this novel is a fun way to actually read more about this subject, and enjoy the quirky, quick-read style of the author, Gibson. (The guy who termed the phrase cyberspace.)

Well, I will leave it up to all of you brilliant entrepreneurs to take off with this, and I look forward to the free entertainment that is coming my way.

P.S. This blog is not sponsored by anyone.