Glowlab's "Following" project this weekend

- participate in the project by signing up to receive text messages
- for additional info and to follow the project online, visit: glowlab.blogs.com/following/
- to learn more about Spectropolis, visit: www.spectropolis.info

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'Following "The Man of the Crowd"'
A co-located 24-hour following piece
Conducted by Glowlab's Christina Ray and Lee Walton in conjunction with Spectropolis: Mobile Media, Art and the City, a three-day event [October 1-3, 2004] in Lower Manhattan that highlights the diverse ways artists, technical innovators and activists are using communication technologies to generate urban experiences and public voice.

Date: October 2 - 3, 2004
Time: 10am - 10am
Location: starting at Doma Café, 17 Perry Street at 7th Avenue; end location unknown

This project is a 24-hour walk in which two participants, linked by text messaging, drift separately through the city in an alternating pattern according to the movements of strangers. Based loosely on Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Man of the Crowd" and inspired by Vito Acconci's 1969 "Following Piece," Christina Ray and Lee Walton have developed a collaborative performance that involves following strangers over a 24-hour period. The two participants, Ray and Walton, will enact an alternating following cycle throughout the 24-hour period. While "on" they'll maintain an intense awareness of a single stranger and his or her unknown destination. While "off," they'll rest and experience their present location. The switch from one participant to the other will be determined by the actions of the strangers, and may be exhaustingly rapid or frustratingly slow.

Spectropolis visitors and the public are invited to participate in the project by signing up to receive text messages, sent once per hour, broadcasting Ray and Walton's locations as they execute the project. From this information, spectators will be able to follow their progress and – if they are in the right place at the right time – possibly even become involved as strangers to be followed. Live text and photo updates may also be viewed at: glowlab.blogs.com/following/