Looking Outwards-02

Section A

Project Website:

http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

Vimeo Sample:

While looking through different generative artists, I came across the work of Aaron Koblin, who’s project “The Wilderness Downtown,” caught my eye immediately. The project involves using google street view, as well as google maps in general, to extract data which influences a short film based off of a particular city. From the different alterations displayed on his website, each of the short films are incredibly distinct and personal to the locations they are “set” in. This concept is absolutely fascinating to me, as growing up I always wanted to watch a movie set in my hometown, a sentiment I’m sure that many others felt. Now, with the technology that Koblin has created for us, this dream is starting to become a reality, albeit in small steps. Despite the short length of the film (somewhere around 30 seconds), simply seeing a single artistic representation of a personal location must be thrilling for us viewers. Although the locations of these short films are being produced from the data on a computer, they still give off the illusion that skilled artists have both visited and cared for our homes, enough to make a movie out of it.