Brooklyn Bridge: A Study of Space and Semiotics
April 14th, 2009 | Published in Performance Art
Brooklyn Bridge: A Study Of Space and Semiotics
On two separate occasions, a cool fall evening and a warm afternoon, we spent several hours in our space, the Brooklyn Bridge, exploring the contextual and visual elements of the social interaction between the varying groups.
The function of the bridge is to get people from point A to the other side, point B. Depending where you start that could be either, Manhattan or Brooklyn.
We noticed that there are two literal groups, the walkers and the bikers, that divide up the function of the bridge into a system of social mobility. This information was based on the semiotics of the location. However, the tourists would often wander back and forth to each side of the bridge completely ignoring the symbols meant to provide a safe experience for all. Therefore allowing potential accidents between bikers and pedestrians.
Thus we opted to introduce an interface as a performance on the bridge that emphasizes the divide between the walkers and the bikers, to make people more aware of the two lanes. Our intended audience would be the people who walk or bike on the bridge everyday.
The performance itself consisted of physical movements emphasizing the two lanes and even demonstrating in rhythmic movements who should be where. Towards the end of the movements we would pull out signage with the symbols of the biker and walker and use them within the performance to create a rather “in your face” sort of experience.
Out first prototype performance was given on Friday morning at 11 am. At this time the bridge was quite crowded with several tourists, runners, walkers, and bikers all trying to cross the bridge. We began our performance and as we did we noticed that people would stop and watch, take pictures, correct us if the signage was wrong, move to the correct side of the bridge, stop and ask questions, some even asked about the third group some might call the runners, and yet even others would simply be amused by our antics. We even caught Adam Sandler on the bridge, who waved and smiled as he drove by with a film crew, from filming “Click” earlier that morning.
