VIRTUAL/MONUMENTAL TOURS: 11am, 12:30pm, 2pm BBQ: 12pm to 4pm RAIN DATE: August 12th

Virtual/Monumental highlights the relationships between sites and people through interconnecting BRAC’s Education and Exhibitions programs. The project weaves a visual narrative around the unknown resources and untapped histories of the center, community, and river—each of them evolving—and overlays the history with future designs of these areas within the present settings through Augmented Reality apps and QR codes, experienced on iPads and mobile devices. Through the use of art and technology, we hope to allow citizens to be active in foreseeing their community’s future.

BRAC will host a daylong event from our headquarters at 2064 Boston Rd. Visitors will be able to get maps and information to guide them through projects in nearby parks, gardens, and neighborhood streets. Projects can be viewed independently on a personal smart device or on an iPad provided by BRAC on one of several scheduled tours led by Gallery Director, Chad Stayrook.

The following projects will be presented:

Fiction/Non-Fiction by David Abecassis – This virtual installation is located on the grounds of P.S. 214 at east Tremont Ave. and West Farms rd and consists of 2 digitized desks with moving text viewable on smart devices with web access. The text will come from stories written by students at PS 214

Future Farms by Katherin McInnis – The Future Farms project will be a Smartphone app and website celebrating the culture and future of urban farming in the West Farms neighborhood. The app and website will feature current community gardens, and identify sites for potential future gardens, creating a neighborhood walking tour.

Currents of Tremont Avenue by Heidi Neilson – Using time-lapse photography, Neilson’s project monitors fluctuations in the Bronx River in conjunction with bus traffic on East Tremont Avenue. Currents of Tremont points out that pedestrian flow in the public transportation hub of West Farms Square is as integral to the makeup of this neighborhood as the tidal flow of the Bronx River.

A Place to Lay My Head by Maria Mocerino and Nathan Koch – As Old West Farms Soldiers’ Cemetery approaches its 200-year anniversary, the artists will create an installation that links our past and present, community of this borough, city, and nation with those who fought so we may endure. Viewers will explore the cemetery on mobile devices and headphones while physically moving throughout it. Soldiers (who materialize, and guide) will take each viewer on his or her own intimate journey – inviting each to engage with an ongoing history of men and women who have died in combat and to participate in the ritual that honors their memory.

Coming Soon by Stephanie Rothenberg (REV-) – Coming Soon explores the shifting landscape of the West Farms neighborhood and nearby vicinity through a series of virtual landmarks that create a local narrative on current and future development. The virtual landmarks are viewable with the LayAR app available on smart phones and iPads. As mobile device users walk through the neighborhood they will encounter a series of animated virtual Coming Soon signs that correlate to a specific physical site. An animated virtual “Welcome to West Farms” sign will be virtually stationed outside of BRAC.

J & West Farms: BRONX by Jason Eisner – For nearly three months, Eisner has been servicing trees and visually documenting the vibrant community life in West Farms Square as a way of mapping the neighborhood. All of his drawings and narratives have been archived on blog: http://invisible-eisner.tumblr.com/

Virtual/Monumental by Teen Project Studio – During BRAC’s spring and summer teen art class students created their visions of public sculpture across the neighborhood. Projects range from monumental stone sculptures in the Bronx River to painted murals on neglected building walls. These are viewable by scanning a QR code posted at each project’s location.