PAD: The Culture of Remembrance

Public Art Dialogue, Vol. 3, No. 1, 01 Mar 2013
Memorials 2 – The Culture of Remembrance
Routledge, London.

Artist’s Project

Border Memorial: Frontera de los Muertos
John Craig Freeman

The each of four photographs dispersed across this issue of PAD represent authentic locations where human remains were discovered. Scan the QR code with a late model iPhone, iPad or Android using any standard code reader. You will be prompted to download Junaio, an augmented reality browser, or if you already have Junaio installed, scan the QR code with that to open up the Border Memorial channel, and point the device at each of the images.

See more or order the issue at Taylor & Francis Online.

Border Memorial Field Test and Documentation

On Tuesday, January 16th, after three days of driving from New England, I arrived in Benson Arizona, which put me on the shore of the Border Memorial database. I spent the next two days driving throughout southern Arizona documenting as many of the individual data points as possible. The work was sobering and intense, but the projects performed perfectly.

There was a dusting of snow in the mountains the night before, but it is already 50 degrees. So the conditions can be pretty extreme, more on video.

On the road to Ajo along Arizona Highway 86.

Border fence near the Lukeville crossing in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

Border Memorial Successfully Deployed

After over a year of preparations and development, the “Border Memorial: Frontera de los Muertos” was successfully deployed across Arizona’s southern desert this morning.

Layar test showing a dozen POIs near Nogales, January 2nd, 2012.

Border Memorial Documentation Planing

The planned rout for documentation of the Border Memorial starts in Benson Arizona and ends in Yuma. With diversions to Nogales, Sasabe, and through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument just north of the border from Sonoyta Mexico. With a total of 516 miles, the estimated driving time is 9 hours 39 minutes, not counting stops.

Salvador Olguin Joins Advisory Board

Salvador Olguin is a writer and researcher and the founder of Borderline Projects. He holds a MA in Humanities and Social Thought by New York University. He has studied representations of Death extensively, and has worked with Mexican cultural artifacts from the late nineteen and twentieth century. He was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and currently lives in Brooklyn.

Christina Marin Joins Advisory Board

Christina Marin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Performing Arts at Emerson College, where she taught courses in Applied Theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed. Her primary research interests examine the intersection of theater as pedagogy and human rights education, as well as the use of Theatre of the Oppressed techniques as arts-based qualitative research methodologies.

The Border Memorial at Manifest.AR @ ICA

In April 2011, version of the Border Memorial was included in the Manifest.AR @ ICA during the 2011 Boston Cyberarts Festival at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.

Screenshot by John Craig Freeman, from the deck of the ICA.

Calaca 3D Model Test

Here is a screenshot of the test of the Calaca 3d model in the Central Burying Ground at the Boston Common for the Border Memorial project.

Screen capture by Hana Carpenter.

Border Memorial GPS Data Points in Google Maps

With the help of my Graduate Assistant Jeff Soyk, we have been able to read the migrant deaths data in Google Maps and Google Earth.

We will not be making these maps public for obvious reasons, but this technical hurdle gets us one step closer to implementing the augmented reality phase of the project. Here is a short movie of the data in Google Earth.

The Border Memorial at the Buskwick AR Intervention

Buskwick AR Intervention, The Border Memorial: Frontera de los Muertos in Bushwick, Mark Skwarek and John Craig Freeman.

In November 2010, a version of the Border Memorial was included in the Bushwick Augmented Reality Intervention 2010, which was part of the 2010 Beta Spaces Exhibition.

Here is some documentation.

"The Border Memorial: Frontera de los Muertos" installation at McKibben Park where it overlayed the park allowing viewers to walk through the project.

The Border Memorial AR Bushwick with McKibben St. industrial sand supply behind by Mark Skawarek, documentation by Will Pappenheimer.

The Border Memorial AR Bushwick with McKibben St. industrial sand supply behind by Mark Skawarek, documentation by Will Pappenheimer.

This video by Will Pappenheimer with Mark Skwarek documents the Border Memorial project during the Bushwick AR Intervention.

Will and Mark worked tirelessly on this project, and as I understand it, the work will remain up indefinitely.