The Data Poets - A poetic exploration of the urban environment through play

The Data Poets - A poetic exploration of the urban environment through play

by
The Glasgow Office of Fun and Games

How can we use creation and Play to take a fresh look at our cities?

What space is reserved for Play and poetry in our cities?

How could town planners implement Play as a creative practice in urban environments?

This event focuses on 3 intertwined themes:

- Play and its place in our relationship with our cities

- Participatory creation

- The use of artificial intelligence in creative processes.



To explore these themes, I designed “Data Poets”. They are inspired by the ubiquitous sensors in our pockets (location, sound, images, etc.). The idea is that these sensors could experience and sense spaces in a subjective way.

The “Data Poets” can spark a creative conversation, contrasting or highlighting our perceptions of urban spaces.

The aim is to share the sensory experience of a place with a creative Artificial Intelligence housed inside the devices. These AI-poets will create unique poems from the experiences (images, sounds) with which the participants have “filled” them.

If cameras had a poetic soul, would we show them things differently? What would be our motivation for taking them for a gentle walk along our favourite path? If microphones had a musical ear, how would they sing? Would we make them listen to the roar of the highway or the happy chatter of the birds in the park?

There will be 3 different types of events:

-Organised walks where we will gather creative materials of the places we visit. After the walks, these interpretations will be "shown" to a Data Poet which will give us its own interpretations of the places.

-A dedicated website where you can submit your interpretations of Glasgow (Poems/Pictures/Sounds) - The submissions will be replied to by a Data Poet in a different medium and published on the website.

-A final zoom event where the gathered material will be presented along with the project. There will be time for a discussion.