I want to explore the idea of “Living Here” through the lens of hyperreal spaces. What is the city of Toronto? Is the city defined by the lived experience of being in the space, or is it defined by mediated images? Do mediated images precede the reality of the space? Or are they the reality (hyperreality)? What does it mean to live in this hyperreal space?
To explore these questions, a resident of Toronto will be asked a series of questions that pertain to their life in the city experienced through technology and images. How often do you refer to a map of Toronto? Can you recite all the stops on the TTC map? Do you read blogs or watch vlogs about the city? Do you look at photography of the city? Do you watch local news? Do you recognize the city in films that are shot here? Are there discrepancies between images of the city and your lived experience of it? If so, which do you think is a more authentic description of living here?
During the interview, the subjects will be positioned in front of a blank wall. A projector will project Google Street View images of Toronto onto the subject and the blank background.
In the final moments of the film, we cut to footage of the film subject actually walking through the streets of Toronto. Yet, the audience is now confronted with the questions: Isn’t this, too, just a mediated image? Is this footage of the city any less authentic than the Google Street View images we’ve been seeing up to this point. Do these images say less or more about the place of Toronto than those Google Street View images?
Above images are from Rat Film, which I also reference in my final project proposal. This film is ostensibly about rats but is really about racial segregation and economic inequality in Baltimore. A variety of constructed images are used to depict the city, including Google Earth View images, crude CGI creations, old maps, and even scale models. For this project, I am taking inspiration from its use of Google Street View images.
Film 5050: Warren 