Location-Aware Album by Bluebrain

The National Mall by BLUEBRAIN. The First Location-Aware Album from BLUEBRAIN on Vimeo.

This is a trailer for the "location aware" album by Bluebrain, The National Mall, based on Washington, D.C. As the Pitchfork article that brought my attention to it describes, it's like bringing the soundscape of a video game to real-life. The project appeals to me because I am from Washington, D.C. and have walked around the National Mall to my own mixtape many times. In general, though, I like to coordinate my listening to place, thinking about good road trip mixes for different destinations and the best arrival music to various locations (thanks to the Jim Jarmusch film, Down By Law, New Orleans will always be Tom Wait's Rain Dogs for me).

Here is how Ryan Holladay of Bluebrain describes the project:

We thought, “What if you replace that map within the videogame terrain with the coordinates of an actual map?” In this case, the National Mall. And instead of assigning sounds, like you would in a videogame, to mimic real life, what if you made it musical, or surreal? For instance, as you start at the base of that hill [at the Washington Monument] you hear a single cello and piano. And as you make your way up to the top, more and more instruments keep getting added, to the point where you’re literally at the very top, touching the Monument, and you’re hearing out-of-control blast beats.

Though I have not downloaded the iPhone app and taken the music tour created by the band, one thing I notice and like about the trailer above is that the sense of place is not simply monumental, visiting the major landmarks in the most straight-forward way possible as a tourist would. The approach seems glancing, as with the avatar's experience at the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. Sharing this quirky perspective on place seems like a major contribution to the democratic mapping of Washington, D.C. In a sense, it nurtures the kind of perspective Noah gives us in his post, "The Capitol Who Watches Over All," which opposes the singular conception of the city from the pov of the Capitol.

(All images are screen captures from "The National Mall" video trailer by Bluebrain.)

The Capital Who Watches Over All

National Mall, Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Capitol building sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Senate Wing of the building was completed in 1800, and the House Wing was completed in 1811. The building is still home to both the Senate and the House of Representatives which together form Congress. The National Capital holds many true and symbolic powers. The majority of the time it holds the most influential and important elected officials of the U.S. Government. However, when it is empty it still seems to be active, watching over the city like a big brother.

As you can see in the picture above, the Capitol is situated in an elevated position looking over the National Mall and the City as a whole. This position makes it visible in nearly every area of the city. Although there is not truthfully a person peering out from inside the capital on a daily basis, it still appears to be watching over the city. Whether they are conscious of it or not, people are constantly in the field of vision of the capital.

The picture to the left was taken by a photographer with the last name Bettmann in the 1940's. Run-down tenements sit in the foreground. In the background, the capitol sits in the direct center, watching every corner of the city. This picture is quite ironic if we interpret the capital as watching over the city. It is watching the people suffer in the crowded tenements yet doing nothing about it. Additionally, the U.S. Capitol is a symbol of the 'American Dream'. The people who inhabit these tenements are not living this dream yet they look at the capitol nearly every day.

Watching over the city, the capital serves the same person as a false security camera. Upon seeing it, the viewer adjusts their behavior, thinking someone is watching. The capitol is just a more primitive form of false surveillance, causing people to take just a little more consideration. This surveillance connects to the concept of a "Smart City" which we discussed in class a few days ago. The Capitol helps to make Washington D.C. a "smart city" in a sense, always surveying everyone and everything in sight.

Here is a video History of the United States Capitol.

This idea of constant surveillance connects to the Panopticon style prison.