Projet EVA invites you to a guided tour of Cortège, the first mobile application to be included in the City of Montreal public art collection. The artists will guide the participants on a tour that will feature an exclusive selection of Cortège’s scenarios. A special scenario uniquely available for the event will close the guided tour.
When
The guided tour will be held on Thursday the 13th of June at 17:00. The activity will last 2 hours.
Where
The participants will meet at McGill University’s Roddick Gates on Sherbrooke street.
RSVP
Please confirm your presence by sending an email to info@projet-eva.org.
Instructions
In order to enjoy the experience, Projet EVA asks you to take note of the following considerations:
- We strongly suggest that you to read our FAQ.
- Download the application the day before the guided tour over a WiFi network. We recommend that you not to do this on site, since the application is about 200 MB.
- Your phone should be well charged. Cortège uses a lot of battery power. This is typical for applications that use localization services and require constant communication with a remote server.
- Bring your headphones in order to enjoy the Cortège experience since this project is an immersive sound artwork.
- Activate the localization services on your phone. You must also authorize Cortège to use the localization data.
- Use your cell phone provider’s data plan. The wireless network (MTL WIFI) available across Montreal is not stable enough and features filtering, which will greatly hinder the experience. Once the application has been downloaded, even if it requires constant communication with a distant server, the amount of data exchanged will be minimal.
What is Cortège?
Cortège is a somatic work of art that uses smartphones to impact the social body. At the center of the devices lies an artificial intelligence deployed to take over a moment in the life of the participants. A bit like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, this AI will incite the participants to move across the city prompted by sound cues. They will eventually band up to create a mobile and compact group, the cortège (french for procession).
Cortège proposes an experience that draws on the repertoire of participatory performative practices in contemporary art, the immersive experiences associated with digital arts, while mobilizing some of the common mechanics of game art.
The smartphone application thrusts participants into an immersive sound experience and subjects them to the will of an AI that determines their path through the city in a tight formation.
Half real-life gaming, half happening, Cortège fosters an experience that is at first solitary. Gradually, the automated system impels individual participants to relinquish their personal inhibitions and be swept away by the enigmatic will of the AI.
