Research and development · 2024 · Pitch · M.Phil group project, Digital Storyworlds
Aim. To argue that the closing of Dublin's creative spaces is a cultural loss, and to get the public to remember those spaces, imagine other futures for them and act for the ones that are left.
What was proposed. A citywide campaign: a poster trail with QR codes that open audio about each lost venue, AR reconstructions seen through a phone, an online map of independent venues, and a social campaign that gathers people's memories. At its centre, a touring installation where overhead motion sensors track players, who pick speculative answers about the city, then learn what really happened, while generative AI draws each group's imagined future. The deck ends with a six-month production plan.
What we found. The pitch traced the closures to rising rents, tourism and market-led planning, from Mabos (2014) and Hangar (2018) to Jigsaw (2021) and Unit 44 (2024), and named what remains: The Fumbally, Block T, A4 Sounds and Flux Studios. It drew on Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism.
Status. Pitched, November 2024, with Cían, Enze and Marah. Kev has since started turning it into a browser map game of Dublin's creative buildings. Images from the pitch deck.
Pages from the Echo Location pitch deck, November 2024.