Our group took to Bourke street mall where we were assigned the task of roaming high, low and mid ground to find pieces of media.
We were initially unsure as how to approach this but eventually split up and took video snippets, audio recordings and snapshots of media we saw from various vantage points in that location.
From where I was standing, I was surrounded and inundated with media; branding and signage bombarded my periphery.
I had so many options, it’s a wonder we all settle and make a choice.
Looking up into the sky, wiring lined the sky and created grids, framing vertical advertising that ordains the classic architectures façade.
Advertising from shops that once lined the streets of Bourke are visible if you look for them. Faded by the years and weathering, they offer the eye a place to rest for a moment before my attention is grabbed by brighter colours offering me sales, bargains and discounts.
I look in my hand and I’m holding my phone, I see messages from friends, sending me links to pages and articles.
The music track changes in my headphones to a track that doesn’t fit the soundtrack to the hustle and bustle of the crowd, so I change it without a thought, then catch myself in the subconscious act. I take the headphones out and close my eyes; buskers are playing folk songs every 15 meters along the tram line, guiding trams that have advertisements for the kinky boots musical.
I open my eyes and decide to look to the ground, in hope of giving my eyes a place to rest but sure enough, there’s a coke can within eye-shot.
As I walk further up the bluestone path outside Myer, I catch a glimpse of an Adidas sticker that has adhered itself to the pavement as listed above.
I found myself at the end of Bourke on the corner of Elizabeth and a busker played a beautifully melancholy tune that reminded me of a song that reminded me of Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go on’ from Titanic.
I stood for a little while and listened to him play, then walked back up and down the street, gathering audio of the walk and the passers by, their conversations about things they had bought and things they had seen.
All audio and video footage can be found here.