Digital pagakia (benches) is a public art intervention which aims to collect audio recordings from citizens in the city of Athens. Everyday life stories were initially shared while sat on benches whilst digital platform digitalpagakia.gr gathers them and creates a storytelling ‘museum’ in the heart of the city. With the use of their smartphones, citizens scan the QR code found on the bench’s intervention or simply visit digitalpagakia.gr. They easily get directed to listen and record stories.
Local
Greece
This work was commissioned by This is Athens-Polis programme part of Develop Athens (EATA),
City of Athens.
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
2019-06-01
As an individual in partnership with other persons
First name: Eliza (Elisavet Vasiliki) Last name: Soroga (Sorogka) Gender: Female Nationality: Greece Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Trapezountos 10 Nea Penteli Town: Athens Postal code: 15236 Country: Greece Direct Tel:+30 693 139 7384 E-mail:esoroga@gmail.com Website:https://www.elizasoroga.com/
‘Digital pagakia’ [benches] is a public art intervention which aims to collect audio recordings from citizens and passersby in the city of Athens.
Public benches used for everyday resting and daydreaming become the center of this work. Public benches always hold a significant quality because it is where citizens share their everyday life stories and bond with one another.
The online platform www.digitalpagakia.gr aims to gather everyday life stories told while sitting on benches and to create a rich digital library, a ‘storytelling museum’ in the heart of the city. With the use of their smartphones, citizens can scan the QR code found on the pavement or simply visit www.digitalpagakia.gr. The user-friendly webpage’s design directs them to the easy steps of listening and recording stories. In the home page there is a map depicting all selected benches at the city center. By clicking on the benches, citizens can get exact directions powered by Google maps.
This intervention aims to re-imagine public benches in obtaining a narrative quality besides their useful one, making public space a vibrant place of expression and socialization. Commissioned by This is Athens-Polis programme, this work can still be found in the streets of center of Athens (Pangrati area). There are currently six digital benches.
Step 1: Once found in one of the benches connect via your smartphone, laptop or tablet (data internet plan is required), scan the QR code marked on the pavement or simply visit digitalpagakia.gr
Step 2: Tap "Listen" and the platform will verify your location via GPS to prove you are actually there. *
Step 3: Listen to the stories recorded and press "Record" to record your own 2-minute story
*An important fact is that only users found at a radius of 10 meters around each bench can listen or record a story. This work is based on the philosophy of Site-Specific Art where the artwork is made for a specific place and holds no substance away from it.
Storytelling ‘museum’
Digital urban library
Site specific
Public intervention
Everyday life
Digital παγκάκια [benches] is an exemplary in the context of sustainability as it uses almost nothing in terms of physical materials for its realisation. It is designed to naturally fit the public space and be minimal while catchy for the passer-by to arouse their curiosity.
It uses the benches that are already found in the public space and a paint design around them to designate the bench area that the project is implemented within the neighbourhood.
In order to keep them readable and in good condition, we re-paint the stencils every 2.5 years. With this intervention we offer public benches an added narrative/ poetic and artistic quality apart from their useful one.
We use eco-friendly water-based paints low in VOC levels, regenerative bamboo painting supplies, 100% recycled and recyclable packaging, and carbon-neutral delivery partners.
We also apply anti-graffiti coating on top of the painting so that it can last longer as it protects it from the sun, the rain and also in case someone paints on top of it we can simply remove it with a water wipe without having to repaint the whole thing again.
Our paint company also offers recycling returns to their customers, where we can bring back our empty tins, and they will reprocess and recycle 100% of the tin.
The major part of the work happens online using the battery power and mobile data package of the user. To reduce power time and also make it overall more condensed to avoid loong stories, we have set the story recording limit to two minutes time. In this way, users will be more thoughtful before recording their story to fit within two minutes time.
We are also in contact with a Greek company manufacturing smart solar power benches for the public space in which you can freely charge your devices and have free WIFI for a possible mingle of the two projects’ concepts.
Digital παγκάκια [benches] intervention is designed to have a user- friendly, fun and ‘accessible to all’ design thinking in both physical and digital environments.
In a playful design manner, we communicated the intervention via identifiable physical spots -public benches- found in the central Athenian neighbourhood called Pangrati. Our design thinking was to make sure all passer-by will find out about the intervention by arousing their curiosity.
Why did we choose public benches for this work? Public benches are anyway used for everyday resting and daydreaming. They hold a significant quality because it is where citizens share memorable experiences and bond with one another.
Through the online platform www.digitalpagakia.gr we aimed to gather those stories told while sitting on benches and to create a rich digital library while offering a fun experience to the citizens. The digital benches are recognizable through the visual imprint of the tic-tac-toe, painted with the stencil technique around and on the selected benches of the intervention, together with the accompanying text "The benches share their stories, Connect!", the website "digitalpagakia.gr" and the QR code that links directly to the intervention’s website. The tic-tac-toe was chosen to mark the visual identity of the project as it is a traditional game that is participatory and simple to use. So, what happens at the bench?
With the use of their smartphones, citizens can scan the QR code found on the pavement or simply visit www.digitalpagakia.gr. The user-friendly tic-tac-toe webpage’s design directs them to the easy steps of listening and recording stories.
For all the reasons mentioned above, we made any possible effort taking into account the given funds by the City of Athens for our project to be exemplary of aesthetics and quality of experience. In a minimal aesthetic approach, we opted for a fun and user-friendly experience, designed for all ages, free of charge and 24/7 accessible.
The idea of digital benches was conceived as a response to the open call for inclusive public works for the local community commissioned by the City of Athens.
With this project we aimed at restoring the feeling of belonging and shape co-existing for the local community. Re-imagining public spaces towards positive inter-generational exchanges and community building.
Our approach was overall inclusive in a sense that we wanted to hear as many citizen’s voices as possible. Before launching the work, we interviewed passerby and locals ourselves in order to make sure that we record stories from people that had strong routes with the neighborhood; local artisans, care centers, hospitals, homeless, Roma and little children and include them as voice recordings into the work.
This selection was done on purpose as we anticipated that the above-mentioned populations are less likely to naturally engage with our platform.
Before installing the intervention, we sat on the selected benches and interviewed citizens that were organically passing by or sitting on them.
Our overall approach was designed around the aspect of inclusion. The more we included, the better. Also, the more unrepresented those voices were, the better.
When this project got launched, we were fascinated to observe how direct and massive response it had from the citizens. We were receiving approx. 30 stories per day!
Another fact is that citizens were re-inventing its use each and every day. Some used it as a treasure hunt point, some as a tourist attraction, some as a dating platform. Some gathered and played musical instruments and sang, others recorded love stories, older people shared stories about how this place used to look like fifty years ago and the different habits people had.
For us the immediate response and engagement the project had confirmed our top one objective; inclusiveness! An interactive platform accessible to all, user friendly, free of charge and open 24/7.
This project is by default interactive and its purpose is to playfully engage with the local community. The direct and only beneficiaries of this project are citizens.
Some ways citizens benefiting by the project:
Creation of a digital museum of urban stories made by the citizens for the citizens
Participation and dialogue are promoted since citizens are invited to become storytellers and leave their personal trace behind for others to discover
An interactive platform accessible to all, user friendly, free of charge and open 24/7.
Citizens become the center of this work, they feel honored that their stories are published and are exhibited as part of a public artwork
The local neighborhood obtains an artistic added value while keeping it vibrant and alive
Citizens feel less lonely in the urban sphere as they identify themselves with some of the narratives of their fellow citizens.
Provides them with the opportunity for a pleasant entertaining break in everyday life’s routine.
The bench is used in an innovative way obtaining a narrative quality besides their useful one, making public space a vibrant place of expression and socialization.
Bridges the gap between different ages (inter-generational), interests and occupations such as professionals, workers, students, retirees, etc – celebrates diversity.
Highlighting the oral history and cultural heritage of the particular place
Innovative action by artists specialized in the Public Space offered free of charge
Before launching the project, we interviewed passerby and locals ourselves in order to make sure that we record stories from unrepresented part of the neighborhood as local artisans, care centers, hospitals, homeless, Roma, little children and many more. Through these interviews citizens felt happy, engaged and honored as they their stories are going to be part of an artwork and leave their personal trace behind.
Digital παγκάκια [benches] is a local intervention made with the support of a regional fund through a program called ‘This is Athens- Polis’ commissioned by the City of Athens- Greece.
The program offered mentorships before as well as after the deadline of the open call. Throughout the research and development period, we got mentored by Dr Konstantinos- Oungrinis, Professor at Technical University of Crete, Department of Architecture. There was also a curator from the City of Athens’ behalf, Architect and Urban Planner Yota Passia that helped us towards the design idea.
In order to implement the project, we had the kind support of the European Structural and Investment Fund that through the University of Athens- Department of Theatre Studies and Athens School of Fine Art, offered the compensation of two of our interns; Renata Tsioulou and Angeliki Papageorgiou.
We also received an in-kind sponsorship from LACH CHEMIE an antigraffiti coating company that wanted to introduce its product to the market through digital benches’ initiative.
The main painter for this project was Anna Vichou. Also, some other students from Athens School of Fine Arts assisted her to the painting process.
A law consultant was also involved in the project’s implementation. Together with him, we wrote the website’s Terms and Conditions of Use to comply with European laws and the use of personal data (also known as GTPR).
Before launching the project, we interviewed locals which had strong routes with the neighborhood. After taking their written consent, we then edited their stories and added them to the platform. We interviewed citizens that were less likely to naturally engage with our intervention due to their age or lack of technological skills.
The curation of this project was overall designed around the aspect of inclusion. The more voices we included and the more unrepresented those were, the better.
Our interdisciplinary team consists of Eliza Soroga (Multimedia Artist), Thodoris Tsirkas (Web Developer) and Nikos Georgopoulos (Art Director).
The idea was conceived by myself (Eliza) and Thodoris as a response to the open call for inclusive public works to engage with the local community organized by the City of Athens.
I met him as I was looking for a collaborator to create a digital-oriented concept for this call. At first, I had something else in mind but it evolved through open-ended discussions; we both shared insights from our knowledge fields giving emphasis to the limitations. For example, as an artist I had an idea that wasn’t easily applicable to a software.
By discussing with Thodoris, he was able to guide me towards easily developed and user-friendly solutions. On the other hand, Thodoris learned about audience engagement limitations and real-life interaction with an artwork from my experience as a performance artist specializing in public spaces.
The idea derived out of a genuine brainstorming. Throughout the implementation of the work, we kept exchanging knowledge on each field to wider the horizons on what we wanted to achieve.
Later on, we invited Nikos to implement the project’s concept into a design idea. Nikos comes from the world of designing identities for architectural offices in London and has a rich experience working with branding and graphic identity solutions in the world of commerce. He engaged with our discussions and brought his special insight to our project. We all agreed that we wanted something catchy, playful, minimal, easily applicable to the pavement and aesthetically pleasing.
This project wouldn’t have been realized without the openness, the desire to truly collaborate and let go of all pre-occupations that each one had in their field. On a tabula rasa setting, we created this new work as a response to a truly interdisciplinary work ethos. The threee of us are still working together in other projects.
Regaining a sense of belonging is the category that we are applying for and we are confident that our project applies perfectly to this statement. Through this project citizens of all ages can leave their unique trace in the city while sharing their personal stories with the anonymous city crowd.
It feels less lonely to listen to citizen’s stories and connect to your city through audio everyday life recordings. This bench belongs to its citizens and this time, its not just a bench it’s a platform for free and 24/7 accessible storytelling!
When this project got launched, we were fascinated to observe how citizens were re-inventing its use each and every day. Some used it as a treasure hunt point, some as a tourist attraction, some as a dating platform. Students were gathered to share their funny stories and experiences, some gathered and played musical instruments and sang, others recorded spooky stories, love stories or even stories that occurred in that particular bench! Older people shared thoughts about how this place used to look like fifty years ago and the different habits people had.
For us the response and engagement the project had was the best possible outcome for our endeavour.
Additionally, digital benches were recently selected to be part of the new Google’s project in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and City of Athens called ‘Athens. The city is the museum’. This new initiative is created to encourage travellers visiting Athens, to discover the city on foot and explore its unique treasures, through authentic human stories.
In the attached document we have gathered the number of webpage visits and users’ engagement extracted from Google analytics.
When launched, this project attracted the press, radio and tv channels. The project’s press release got published in almost all the Greek online and physical press.
On the attached document, you can find interviews and special press articles conducted for the project.
Thinking about the field of the project my mind goes directly to ‘traditional’ forms of public art.
Traditionally, public art can be a static non interactive sculpture that is usually designed for the particular public space. In today’s public spaces it can be a historic sculpture to commemorate a hero or an aestheticized installation or sculptural piece belonging to the wider contemporary art movement.
During the last few years, as technology evolves, artists are taking advantage of the given technological means incorporating them into their works.
In this frame of mind, digital παγκάκια [benches] use the given technology in an interactive and meaningful way and thus bring an innovative work for the public space.
Public benches are meant to be spaces used for everyday resting and storytelling, sharing everyday life events with friends in an unframed and relaxed manner.
The online platform www.digitalpagakia.gr is incorporating the natural ethos of these particular spaces and adds another layer to it; with the use of technology, these stories can now be recorded and belong to a digital cloud where anyone can trace, like a storytelling library in the heart of the city.
This work is on for already four years with hundreds of stories already received. Imagine that this work will be on for decades and we could have a trace of what people share in each phase of society, stories deriving from all ages and diverse cultural backgrounds in different time periods.
For instance, while pandemic was on, all bars were closed therefore people were meeting more often in public spaces.
This made a difference to the number of stories received on that period. Also, the content of the stories was the struggle of citizens during the pandemic. This is undoubtedly a historic trace, it can be accessed by anyone, it belongs to the city and to its sociohistorical archive.
We are an interdisciplinary team consisted of a multimedia artist, a web developer and a graphic designer. In every step of the way we were open to hear each other’s approach towards the creation of the project. We had frequent meetings where we set timelines throughout the project’s research and development stages.
We all enjoyed the collaboration and learned about each other’s field. Each one of us was at times intentionally stepping into each other’s shoes in order to gain an insight of the various aspects of the project.
We discussed thoroughly by explaining each task, while working as a unanimous whole even if our tasks were completely different. In order to be able to collaborate, we dipped into each other’s field to understand how things work as a whole.
Inspiration wise, deriving from the world of site-specific performance we worked with reference to the ‘Expanding Theatre’; the idea that the whole world can be seen as a stage -Theatrum Mundi- and the citizens are performers in their everyday lives, while the boarders between art and reality are blurred. We introduced compositional methods of ‘Site-Specific Outdoor’, where the specific space constitutes the prima material of the work and the concept derives from an interactive dialogue with the site.
We conceived the work in the basis of Site- Specific Art this is why it is accessible only when being on site.
Our approach was to incorporate the reality of the chosen public spaces exploring the dynamic interdisciplinary methods of re-inventing them.
Our overall methodology was designed around the aspect of inclusion. The more citizen’s voices we included and the more unrepresented those voices were, the better.
That is why before launching the project, we interviewed passerby and locals ourselves, those that are less likely to naturally engage with our platform; in order to make sure that we record stories from local artisans, care centers, hospitals, homeless, Roma and little children.
Digital παγκάκια [benches] could be expanded to more municipalities, cities and countries so that more citizens could benefit from this intervention.
It could also be installed inside schools, hospitals, boats, airports, various waiting rooms, train stations and generally transit non-places that people are transiting and have time to kill.
At this point we are pitching this work to Athens International airport with a different logo, visual identity and physical implementation closer to the guerrilla advertisement mindset to be placed in the airport waiting areas.
When we first came up with the idea, we wanted to implement the work not only in public benches but also in various other public spots that for some citizens may be significant and have a meaning i.e. a public light, a public bin, a bus stop, an entrance of a metro station etc for public spots to obtain a narrative and poetic quality besides their useful one.
As for the benches, we also thought about collaborating with an Athens radio station and create curatorial story themes for each month and also a prize for the best story to motivate citizens to narrate more.
Another idea could be for this installation to work in historic places where tour guides, historians and experts could record a short story for tourists/ visitors to listen to and connect with the roots of the place.
Having this work on for the last three years, we discovered that some citizens used it as a platform for dating as it became a meeting spot for some where they were exchanging voice messages (stories) until they finally met.
We are convinced that there are numerous ways of replicating and taking advantage of the project’s technology.
Urban environments have become spaces of anonymity and solitude. Citizens are constantly on the move, shifting from one place to another while there is a need to witness something more ‘human’ in the experience of public space.
By listening to everyday life stories, citizens gain a sense of belonging into the local and wider community and make public space time appear less lonely. It also provides them with the opportunity to leave a personal ‘trace’ behind where others can then encounter and engage with.
Some stories are also very funny and relaxing so this can be entertaining for the listener. Being surrounded by constructed fictional realities (Netflix, Disney+) this work provides a window to the real raw and unedited life stories of the everyday life citizens.
With this platform we aim to create meaningful personal experiences designed for citizens and to make public spaces significant places where people can interact and merge. In this way the bench obtains a narrative quality besides their useful one, making it a vibrant place of expression and socialization.
To record a story, it gets citizens thinking about what story to tell. This aspect provides them with the chance to reflect, re-think, reset and daydream. Enjoy the ‘here and now’ of the urban experience and hopefully feel less alienated.
