Memories are made of this

May 5 2008 by Laura Sharpe, Liverpool Daily Post

A CUTTING-EDGE artwork which is providing a “snapshot of Liverpool life” is in the city for its final day today.

The 10ft-high cylinder, with eleven cameras, has been in the city’s Williamson Square for the past three days.

Commissioned by O2, the memory project records the camera images in sequence every five seconds, creating a 360-degree, digital panorama of the outside location.

These images are then transmitted to giant screens on the structure’s interior.

Physically reminiscent of a Victorian cyclorama, the cylinder has animated lights on the exterior shell which signal when each camera is about to take a picture.

These shots are then uploaded to the internet site instantaneously.

The cameras also allow visitors to move and shift the images back and forward in time, interacting with the location’s memory.

A unique link with www.o2memory-project.com also allows visitors at home to view the exact time they were in the artwork and create their own “memory ring” of images they saw.

The memory project had travelled to London and Edinburgh before arriving in Liverpool and is inspired by artist Jason Bruges.

He said: “It’s been fantastic to see how visitors interacted and engaged with the piece and the memory of themselves.” The artwork has been welcomed by Liverpool Central BID, which represents shops and business in the city centre.

Rita Waters, chief executive of BID, said: “We’re delighted to welcome the project to the heart of the city.

“Jason has created an interesting and intriguing piece of artwork which will create a fantastic snapshot of Liverpool life.”

The artwork links with the mobile phone providers Bluebook – a service that saves contacts and automatically stores photos and texts.

Sally Cowdry, O2 UK Marketing Director, said: “The project will create a virtual ‘time capsule’ – documenting three days in the life of three UK cities.

“O2 is proud to support such a significant artwork that illustrates the importance of storing moments in time – a similar sentiment behind the creation of Bluebook.

“With text messages replacing letters and camera phones replacing photo albums, people’s memories are increasingly going digital.

“We created Bluebook with these insights in mind.”

laurasharpe