For the exhibition “Maps of Amsterdam 1866-2000” at the Amsterdam Municipal Archives, Waag, Esther Polak and Jeroen Kee developed the installation AmsterdamREALTIME, which uses modern technology to explore a new method of cartography. The media art project playfully demonstrated how GPS technology would change human orientation and spatial perception, years before the widespread introduction of smartphones and commercial navigation services. The project revealed how Amsterdammers experience and shape their city through movement, and has since become an important reference point in media art and thinking about mobility, landscape and cartography.
More than twenty years later, AmsterdamREALTIME is being restored: the original Flash-based animation from 2003 and the accompanying web platform are being made accessible again in accordance with contemporary technical standards. This restoration not only offers the opportunity to preserve a crucial work in the history of digital culture, but also to re-examine the project in light of current issues surrounding datafication, privacy, digital infrastructures and spatial experience.
This evening at Waag will feature a public screening of the restoration of AmsterdamREALTIME and archive material.
In addition, there will be a talk between artist Esther Polak and designer Bert Spaan about the development of GPS technology, cartography and digital maps, and their social and cultural impact.
Programme
| 19:30 - 19:45 hrs | Welcome & introduction |
| 19:45 - 20:15 hrs | Esther Polak about AmsterdamREALTIME |
| 20:15 - 21:30 hrs | Talk between Bert Spaan and Esther Polak |
Accessibility
If you are on a tight budget and would like to participate in this event, please contact kelly ⟨ at ⟩ waag.org.
The Waag building is not accessible to visitors with reduced mobility. View our accessibility information here.
