Greylands, 1999
Technology, the internet and your next home.
October 2- 9, 1999
The LeBreton Flats, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
A project by Artengine and KIT
Tapping into childhood conceptions of what the future might hold, Artengine, KIT and local high-tech professionals built a robot designed to explore and settle new territory. The robot, controlled by visitors to the Greylands.com, was part of multi-layered art project that sought to reexamine established notions of space, presence, property and the land upon which we live.
As part of Artengine I was part of the Greylands team. My responsibilities in the project varied from vacuum forming the body of the robot, documenting the project, designing and building the real estate sign, to being the site logistics officer and taking care of payroll.
Aerial view of the LeBreton Flats site, October 2, 1999. Just south of the Ottawa River, the site had been industrial until 1962 when it was expropriated by the Federal Government.
Real estate sign. 128' Greylands sign corners the real estate lot and addressed morning traffic.
The robot, Nimby, is made of an electric wheelchair, a Netwinder computer, a GPS system, an ethernet line and a chalk talc dispenser. The shell was created out of vacuum formed ABS plastic and recalls the shape of a rider lawnmower.
Rear view of robot as it draws out architectural floorplan on a selected lot. Chalk talc was used as the a marking medium.
Greylands tech scrambling after robot.
Customer reception lounge in site trailer.
Sales desk in trailer.
Press Release Text
GREYLANDS
Technology, the internet and your next home.
October 2- 9, 1999
The LeBreton Flats, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
A project by Artengine and KIT
Tapping into childhood conceptions of what the future might hold, Artengine, KIT and local high-tech professionals have built a robot designed to explore and settle new territory. The robot, controlled by visitors to the Greylands web site, is part of multi-layered art project that seeks to reexamine established notions of space, presence, property and the land upon which we live.
The first frontier for Greylands is the LeBreton Flats of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Once a native hunting ground, a settler’s outpost, a lumber yard and a residential/industrial district, the LeBreton Flats reflect the pattern of Western development across North America. This rich and complicated history will be evoked by way of an on-line faux real estate development that will lead prospective buyers through the process of selecting a lot and designing a new home. Having been relayed the house designs, our robot will trundle out onto the physical site and draw the floor plans onto the respective lots. Within a week the 63 lots made available will have proud new owners and those owners, wherever they may be around the world, will be able to view their dream home designs on the Greylands web site.
When all is complete, the LeBreton Flats will have been traced with a compelling visual reminder of what has come before and what the future, the very near future, indeed might hold.
The Greylands team will be on the LeBreton Flats with the robot, a project trailer and souvenirs from October 2nd through to the 9th. An opening for the project will take place on October 2nd from 2-7pm. The public and media are invited to visit the LeBreton Flats, take part in the project and follow the robot’s progress.
Greylands is a joint project by Artengine, a contemporary internet gallery based in Ottawa/Hull, and KIT, a British art collective.
Back