Spectacles of the Mundane
A living archive of Hackney Wick.
Gayle Forman @gaylayforman
James Harle @James.harle
Sammy Johnson @sjhnsnn
Long Doan @edwardl.410
Florence de Keijzer @florence_dk_
Yusra Tanveer @yusraveer
Hackney Wick, East London, has morphed from Roman agricultural fields to industrial parks to hosting the Olympics to being a hub for creatives and young families. It is an area of many faces, many ghosts. In a constant state of transformation, the ‘ruptures’ are obvious and varied; locals speak of constant construction, their love and disgust for the canals, and the defining graffiti found everywhere. This state of flux begs one to question what the future of Hackney Wick is as it continues its regeneration. As Bespoke Manyone, a design agency, explains, ‘the future … is decided largely by what you care to remember.’ Spectacles of the Mundane uncovers and archives the relationships between people and their environment. The project encourages locals to pop on smart-spectacles and take a walk around Hackney Wick, recording each individual’s line of sight. By returning the glasses, their perspectives are uploaded and added to a virtual collection of Hackney Wick. The intervention allows for a passive albeit personal understanding of how the environment morphs through time.