I recently went on a Newtown Creek audio tour, a project by ITP professor Marina Zurkow, & alums Rebecca Lieberman & Nick Hubbard, where I learned many things I didn’t know about the sewage processing facility there. I was already fascinated by how cities process sewage and where there are opportunities to intervene to create a more sustainable system. Among other things, projection mapping offers an opportunity to put video in unexpected locations, so I thought it would be interesting to put information about NYC sewage system at what is for many people, the most obvious place they interact with it: the bathroom.
I did a bit of research and found some information and a number of videos on the topic. I decided to use “How NYC Works – Wastewater treatment,” an easily downloadable video from vimeo. I also incorporated sounds of urination and flushing, and the sounds of rain (rain in New York is known to cause Combined Sewage Overflows).
As an initial experiment, it was very useful to see what worked well and what didn’t. Below are some still of my favorite parts.
