The World Rowing Championships (WRC) took place at Amsterdam’s Bosbaan from 24 to 31 August 2014. In organising this event, the World Rowing Federation (FISA) raised the bar for world class rowing events. Athletes, spectators, sponsors and rowing fans around the world followed the event on different media platforms. Those who were able to attend in person enjoyed an exciting sporting competition, as well as Amsterdam’s scenic sites and festive atmosphere. Behind the scenes, hundreds of volunteers worked to make this event possible.
We share insights from our practice-based experimentation with ‘feral’ ways of sensemaking in the context of creative transformational practices. Drawing on three art and design research projects, we discuss how feral ways–open-ended, spontaneous, welcoming indeterminacy – may foster more-than-human co-creation of knowledge and data, and nurture shifts from anthropocentric ‘making sense of’ to relational ‘making sense-with’ other-than-human creatures. Through our cases, we illustrate how experimenting with feralness can foreground issues of power, agency, and control in the currently human-centric discourses around data, technology, and sensemaking in eco-social transformation. Our insights may nurture critical more-than-human perspectives in creative eco-social inquiries.
This paper describes a comparative case study that aims to uncover the quantifiable differences between non-interactive and interactive public displays in the urbanenvironment. The study involved a large temporaryinteractive public display on a central city square showing a selection of custom-made content. We have evaluated the effect on passers-by and spectators in two conditions: 1) non-interactive (2102 passers-by, 228 viewers), by showing a content loop, and 2) interactive (1676 passers-by, 257 viewers), by adding physical pushbuttons for content selection and gaming. We discuss the influence of noninteractive and interactive public displays on: 1) attracting attention, 2) engaging people, 3) improving social dynamics within and among groups of viewers, and 4) catering for the suitable time of day. Based on our observations, we provide quantitative support for the hypothesis that interactive displays are more successful than non-interactive displays to engage viewers, and to make city centers more lively and attractive.