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s1ml

s1ml
Sevilla, 2007-2008.
Paula V. Álvarez, Ana Fernández, José M. Galán and Elena Soriano (sin|studio arquitectura).
Promoter: Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (Programa Intrusiones).
Awarded a Grant by the Iniciarte Program for supporting Emergent Artists.
Collaborators: Juan M. Herrera (Telecommunication engineer), Sergio Moreno (Informatics engineer) and Casa de la Provincia de Sevilla.
Structure and construction: Sebastián de Alba.
Photographs: Jorge Yeregui.
s1ml (send me one message later) explores the possibility of intervening into the predictable tourist environment and even reinventing it through sensory play and interactions.

The daily routines in the touristic areas are often based on the rapid comsumption of the city’s traditional culture, at the expense of other possibilities. This accelerated experience becomes severe when it converges with tourism increase: so it goes for the traditional Barrio de Santa Cruz in the historic center of Seville. In order to interfere with these routines and give passers-by an opportunity to enjoy the environment in a different way, we temporarily introduced an unexpected sensory landscape in the neighborhood.

s1ml is a new urban agent that plays with the typical imaginary of the neighborhood, and at the same time disrupts it, so as to create a tension between familiarity and surprise. A metallic structure colonized with plant pots and LED lights offers tourists a rare opportunity to take photographs. The vegetation includes five different autochthonous aromatic spices (rosemary, lavender, thyme, jasmine and night blooming jasmine), which scent inebriates and attracts the walkers. They often stop and move closer, explore and touch the artifact with curiosity. Small gatherings, conversations, smiles, photos and speculations arise around this new urban agent at a slower pace.

The artifact contains an autonomous irrigation method, manufactured with everyday household items such as plastic bottles. An interactive LED-lightning system stimulates the growth of the plants, and removes the carbon dioxide during the night. The time of illumination provided is proportional to the amount of pictures sent by tourists to the project website.

All this unusual activity, which went on for two months, was streamed to the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneao, in the form of touristic postcards "stolen" to the everyday life of the neighborhood.



While the metallic structure and the vegetation refer to the idyllic imaginary that tourist are chasing (balconies, plant pots, ironwork), the "cage" that keep the plants and the monitoring system refer to the hyper-control exercised over urban public spaces. M1ml conceals an invitation to watch ourselves and reconsider our relation with the built environment.

An open debate was organized as part of the project. A panel of experts and residents, including the Barrio de Santa Cruz neighborhood association discussed environmental degradation caused by the saturation of economical activities attached to tourism in public urban spaces, and particularly historic neighborhoods. The dissembling of the artifact was turned into an urban action: “1deseo, 1maceta”. "1deseo, 1maceta".

Publications:

· " m1ml, mándame un mensaje luego." Idensitat 2009. Published by the Generalitat of Catalunya and the Diputación de Barcelona.

· sin| studio: m1ml . Ecotono # 2. 2008.

· Moreno Pérez, José Ramón and Iglesia, Felix. “Arte y participación". Diario de Sevilla, November 29, 2007.