On June 23rd we’ll be presenting on Phone Booths Against Gentrification in Detroit at the Allied Media Conference. Several of us from the Leimert Phone Company will be going.
Description: Across the country, public phone booths are dying. Is this a hidden opportunity to reclaim physical space, and tell a different story? We go beyond booths as wifi hotspots. This session reveals an ambitious strategy for a “payphone redesign”, mixing installation art with mobile technology and activism. Focused on a case study in South Los Angeles, we will show how ordinary booths can be sites for participatory design and transmedia storytelling tied to justice. Workshop participants will also develop rapid-prototypes to re-imagine payphones for various campaigns and cities worldwide.
