Curios About: Wander Dublin by Sarah Hyland Pierce

Wander Dublin
By Sarah Hyland Pierce
Smartphone app

1. This work is about . . . exploring the relationship between walker and city by creating an unpredictable journey through Dublin city centre with the use of the smartphone app Wander Dublin. The user will be engaged physically, mentally, and emotionally with the city by following a set of directions and instructions as well viewing thought-provoking phrases and quotes that will guide them around Dublin city centre. It is also about our engagement with technology and utilising that technology to create an experience.

2. I made this work because . . . in the words of [artist] Teri Rueb, “being lost may be an experience that is being lost”. More often than not we commute from A to B unknowingly following the subtle contours put in place by society to ensure efficiency. The work aims to remove the user from the repetitiveness of everyday life by creating an unplanned journey. I am interested in walking as a critical and spatial practice as I believe it is becoming rare that we are completely engaged and mindful of our surroundings.

3. I hope when people see this work they will . . . question their relationship with the city and how they view it.

4. In terms of art history, this work . . . is first and foremost influenced by the avant-garde techniques of the situationists, and, in particular, the technique of the dérive. In terms of contemporary art, my practice is influenced greatly by artists such as Francis Alys, Conor McGarrigle and Hamish Fulton

5. You can see my work . . . at the DIT Graduate Show opening on 2 June at DIT Grangegorman. You can find out more about Wander Dublin at wanderdublin.weebly.com, where the app will be available from 3 May.