Michelle Teran / Ubermatic

Link to project website

winner of the Transmediale 2010 award
Prix Ars Electronica honorary mention
Shortlisted for the Future Everything award

Google Earth Map of Murcia

“Buscando Al Sr. Goodbar” is a journey through Murcia, Spain that involves a search for the locations and authors of various YouTube videos produced in the city.

If the longitude and latitude coordinates are included with a video when publishing it on YouTube, then this video automatically appears on a GoogleEarth map and connects it to a physical location. A link is therefore made between the YouTube video and where it was produced in the city.

A bus tour was organized by Michelle Teran, who visited Murcia repeatedly via GoogleEarth and started to get to know intimately some of the people living there through the YouTube videos they produced. As the bus moved through the city, its movements along the streets were mirrored on a GoogleEarth map. YouTube videos were played corresponding to where they appeared on the map and could be viewed on a large flat screen.

In this way the audience on the bus witnessed short glimpses of what the city had to offer and started to meet some of the people living there. Somebody solved a Rubik’s cube in under 2 minutes, a young man played the piano, a group of friends drunkenly sung together, a 14 year old boy showed off his headbanging skills, somebody choked his friend and caused him to pass out, somebody played a video game,  a man taught himself Arabic, two people fell in love, a festival happened on the street.

At certain points during the performance  – led by Irene Verdú, an actress from Murcia -  the bus stopped and the public met some of the YouTube authors who presented them with a reenactment of some of their performances.

Through this intervention an intimate encounter was created between video producer and public by entering into people’s homes and the various sites where these videos were made.

Concept: Michelle Teran
Programming : Seologic

Performer: Irene Verdú Soriano
GoogleEarth vj: Michelle Teran

Producer: Centro Parraga

Created for Techformance, a project that looks at the relation of technology and performance in the territory of global communication. Curated by Oscar Abril Ascaso for the Region of Murcia booth at the 28th ARCOMadrid.

view from the bus

map showing tour itinerary

Baltor demonstrates his amazing billiard tricks.

The entire bus serenades one of the authors with the song that they performed on the video.

Luis plays the piano for the bus audience.

Buscando al Sr. Goodbar (Looking for Mr. Goodbar) from Michelle Teran on Vimeo.