V2_ presented "3rd I" as part of the exhibition "Adaptation: Designing the Future City" at the Dutch Culture Centre in Shanghai during the World Expo 2010.
The world is urbanizing fast. According to a UN report, more than half the global population already lives in cities. Cities will continue to grow, but what does the ideal city look like? How might it look in twenty years?
In 3rd I, artists, architects, students and pupils from China and the Netherlands presented their views of the future of their cities. They have built models of their ideal cities and talk about the future in video portraits. They were responding to the motto of the World Expo 2010 currently taking place in Shanghai: “Better City, Better Life”.
Models of future and imaginary buildings were exhibited in Shanghai. Special robots, equipped with small video cameras, move down the streets between the models. These “third eyes” could be steered by audience members in Shanghai, in Rotterdam and by visitors to this website. The Chinese and Dutch visitors were able to use “telepresence furniture” to communicate with each other.
It was possible to drive one of the robots virtually at the Shanghai exhibition venue from www.the-third-eye.org. One could find the instructions for driving a video robot there as well. The connection between you and the robot was made via the program Skype.
The DCC has been created specially to showcase Dutch culture in China parallel to the World Expo 2010. Six exhibitions and performances will take place over six months, with an emphasis on collaboration and dialogue between Dutch and Chinese artists. The exhibitions will be organized by various Dutch institutions that have worked regularly with Chinese artists and institutions in recent years. The Netherlands China Arts Foundation expects that work will be able to go into greater depth at the DCC than at the bustling World Expo pavilion.
The exhibition Adaptation: Designing the Future City will also feature B.A.R.C. , a project by Dynamic City Foundation.
More information about this event…