Spectron

Spectron is an installation that uses augmented reality techniques to enable a critical exploration of the social and economic history of Montréal’s Quartier des spectacles.

Located close to Place des Arts, a pair of pedestal-mounted binoculars has users look at the neighbourhood and discover certain social mutations, from 1976 up to now. Based on a socio-historical research carried out by a researcher in urban studies at INRS (Institut national de la recherche scientifique), Spectron unveils some of the social history and the evolution of the conditions of artists in an urban environment.

Spectron uses the codification of touristic attractions that abound in the public space and recontextualize them in order to provide a critical look at the state of “creativity” downtown.