BOSTON POPS

BOSTON POPS

Boston’s City Hall, a gloomy cement structure near the picturesque town houses of Beacon Hill, suggests a Soviet monolith more than the red-brick character of the city. But on the evening of April 27th, Boston documentary film-maker and muralist John Ewing introduced some personality to this stark box by projecting four giant color-video images on its exterior, each showing a Bostonian going through a typical day. “We’re trying to humanize the building,” says Canner, who developed the project called “Symphony of a City,” as part of Boston’s 2001 Cyber Arts Festival, running through the sixth of this month.

To create the videos, subjects don “wearcams” Ğ wearable cameras that document everything they say, see and hear. Details of their day appear live on the building. (Yes, they can take the cameras off when they go to the bathroom.) “The projections will go on until the last person goes to bed,” says Canner. “The idea is to “highlight community builders who don’t get public attention — from shopkeepers to grassroots organizers.” Videos will also appear on a Web site, www.symphonyofacity.com. Canner and Ewing will enliven City Hall again with a second projection on the fourth of this month.