“Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.” - Kevin Arnold
Ah, how we long for the soothing narration of Kevin Arnold, played over an embarrassing mishap or sincere moment of truth. Unlike the Wonder Years, memories stay with us and, like the man said, make up a good deal of our current selves - regardless of whether or not they are glimpses of a past we wish to hold or lose.
Like a person, place also has memory. It’s a passive memory, tagged to existence and featuring inactive participants, but it is memory nonetheless and the remnants of those before us. If you believe this notion, then you may also commit to the idea that place is, in a way, a collective memory and a bond that ties us together. Experience is the catalyst for recollection, and recollection - together with place - can be shared to produce a new experience.
Enter “City of Memory,” an online community map of personal stories and memories organized on a physical geographical map of New York City. From Abe Lass, one of the last silent movie “piano players,” to the experience of the Easter Parade, circa 1980, it allows you to virtually walk the same streets in a hundred different pairs of shoes.
City of Memory shows the exciting new world presented by digital communication. Developed by CityLore, the project builds off of their previous initiatives like Placematters and Peoplespoetry. It also reminds us of NPR’s StoryCorp Project, but instead of going to one of their booths or climbing aboard their RV, you can upload stories right at home.
But what about recording it right there, at the very spot? With a mobile component, people could lifecast their past, in a way, letting place serve as a trigger for recollection. It could then serve as a curated LBS (Location-Based Service) that lets others do a walking tour like Adventure City Tours or Louis Vuitton’s Soundwalk, whose Asian city tours are narrated by local celebrities. Rather than one “expert” guide, though, City of Memory could provide a crowd-sourced view–one that broadcasts the voices of those who share a common ground, quite literally. Anyone could follow in their footsteps and perhaps relive their own personal wonder years.
