This 360 video installation lets the audience experience the ‘boattr’ project through a VR headset, and access the boattr micro-computer book over any WiFi enabled device. The installation encompasses two photographic triptychs showcasing canal life, a seating representing a narrow boat’s bow on which the viewer can sit and immerse into a journey on the narrow boat Quintessence. Experience the British Waterways through accessing boattr with your WiFi enabled device over the WiFi SSID ‘boattr’.

This is a seven minutes pre-view version of the boattr VR360 film. The longer 25 minutes version shall be produced for, and premiered at the after progress exhibition. See technical rider for information on how to set up the boattr 360 installation.

The installation translates online modes into physical matter (micro computer), thereby reflecting on logics of new formats – by rendering a dynamic, open structure, allowing for access to the boattr micro-computer book over the ‘boattr’ WiFi SSID. One of the missing features of the mazizone for the boattr community was a second radio on board of the Raspberry Pi 3. Now with the last version of the RaspberryPi 4 this missing link is being offered on the board of the microcomputer. With two antennas it is now possible to use one as an access point and the other to network the box into a mesh network, allowing for boats passing by to sync up with each other.This would allow for the British Waterways to become a safe haven for the bargee community, turning the canal network into a public, radical open access, library. The memory of the world project, aaargh, science hub, and similar projects could be hosted on such a mesh network. Currently Marcel Mars is working on a second edition of the ‘public library‘ book with Lawrence Liang, for which Marcel seeks contributions reflecting “on library as strategic and tactical ground,politically, economically, epistemologically. “…” So, this volume delves also into the imaginary and what Lawrence called carnal librarian-ship, but we wish to avoid either going into typical Borgesian imaginary of radical potentiality or into trying to imagine overhasty nostrums what public libraries need to turn themselves into to legitimate their economic existence.”