Smartphone apps have so far facilitated and become a part of our lives in many ways. Now, one of them is claiming to spice up your humdrum life with a bit of excitement. Situationist is an avant-garde art project for your iPhone, which takes its name from the philosophical movement.
According to the creator Benrik, the philosophy behind the app lies in smartphones being “a ubiquitous extension of the self that mediates our relationship to others.” This is exactly what the Situationist International movement tried to do during the May 1968 riot in Paris – to transform everyday life and the world through experimental forms of behavior. The app is attempting to offer a similar experience through smartphones.
“First Marxist iPhone app that connects you to random nearby strangers through anarchic tasks,” a user tweeted, candidly emphasizing the app’s revolutionary aspect in her daily life.
How about getting into action? All you do is to set up a profile with Situationist and pick a number of strange situations that you want to be a part of. A situation can be as simple as “wave to me from across the street,” “compliment my new haircut,” to the wildly eccentric “help me arouse everyone around us into revolutionary fervor and storm the nearest TV station.”
The point is to meet strangers, excitement and serendipity, Benrik says. The app alerts you when others are in range. But it doesn’t show you everyone who has the app who is also in your radius. You wait for strangers to surprise you.
“I do not want random people being able to follow me or know where I am,” said Cassidy Evens, a graduate student in Conflict Resolution. “You do not know the other person’s intentions, so why risk it?”
In order to address such concerns, the app offers moderation and ways of reporting anything sketchy. Also, photos are moderated to prevent inappropriate imagery. At the end of the day the point is still to meet strangers and doing something new and spontaneous.
A big iPhone fan with a history of 4 years and 10 broken device returns, Cassidy admits to having never tried an app like this.
“I think those chance-encounters can be serendipitous,” Cassidy explained, “But I also think those chance-encounters can put you in harm.”
While some are concerned about safety and privacy aspect of the Situationist, others can’t find enough comrades to enflame the revolution. Like in many similar cases, you know you’re a UMass Boston student when no one on campus shows up to start a revolution and storm the nearest TV station.
“It hasn’t actually gone off for me yet,” said Alex Toorish, a junior in political science. Waiting to be surprised one day, Alex thinks the app can be a good start for him to interact with strangers in non-conventional ways.
Given the skepticism and lack of interest against Situationist, chances for a situation to happen on UMB campus would be more like Waiting for Godot. Can we blame our commuter campus for that? Maybe the 25 year might alleviate this, too.
Box 1: Some UMB situations that we suggest:
– Ultimate Frisbee on the front lawn
– Help me organize a free food team
– Wait for Godot with me
– Sing-a-long next to the Ironworker
– Give me a high five!