York Guardian

For his latest project, multimedia artist David Bouchard has converted static GPS data from TTC vehicles into a series of colourful, randomly generated animations conveying the ebb and flow of transit traffic. The result is Drift: Transients, a new exhibit from an ongoing series that will appear without interruption on 300 Pattison Onestop subway screens this Saturday, Sept. 29 during Nuit Blanche, Toronto’s all-night art happening.

“The purpose of the piece was to look at the mundane, everyday nature of transit activity and reveal something interesting,” said Bouchard on Wednesday from Ryerson University where he is an instructor in new media.

To create the pieces, Bouchard started to collect available TTC vehicle information over the summer, eventually acquiring 24 hours of data, which he fed into a special software engine.

Using the software, he converted the data into simple triangular ribbons of various colours, which he sped up to illustrate flow and movement.

The final product is a continuously moving portrait conveying the seemingly chaotic movement of buses and streetcars along various routes in the city.

“I’d like to get people to take a minute and consider how, by riding transit, they become part of a larger overall pattern of movement,” said Bouchard, a regular TTC user.

The project was commissioned by Pattison Onestop, the company responsible for the projection screens found throughout the TTC subway system, as a part of its Art for Commuters program.

To learn more about Drift: transients visit www.onestopallnight.com