LongPen at Word on The Street September 23rd 2006
Inside a white pavilion tent large plasma screens float above the heads of an attentive audience. A kiosk that Stanley Kubrick would cast in 2001 if he were remaking it this year holds more such screens. On the largest the British writer Kate Mosse has just finished inscribing a copy of her latest book for a fan. Kate Mosse is in London. The fan is at a street fair in Toronto. We view her inscription on a tablet from multiple views; a wonderfully cubist moment. Then a small robot bearing a pen snaps into action reproducing her signature with precision. The fan is presented her book and gives thanks. Kate Mosse states "I am amazed at how accurate the robotic arm is". LongPen's debut for the general public has commenced.
Impressions of the afternoon:
- There's a "fireside moment" as passers by stop to look with blank stares, then realize what it is and that Kate Mosse and Margaret Atwood are "there, and then their faces light up and they're smiling and being drawn into the pavilion in a subtle rapture
- Two teenage kids passing by, so grunge that they look as if they'd yawn if Marilyn Manson popped out and yelled "Boo", suddenly light up and one brays to other "Hey it's the Longpen!" in a tone of admiration.
- A Mother and her blended family passing by, each lost in their own moment, the teenagers getting too far ahead and the little one looking at a bug; Suddenly Mom hears Margaret's voice, sees her on the screen, and it hits. She grabs the 5 year old and steers her into the tent while calling to the teens to "Stop and get in here right now".
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