Reviews + Press

“In her app- and web-based audio tour, On Hamburger Square, New York-based artist Samara Smith made it her mission to understand the ins and outs of this city space, and created a multi-layered experience based on extensive interviews.”

“Horizon Lines is described as ‘uncover[ing] the edges that mark the neighborhood’s undefined and immutable borders.’ While the piece is strikingly visual, the usage of urban sounds plays a pivotal role, as they surround the viewer in the space.”

“The experience for this installation begins with a text message to activate your involvement in the exhibit… an intriguing opportunity for neighbors and participants to engage in shared and public spaces, and the collaborative creation of the installation.”

“Each piece within ‘Game Room’ redefines the idea of game design and artistic purpose by letting visitors escape boundaries, whether personally, with a deck of reimagined playing cards, or outwardly, with a navigational game that guests can play while walking through Westwood.”

“Samara Smith’s Chain Reaction (Westwood) (2012) is a particularly relevant example of how games in public space, also known as ‘big urban games,’ are contemporary adaptations of the dérive model… the game trains players to heighten personal awareness of their surroundings by challenging them to find particular socioeconomic clues.”

“A fun and participatory way to explore and map urban spaces, this game’s type of investigative rules set holds interesting potential for community-based documentary projects.”

“Samara Smith’s Chain Reaction (2006) is a locative game that serves to sensitise players to the vanishing independent nature of commercial enterprises in New York City.”

“A fun and participatory way to explore and map urban spaces, this game’s type of investigative rules set holds interesting potential for community-based documentary projects.”

“[P]art art project, part history lesson and part contemporary social criticism.”

“Downtown Brooklyn has lately been embattled in a private vs. public real estate war… Samara Smith responded to this battle, compiling two years of documentary sound recording, interviews, and research to create Anyplace, Brooklyn, an audio walking tour that critically examines this struggle, while providing guided observations on the visually changing downtown landscape.”

“Anyplace Brooklyn, an hour-long audio tour through downtown Brooklyn filled with candid interviews from locals who are losing their homes to eminent domain to folks who remember what life was like pre-Metro Tech. It will replace that vague notion of yours about what Brooklyn is becoming with something concrete.”

“Smith compressed two years worth of research into a 60 minute walking tour, allowing one to walk in her steps, listening to interviews with area residents and activists, and seeing this space in a whole new way.”