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[murmur] is a location based mobile phone documentary project that is active in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, San Jose and Edinburgh, Scotland. The project records stories about particular locations by people with a connection to that spot. Some stories are purely anecdotal ? ?I fell in love on this park bench? ? to stories that describe the wider social, civic and political history of that spot and surrounding location. Some storytellers are able to blend both their own experience and historic details at a location, but all are told from a personal perspective. [murmur] makes every effort to record storytellers in situ, as the geography reminds storytellers of forgotten details and puts them at ease, encouraging a more natural conversational tone. Once stories are recorded, [murmur] installs a sign at that location with a phone number and unique location code that anyone with a mobile phone can call and listen to stories about that spot. When heard, it?s as if storyteller and listener are out for a casual stroll through the neighbourhood. At their core, [murmur] stories are able to convey the emotional attachment people have to places, and let them explain why this location is important. [murmur] is also a way of distributing stories and histories that are not the 'official' history of a place or city, providing a way for overlooked voices and memories to be distributed, democratizing who controls a city?s official narrative. [murmur] is a psychogeographic experience, allowing people to access that emotional, human layer of memory about a place via mobile technology. And, though a project employing technology, with [murmur] technology must always be at the service of the experience, facilitating a direct connection between the listener and the storyteller. As such, by using personal mobile devices, listeners do not have to learn how to use a new piece of equipment, allowing the familiar technology to disappear.
Une fois les histoires enregistrées, [murmur] installe un panneau à cet endroit affichant un numéro de téléphone et code unique de lieu que toute personne dotée d'un téléphone cellulaire peut composer pour entendre des histoires sur l'endroit. C'est comme si conteur et auditeur se promenaient ensemble dans le voisinage. Essentiellement, les histoires de [murmur] ont la capacité de communiquer le lien émotif qui existe entre les personnes et les lieux, les laissant expliquer la raison pour laquelle l'endroit en question est important à leurs yeux. [murmur] constitue également un moyen de partager des histoires ne constituant pas l'histoire « officielle » d'un lieu ou d'une ville, ce qui permet d'écouter des voix et souvenirs oubliés, démocratisant ainsi le contrôle de la narration officielle d'une ville. [murmur] constitue une expérience psychogéographique qui permet aux gens d'avoir accès à la couche émotive et humaine de la mémoire liée à un lieu au moyen de la technologie sans fil. De plus, par l'entremise d'un projet ayant recourt à la technologie, avec [murmur] la technologie doit toujours être au service de l'expérience, établissant une connexion directe entre l'auditeur et le conteur. à ce titre, par l'utilisation d'appareils mobiles personnels, les auditeurs n'ont pas à apprendre comment utiliser un nouvel appareil, ce qui permet à la technologie habituelle de disparaître. 
Shawn Micallef lives in Toronto and is co-founder of the location-based mobile phone documentary project [murmur], an Associate Editor and feature writer at Spacing Magazine, and co-founder of the Toronto Psychogeography Society, a group of fl?neurs who drift through and explore the city. Shawn has an MA in political science and was a resident at the Canadian Film Centre Media Lab where [murmur] was initially developed. Shawn?s writing has been found in The Globe and Mail, The National Post, Maisonneuve Magazine as well as Eye Weekly, where his ?Stroll? column led him to all corners of Toronto. Shawn is also an instructor at the Ontario College of Art & Design.
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