In 1966, Fluxus artist Mieko Shiomi contacted a number of people, by mail, in various locations around the world. She asked them to record what they were doing, and what direction they were facing, at a certain date and time.

All of these "recordings" happened simultaneously (across six time zones), which Shiomi collected and placed on a map. Text used on the map describes not only what each participant was doing, but also runs in the direction they were moving (time zones are indicated along the bottom).

An example of "concrete poetry," this work uses text not only for narrative but also for its graphical and spatial effects (here the text leads one's eye across the map like footsteps). Following Shiomi's inspiration, concreteSTREAM creates similar dialogues across the globe, using the internet and real-time streaming technology.

See more work by Mieko Shiomi and George Maciunas at Intermedia.