Take the Tour!

This walking tour and exhibition can be taken any time (with earbuds) during daylight hours at the Albany Bulb. The tour lasts about 1.5 hours roundtrip and you will walk a total of about 1.5 miles over dirt and gravel paths. There are benches for resting along the way, but the paths are not wheelchair-accessible.

IMPORTANT: start the audio as soon as you are standing by the bathrooms. Do not start walking up the path until you start the audio.

The exhibition opened on April 22, 2021 and the ephemeral art installations will be up as long as they survive. Things are always changing at the Bulb. The audio and augmented reality parts of the tour will be available indefinitely, and you should be able to see the mosaics for some time to come.

Sign our guestbook!
Download Tour Map (.png)

What is a multimedia tour?

This tour layers audio, sculptures, mosaics, local landscapes and augmented reality to tell stories. The audio tour is the central thread holding it all together. 

About Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is a technology that lets you see images or video on your phone when you scan an image (such as a mosaic) that is physically in front of you.

Important note: sometimes, poor internet connectivity means the mosaics may not properly trigger the augmented reality videos. Don’t spend too much energy trying to get the augmented reality to work; the tour is a complete experience without these extra images.

How to prepare:

IMPORTANT: You must download the audio file and the separate Artivive app before you leave home. Internet access is spotty at the Bulb and the downloads may not work there.

Download Audio Through Spotify
Download Artivive

  1. Download the audio tour onto your phone through Spotify by clicking the first blue button.
  2. Download the augmented reality phone app Artivive by clicking on the second blue button. This will enable you to see short slideshows or videos during the tour. Artivive is free and available at the App Store or Google Play. To use Artivive, simply open the app, then steadily point your phone camera to scan the mosaic “activation images” at each station. NOTE: If Artivive goes into standby mode (showing an image or sound unrelated to the tour), click the back arrow at the top of the screen to stop this.
  3. Bring earbuds so you can hear both the audio tour and the sound in the augmented reality videos.
  4. Start the audio when you are at the bathrooms. Do not start walking until you start the audio.
  5. During the tour you will switch back and forth between the audio file and the augmented reality app, so you need to download both. You may want to practice switching between the two apps at home. (Note: you will also see QR codes at the site, but you do not need to scan those–they are for people who have not downloaded the Artivive app or the full audio tour.)

Where to go:

The Albany Bulb is located at the Google Maps address of 1 Buchanan Street, Albany. The tour starts at the small tan bathroom building. There are also bike racks in front of the bathroom building. The audio will direct you from there.

Parking:

Parking can be difficult, especially on weekends. There is free 2-hour parking at the Albany Shoreline parking lot and parallel parking along Buchanan Street west of the freeway. If it is very crowded, as it usually is on weekends, you may need to park in the parallel parking under the freeway, or east of the freeway on Pierce Street. There is a safe walking path under the freeway. If you park under the freeway, it is about a 10 minute walk to the starting spot at the bathroom.

Rideshare:

Rideshare is an excellent option. Ask them to drop you at the parking lot turnaround at 1 Buchanan Street.

Bicycle Access:

The meeting spot is located on the Bay Trail and there are plenty of bike racks.

Public Transit:

The nearest bus stop is on San Pablo Ave., a 20-minute walk to the meeting spot.

Logistics:

The only bathroom is a vault toilet at the parking lot. There is no drinking water at the site. Wear sturdy shoes for walking on dirt and gravel, and plenty of layers. It can be surprisingly cold and windy, even when it’s warm elsewhere. Don’t forget a hat and sunscreen.

Park Info:

Part of the land you will be visiting is included in the McLaughlin Eastshore State Park, which is managed by the East Bay Regional Park District. Other parts of the land, including most of what you will see during this tour, is owned and managed by the City of Albany.

This tour was created by UC Berkeley students in Art 160/City Planning 190, sponsored by Future Histories Lab, which is part of the Global Urban Humanities Initiative, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The course is also supported by a Creative Discovery grant from UC Berkeley Arts + Design. The project was created in collaboration with Love the Bulb.

This project is part of the global environmental art series Extraction: Art on the Edge of the Abyss

Questions? Contact [email protected].