Projects

110110101 (2002) is a collaborative project formed by four cars equipped with infrared lights and walkie-talkies that run on Los Angeles’ freeways – the 101, the 10 and the 1. We compose a four-car group, which acts like a conscious OI (organic intelligence) intervening in the freeway space. Our goals are to address cars as cellular automata – programmed isolated entities – as well as to visualize invisible and hidden networks. The first part deals with freeways as (non) places in which people do not communicate consciously. They are isolated in the interior of their cars. Therefore, the traffic pattern can be considered analogous to an automata behavior, somehow following a predetermined set of rules. In contrast to cellular automata, however, we subvert the logic of traffic by creating intentional and expected patterns. We also network with each other via walkie-talkies. In addition to our conscious network, there are hidden networks on the cityscape, which we are not aware of. Hence, the second layer of this project deals with the visualization of such networks through infrared lights. The infrared light network is invisible to the human eye, and is used as a marking and communication protocol among the group. This “hidden” action is intended to expose the many connotations of networks in the city space.

Credits: Kim Hager, Namrata Mohanty, Megan Newell, Dolores Rivera, Adriana de Souza e Silva, Ashok Sukumaran, Fabian Winkler.

Version 1 | Version 2

…and I visit you there… (2002) is a story told by many cultures, in many languages. People from different places were asked to talk about a hypothetical travel in their home countries, in their native languages. Although there are several narrators, the journey is only one, and it is developed by connecting places through sentences. English is used, in this context, not to connect languages, but to serve as a common denominator that makes communication possible. On the other hand, communication is not only about understanding words: it is based on emotional responses, cadence, and intonation. A speech that travels and transforms itself while going from place to place, without a specific direction, represents the essence of traveling. The traveler is the one that goes without a map, not knowing when they will return, or even if they will return at all. The traveler contacts cultures, but not connect them, because cultures cannot be connected. Nevertheless, traveling around the globe has always been the most important way of bringing cultural awareness.

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Presented at CRCA Time Forms Event Marathon (Documentation)