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Alejandro Tamayo is an artist-engineer and a teacher working in the intersections of design, art and new technologies in Bogota. A year ago, i interviewed Alejandro about the lab he's currently directing in Bogota. The v*i*d*a lab, part of the Aesthetics Department at the Javeriana University, is focusing on the development of new design products and ideas. Guided by a reflexion on life itself, the course proposes to engage with organic (biological) and "post-organic" (electronic, digital) visions, trying to identify new relationships and interrogations that could be translated into the realization of concrete projects.
I stumbled upon the projects of the latest v*i*d*a lab over the weekend and liked some of them so much that i thought that it wouldn't hurt to cover some of them on wmmna. Which meant pestering Alejandro with some more questions: What was the brief you gave to students at the beginning of the workshop? Was there a particular theme to explore? We don't start with a particular problem to be solved, instead we always begin with a very broad question: what is life? Students are then encouraged to explore and contrast scientific and mystic approaches. some liked ideas and characteristics derived from considering living organisms as open systems, others reflected about life as a particular organization of matter, others were interested in concepts derived from thermodynamics, cybernetics, etc., while others liked ideas about chance, causality, teleology and so on. After this phase students had to look for ways to apply their findings and interests in their own contexts looking for ways to draw connections to their every day lives. The idea is that they start to confront their "objective" findings with their subjective and personal experience. And this is the way all the projects start to appear. For some it took a long time to come up with something while others found interesting connections easily.
Who are the students? What are they studying and what is their background in electronics (if any)? They were all students of industrial design and they were in their 7th semester. None of them had a previous knowledge in electronics. We try to make them appropriate very rapidly the basic language needed to understand an electronic diagram, to play with electronic components and sensors, to break them, and to try to overcome the fear of disassembling electronic objects. The also start messing up with microcontrollers (pics and the arduino platform) from very early in the program. The projects are detailed on a webpage but here are some of my favorites:
The T-shirt that sweats, by Mariana Rivera. Sweat, a natural phenomenon present in most forms of life, is usually regarded as unpleasant and something to hide in most western countries and in America especially. There is one exception: futbol (soccer, football) T-shirts. Considered as a fetish object, a sweated T-shirt worn by one's favorite player is considered of great value. T-Shirt That Sweats proposes to provide the football supporter --who couldn't attend the match but follows it from afar, on his or her tv-- with a more intimate contact with the action that takes place on the field. The project could thus enrich and expand the communicative power of the tv set through a t-shirt that sweats according to the sound levels of the TV screen during the game. Working prototype: a microphone captures the sound signals coming from the tv set. The sounds are then filtered using a microcontroller. When the sound goes beyond a certain level, a water pump hidden inside the garment wets the t-shirt. Programmed using Arduino. The second project i wanted to highlight is less "in your face" but it is also very endearing and fascinating: Cafetera VLF (aka VLF StreamCafe), by Andrés Vargas, refers to 2 projects i liked a lot (although one is much more credible than the other): - Jean-Pierre Aubé's VLF Natural Radio which underlines how the growing use of the frequencies necessary for digital and wireless communications is overriding the naturally produced waves of the northern lights and other climate-related signals. According to Aubé, "eventually, VLF waves will be completely drowned out by the signals of various telecommunication systems."
- Masaru Emoto's theories and experiments on our thoughts, words, ideas and music affect the molecular structure of water. The Japanese researcher claims that if human thoughts are directed at water before it is frozen, images of the resulting water crystals will be beautiful or ugly depending upon whether the thoughts were positive or negative.
The earth is constantly emitting a variety of sounds ranged in the VLF spectrum (very low frequency) which are the result of electromagnetic activity taking place in the magnetosphere. Some compare these sounds with spontaneous Earth Songs and we may also interpret them as an evidence of our planet's activity as a living organism. To listen to these sounds we need a VLF radio receiver (D.I.Y. example by Stephen P. McGreevy). Inspired by this phenomena and by Masaru Emoto's research (that reflects about the profound sensibility of water to the subtleties of its surroundings). The concept would thus materialize in a coffee machine able to transmit the emotions, feelings, songs and energy of our planet through the coffee, reminding us of our intimate relationship with the planet we live in. The tiny vibrations generated by the sounds wold be captured by a VLF receptor and transmitted to the water used for the coffee. In February, the first public exhibition of v*i*d*a* will take place at the Alliance Française, in Bogota. In March, Alejandro will be in Helsinki to give a presentation at the Pixelache festival.
Images of the projects, courtesy of Alejandro Tamayo. |
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Previously: Back to the Emergentes exhibition which opened a week ago at LABoral center in Gijon, Spain. Although electronic art from Latin America is not altogether unknown, there are still many largely invisible variations that are related to multidisciplinary research processes. (...) The installations are new or recently produced works focusing on the applications of science and technology with the intention of generating a dialogue with the social. There is no attempt to put forward an all-embracing or thematic view of art and technological production and its connection with Latin America. The goal is to shape the current partial image of what is defined as contemporary electronic art through a wide range of critical perspectives, both established and incipient.
What makes the exhibition appealing is that most works have an undeniable aesthetic interest. Take Almacén de Corazonadas for example. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's installation captures your pulse when you grab handles which work in a way similar what you find at the gym on the cardio training machines. After a few seconds the system has registered your heartbeat and activates the spotlight which starts to blink at the same rate as the heart. The person following you will leave the same imprint on the first bulb and your beating spotlight will be transfered to the second bulb, and so on. Until it reaches the last bulb then disappears. I saw the work at the Mexican Pavilion of the Venice Biennale. It was amazing to see it work but that was it. Here because of the space the work has been given, it looks like a totally different installation. You can experience it as a participants, grabbing the handles and admiring the effect of that simple gesture or you can go upstairs and get a full view of the installation and in that case it even doesn't matter whether you understand the system or not, the view of the flickering bulbs is enough.
Spio is an homage to Nam June Paik. To create the installation, Lucas Bambozzi hacked a Roomba vacuum cleaner and turned it into a system that automatically captures, processes and transmits images.The robot digitally tracks the exhibition space generating sounds and images projected on two wals. Spio consists of highly sensitive closed-circuit cameras (CCTV) capable of processing real-time images. The installation system captures light and sound interferences, generated by the position of the robotic vacuum cleaner and the visitor’s presence, resulting in chaotic movements and unexpected turbulences in the image.
The work references of course our surveillance society where an objects that may look innocent could in fact become an eye that follows our every move.
Ambiente de Estereo Realidad 4, by José Carlos Martinat and Enrique Mayorga, is a huge cube hiding three printing modules. A mechanical system opens small windows placed high up on the cube walls, it just throws tiny bits of printed paper. The flyers that land on the inside contains texts referring to a "You" whilst the texts referring to "Them" are flung outwards. An algorithm system creates Google search strings for sentences based on the keywords "deberÃa" (she/he should) and "deberÃan" (they should). The installation manipulates the information in a very physical way, printing it and spitting it without second-thought. The information we are live on every day has also been manipulated in some form or another. This work belongs to the series Ambientes de Estereo Realidad, a project aimed at reflecting on the purpose of household objects and on the digital and massively informed surrounding world.
The best quality of the show is that the pieces selected are easy to grasp and like. You can take them at face value and enjoy in their contemplation. On the other hand, if you're into searching for depths, and layers of meanings to be un-peeled one after the other, the show works well too. Most of all, each work defies every mis-conception and preconception we might have about Latin America. Nothing in the way they look or work, nor in the topics they engage with would tell you that you're in front of a work made by a Latin American artist. I'll come back with another post describing a couple of projects which i found more complex. In the meantime, here's more images. Emergentes is on view until May 12, 2008, at the LABoral art centre, in Gijon, Spain. After that the exhibition will tour in Latin America. |
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Often compared to Weegee, photographer Enrique Metinides shot for Mexico City’s “nota roja,� the bloody pages. He chronicled accidents, grief, scenes of violence, suicides or what they leave behind, for pulp magazines.
His photographs are so perfect that they seem to be staged, as if they were stills from a detective movie. Just like the tragedy doesn't stop at the corpses and the blood, Metinides' "art" goes beyond the scene and shows us the gathering crowds, the onlookers, the mother crying, the emergency teams, etc. VBS has a 5 part video interview (Part 1, 2, 3, part 4 is coming tomorrow and the last bit will be on the day after) in his Art Talk! series. The guy is lovely and it is great to hear him tell the stories behind some of his most famous pictures.
Images Anton Kern Gallery. More information on Enrique Metinides in Dia de los muertos (in english); Pulp Nonfiction, Ripped From the Tabloids; Fatal Attraction; Crime scene investigator; Heroes: Enrique Metinides. |
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This is the lazy post of the day. I'd rather pass the mike to Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga who is doing all the work over there in Mexico City covering the TRANSITIO_MX02, International Festival of Electronic Arts and Video.
More about Tierra y Libertad (Earth and Liberty) by Ivan Puig, this way! Related: Cloaca. |
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Robert Ransick has completed a 6 month Residency at Eyebeam developing Casa Segura (Safe House). The artwork combines a sheltered room on private land in the Sonoran desert in Southern Arizona with a bilingual web space that facilitates creative exchange and understanding.
Inside the small solar-powered structure migrants can find water, some food and a touch screen. Drawing upon traveler graffiti, pictograms, and the Mexican tradition of ex-voto painting, migrants are invited to use the interface and share something about themselves and their journey with the homeowner and anyone who's interested. Migrants can either draw, write messages, or make a pictogram from ready-made graphical icons. The images and messages are uploaded to the bilingual Casa Segura website. The website functions also as an access point for resources about immigration issues and the borders of the southwestern United States.
I asked Robert if he could give us more details about his project. Casa Segura does not promise resolution to the complex set of issues revolving around the border, illegal immigration, and humanitarian efforts. Instead, it seeks to provide new opportunities for individual action, understanding, creative exchange and dialogue... i am actually fascinated by these border issues. i also know that if i publish a story concerning the mexican/us border and if that story spreads outside of my usual readership, the blog post will get a lot of racist and unpleasant comments. This is certainly something to be aware prior to publishing -- there are many folks in the U.S. (Minutemen, civil militia groups, bigots etc) who have a very different, often fear-based, view of the border region and the individuals who are crossing. Unfortunately, theirs is a voice that is heard far too frequently in the media and I hope that this project can begin to open a space for other voices. There is a lot of grey, muddy space in between the extremes of the groups active on the border--this is the area i am interested in exploring with Casa Segura. ... but i suspect that at the eyebeam exhibition your work is meeting with approval. But do you expect that it will be the same once you've installed the casa segura in the desert where not only migrants will be happy to find it to get shelter and food, but people angry at border-crossing might want to vandalize it. Is it something you are prepared for? People who encounter CS at Eyebeam seem to be very interested in the work and the issues it is in dialogue with. I think that people are excited by an artwork that not only embodies content/ideas/aesthetics, but that will be placed out in the world and may actually have some sort of tangible impact. I am prepared to receive hate mail/calls and the likes (I have tried to make myself less accessible by registering my domains anonymously etc, but the web has a memory and if someone wants to find me, they will.) I am not fearful of such encounters and want to believe that there will be some opportunity in everything that happens with CS, even if some things that unfold are less pleasant than others. Maybe that is naive? Nah, love over fear and hate any day, right?
The CS structure will be located on private property and we do not plan to make the exact location public. That said, if someone finds the structure and wishes to damage it, that is certainly a possibility and one I have considered. If this does happen, we will do everything possible to make repairs and get everything up and running again. I have given a great deal of thought to what would constitute a failure once it moves out west. What if no one finds CS? What if someone damages it etc? i should say that having people begin to think of border issues from the perspective of a border home owner and the questions/dilemmas they face, in tandem with what it might be like to be a migrant in this harsh landscape desperate for something as basic as water is extremely important to me. So, if no migrants happen upon the structure, that will only be a partial failure in my mind, as long as i am able to get the ideas into the public imagination.
I read that the project is inspired by the experiences lived by property owners living at the borders. Have you discussed with migrants about what the casa segura could mean for them? before embarking on the project but also now that it is on show at eyebeam? Yes, my personal experiences (family on the border/partner of the last 15 years grew up there, etc) and that of the property owners and other friends have informed many aspects of this project. However, it is very important for me to not claim to be able to speak for a Mexican migrant making this journey. Even though i have done extensive research into what it might be like, i still have no real first-hand knowledge/understanding of what drives someone to make this choice. Again, this is part of the interest in providing an opportunity for these individuals to speak/leave a trace behind via the interface--that might begin to provide insights for the rest of us who watch from a distance. I have spoken to a small number of illegal immigrants (in the US and Mexico) about the project and they were very interested and supportive. No one knows how they would react upon finding the structure, because the entire idea is so foreign/unusual. Also, many migrants never find themselves in such a desperate state that they would be willing to break into a house for food/water/clothes, so it is hard to know/speculate what would happen if you were in this position and found CS. Everyone i spoke to suspects that it would be an overwhelmingly positive experience, but we just don't know for certain. No one has come forward to contact me from the Eyebeam show and specified they were illegal. However, some of the pictograms being created at eyebeam and online indicate that there might be some folks visiting who either are illegal or have connections to migrants. Luis Alberto Urrea, who is the extraordinary author of several books (i highly recommend The Devil's Highway: A True Story) and other articles that i read while doing my research is planning to blog about the project too--i am very interested in seeing what the results will be, as his audience is very attuned to the topic from first hand accounts to activists etc. There are other activist and/or border projects, is there any in particular which you find interesting and worth mentioning? First and foremost, the many excellent art projects from inSite 05. Low drone is terrific.
I am also a fan of the CECUT Project by Krzysztof Wodiczko. My collaborators, Alberto Morackis and Guadalupe Serrano of Yonke Arte Público who have done many projects in Nogales on the border wall and more. The Border Action Network is an incredible advocacy group. "Border Action Network formed in 1999 and works with immigrant and border communities in southern Arizona to ensure that our rights are respected, our human dignity upheld and that our communities are healthy places to live. We are a membership-based organization that combines grassroots community organizing, leadership development, litigation and policy advocacy." And the following for direct outreach to migrants: Humane Borders and No More Deaths. There are more (on the CS website), but those are most of my favorites. Now a very down-to-earth question. The building instructions are available online for other property owner to build their own Casa Segura. Have you heard of anyone who decided to build one? It looks a bit costly, which kind of advice would you give to someone who would want to build a Casa Segura but at lower costs? Do you think that the CS would still be meaningful without the computing technology?
This project is about presenting alternate choices for individuals who have migrants crossing their land and understanding the complex situation from a humanist point of view and not so much about cloning Casa Segura along the border. I definitely want the ideas to be "do it yourself/open source" and I would be thrilled if people were inspired to simply place weather proof bins with water and food on their property for migrants to access. One could encourage communication by placing a sketchbook in the bin with an invitation to the migrants to leave a message. I have chosen to use computing technology because it is a medium that i work within and i believe that it provides many opportunities that certain analogue approaches do not. That does not mean that I feel that having a computer in a shed on your property is the only means of engaging in the kinds of exchanges i hope to foster with CS. The computing technology presents an opportunity from a particular point of view, but the goals here are quite simple: saving lives and communication. That can happen in many different ways and I encourage people to be creative and do what makes sense to them and their situation. What is the most surprising thing you've learnt about desert survival while working on this project? The most surprising thing i found during my research was in relation to witnessing firsthand the many people who are crossing each day into Arizona. I attended a conference organized by Humane Borders last March and we traveled south to Altar, Mexico, which is the single largest staging ground for migrants preparing to make the journey through the desert. The town is located approximately 50 miles south of the border-town Sasabe. While on the road south from Sasabe, every few minutes a van passes full of people who are making the trek to the border. Each van has been retrofitted and holds anywhere from 25-35 (packed-in) people. We were told that during March, which is already getting late in the season, somewhere between 2500-3500 people are making their way north each day. When you see the faces of these people, who are typically only represented through some statistic on a page, and watch them being herded like cattle from vans to pickup trucks and then plunked into the desert to walk for days with inappropriate supplies, you cannot help but feel for them. You know that something has to change and it is not going to be guns or walls or hate that transforms this horrible situation. The project also involves pictograms which "represent significant individuals, saints and symbols of Mexican history and popular culture." What motivated your choice to use these pictograms? I've never been to Mexico (sigh!) --so please excuse my silly question-- but are these pictograms still playing a significant role in the cultural life of Mexicans?
In addition, Alberto and Guadelupe selected a number of saints and folk heroes whom people may regularly give thanks to or pray to by lighting a candle with their representation on it for the interface. Thanks a lot Robert! Casa Segura is exhibited at Eyebeam in New York, until Nov. 10th, 2007. Image on top eyebeam. All other pictures of Casa Segura courtesy of the artist. Related entries: The real super heroes, Web users to patrol us borders, Trainers for border crossers, Dentists on the border Mexico / U.S.A. |
I am just beginning to do outreach via the press and internet, so at this point i am not sure that word has spread widely enough to have inspired anyone to build their own CS. I do hope that as people find out about the project that they will be interested in modifying our ideas for their own situation. 
The icons were created in collaboration with with Alberto Morackis and Guadalupe Serrano of |
The luminic machines make use of very simple elements like AC motors, springs, pulleys, or public intervention, to create very complex and subtle light movements, combining optical and kinetic explorations. One interesting fact is that none of the pieces carries a title or any supportive information and you don’t find the presence of a guide following you throughout the space (only guards reminding you that it is not allowed to take pictures), as the curator Hans-Michel Herzog decided to be faithful with the ideology of the GRAV group (Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel founded by Le Parc in Paris during the sixties), that sought to produce art that could be reached by everyone, without the need of any knowledge of art theory. What counted for them was the public experience. More information about the show (in Spanish) and a few more Flickr images. From July 25 to Octuber 15 at Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango. Related Latin American artists: Jesús Soto, Carlos Cruz-Diez. |
Most of the works were produced during the 60’s and “represent a breakthrough with the traditional and static art manifestations of the time� (taken from the exhibition wall) by conceiving the public as part of the work and introducing basic interactive behaviors. 
