Under the theme Seeking Silicon Valley, the 2012 ZERO1 Biennial features work by local, national, and international contemporary artists whose work will transform Silicon Valley into an epicenter for innovative art production and public experience.

My participation at ZERO1 Biennial happened with a piece called Mobile Crash v2 Obsolescence Trimmer, an installation commissioned for the main exhibition of the Biennial ‘Seeking Silicon Valley’, curated by Gisela Domschke and Jaime Austin.

The piece is based on a newer version of the installation Mobile Crash (2010) – initially conceived as an immersive audiovisual system (Honorary Mention at Ars Electronica 2010) which was updated to employ new ways of reading data and measuring signals in a given environment.

A computer algorithm picks the video sequences among the hundreds of short clips available. The rhythmic rate of the clips played vary according to a sensor (actually a cell phone detector) measuring electromagnetic fields in the environment, such as mobile phone calls.

Such invisible signals are the sources for leading the inputs, triggering the system to progressively display the sound and visual sequences in a mash-up style, which can be experienced in real time by the audience.

Similarly to the machine Das Coisas Quebradas (commissioned for the Tecnofagia – Mostra 3M) the installation presented at Seeking Silicon Valley Zero1 Biennial aims to produce an ironic comment about obsolescence issues on the use of technological trends, as the more we consume and use them, the more it renders obsolescence.

previous photos by Lucas Bambozzi, above photo by Karina Smigla-Bobinski

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info:

mobile crash v2 [obsolescence trimmer] – 2012

artist: lucas bambozzi

technologial development: Radames Ajna

assistance: Paloma Oliveira and Lucas Gervilla

hardware: customized electromagnetic fields / cell phone detector

Arduino board, macmini

software: Processing

video footage: 240 short clips

local setup: videoprojection and sound

Mobile Crash V2 was commissioned by ZERO1 Biennial, San Jose, California, curated by Gisela Domschke and Jaime Austin for the main Biennial exhibition ‘Seeking Silicon Valley’.