FRESH EYES AND DIRTY HANDS
Magnus is an artist, designer, and educator exploring the narrative and psycho-social potential of interactive systems and media. Magnus presented some of his interactive works and talked about issues addressed in his works, such as post-optimal personal technologies, user participation and co-creation, interaction and action spaces.
"Digital Peacock Tails"
“Digital Peacock Tails” is a series of works that tries to put electronic artefacts and systems in another context than just conceiving them as tools designed to support goal-oriented tasks. The Siren Shoes make a loud noise when both feet are on the ground at the same time. The wearer faces the dilemma of either altering her gait or becoming a shrieking public nuisance. The Miscalculator is a software application that produces a result close to the truth but not always. When installed, the Miscalculator permanently removes and replaces the standard Windows calculator. Conceived as digital tattoo, it probes electronic expressions based on permanence and sacrifice of control. The SMS Headband allows people to send text messages to the wearer's forehead. It explores social and psychological costs and the loss of control (of the expression of a prominent part of the body canvas.) The Backstabber replays fragments of conversations recorded several hours ago. The wearer turns into a spy, a leakage between different times, and a security breach, but also a source of interesting secrets. How does it feel to wear other people's secrets as personal adornments, and how does it affect the interaction with others? The Satellite Echo Compensator Muzzle restricts speech from escaping the mouth and replays it with a few seconds delay. This device introduces the shortcomings of long distance IP- or satellite telephony to normal face to face conversations. Without power the electromagnets that hold together the seams of the EM Trousers cease to function and the garment falls apart. The wearer can recharge the battery from standard power outlets via an accompanying power cable. She must plan her day according to the power socket geography of her surroundings.
"Power Pilgrims"
Electricity keeps the world together. The Amber Order is a cult that pays reverence to, and expresses their trust in, the Great Technological Systems through sartorial submission and silent praise. Four Amber brothers made their first pilgrimage to Den Grå Hal for the 1/2 machine event in August 2003.
The Amber pilgrims roam in and outside the exhibition space, ritually charging themselves with power. They rely on the generosity of others to share their 220V AC outlets. The pilgrims wear only the traditional Amber Robes. The robes are made of several pieces of fabric held together by recycled electro-magnets. The magnets are powered by a battery, fitted in a brazen container attached to the robe. Using the umbilical power cord the pilgrim recharges the battery from a normal wall socket. Without power the electro-magnets cease to function and the robe fall to the ground in pieces, leaving the pilgrim naked, ashamed and repentant.
"Dressed for Dependance"
In this two week workshop students produced clothes and accessories designed to increase the wearer's dependence on technical structures and the benevolence of other people. The backdrop of the workshop is the society of control. This theme has been explored extensively by engineers and designers, often resulting in the creation of security aware tools and rigid protections. Critically using naivety and trust this workshop probed new ways of approaching surveillance and control. The exercises presented in "Dressed for Dependence" were to provoke an awareness of the two faced nature of design, systems, and technology as both liberator and vehicle of enslavement.
"Four Ophones"
"Four Ophones" is an invitation and an unwritten score for a composition that lasts as long as the exhibition does. You and other visitors take part as audience, musicians, and co-composers. No one knows what will happen or how it will sound. Be prepared for everything from subtle interference etudes, to collaborative chanting and big, bad rhythm orgies. An ophone is a loudspeaker with an attached telephone receiver. When an ophonist has recorded a sound into an ophone, it is repeated infinitely until another sound is recorded into the same ophone.
"Pophorn"
"Pophorn" is a series of small software applications that transform mobile phones into various musical instruments. "Pophorns" acknowledge the mobile phone as a platform for active sonic (co-)creation, and aim to shorten the distance between pocket and musical action.
