A presentation of cityborg, "a digital interface with our world," and some related creative projects that will use the cityborg distro -- mobile computer, kinetic sculpture revisited by technology and greenbots, ecologist artbots -- or develop cityborg itself -- social networks generator --.

the roots of cityborg are nurtured by the energy and growing dynamics of 'collective of collectives' in barcelona' underground. in this 'primordial soup' we feel the need for a new cultural tool that synthesyze and contribute to the new cultural movement (free software, urban explorers, diyers, hackivists...)." >from *cityborg*.

"The work we are producing is a hanging mobile, or kinetic structure, that is suspended above the audience, and consists of a number of functional motherboards (nodes). Each of these nodes processing data instructions from a controlling computer (root). The results of this network of computers (cluster) will be the delivery of their combined calculations in a visual projection of imagery.

We believe that computer parts & components are un-recyclable waste products. We have noticed how commerce is discarding it's 'depreciated' computer equipment to be replaced by new generation computers that are faster, with larger hard drives and newer technology, which will again be thrown away within the following three to four years. These upgrades are required and completely justified, as software and operating systems inflate in size, demanding more powerful equipment to maintain fundamentally the same level of productivity.

We want to demonstrate that computer waste is by no means justified. The concept of this this project was seeded there. Computer waste is still very useful. We are appealing to commercial and governmental bodies/institutions to donate their computer waste so that we can demonstrate it's usefulness by the creation of network cluster in the form of a hanging mobile." >from *mobile computer project: kinetic sculpture enhanced with technology* by Bruce Thomas

"Artbots are small robots able to develop some type of creative activity, or also, can be considered by themselves artistic pieces due to the way in which they are constructed, within which already is call 'robotic art.' Many types exist and unimaginable forms, thus, but the popular ones are artbots painters and musicians. Like the dorkbot community, exists an important world-wide community around artbots. For this reason from dorkbot Barcelona we are interested to contribute something new to this world-wide project.

The present environmental politics taked by certain countries is finishing and will end with the planet in less time of the one than we imagined... This is a reality and is necessary to look for ways to make people aware... this it is the objective of this proposal. For it I propose to make small robots loaded with environmental sensors and solar paddles who located themselves in estrategic points (with strong contamination) of the city where the installation mounts. These artbots can change his form somehow or to make some action greater or smaller on something in function of the parameter is measuring (imagine one similar to fish globe inflatable..., or one in form of butterfly that eextends its wings and becomes cocoon, others based on insects, either other that does to grow 'enredaderas' creating drawing which single camera of monitoring can be seen from one publishes (we can use cameras with ip which they make and streaming in realtime), all this to occur to understand the environmental level of polution which we are put under continuously." >from *greenbots * by Alex Posada

openfriday@straddle3
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cityborg presentation by david galligani & josep saldaña
mobile compute: kinetic sculpture enhanced with technology by bruce thomas, greenbots by alex posada, and social networks generator by gerald kogler
+ barcelona 2004 videos
friday, december 17, 2004. 20:30 h
straddle3. c/ riereta, 32 1-3
barcelona

related context
> locative media lab. 'we can now alter social and spatial aspects of the rooms, campuses and neighbourhoods we inhabit. walls, doors and curtains have become increasingly archaic interface elements.'
> 'i see what i see not' by tim otto roth. exploring the images of astronomy and elementary particle physics -- the most distant and next boundaries of the cosmos--, in the world's first facade which can be fashioned via internet.
> neighbornodes: wireless extensible neighborhood network. 'a project that merges the location-specific nature of the neighborhood with the universal, networked nature of the web.' november 12, 2004

imago
> self-adjusting interface usb box