I’m seeing currently more and more converging artistic/activist projects that tackle notions of online/offline, hosted/unhosted. This post is an attempt of putting them next to each other and search for their shared narrative. Is it a movement? Or merely a convergeance of ideas and technologies?
Dead Drops | Un-cloud your files in cement!
What: “an anonymous, offline, peer to peer file-sharing network in public space.” Already a classic. Read here the original blog post (October 2010). It’s defeating the expectations towards “networked art”, in the same way the Random Screen installation was defeating expectations towards “interactive art”.
Who: Aram Bartholl
Link: https://deaddrops.com/
Code: n.a.
It’s important to note that the project went viral, and has spawned variations across the world. For instance, the Dakar Dead Drop Fiction project in Senegal, in 2012.
Newstweek
What: “Newstweek is a device for manipulating news read by other people on wireless hotspots.”
Who: Julian Oliver, Danja Vasiliev
Code: http://newstweek.com/howto
License: GNU GPLv3
The Weise7 in/compatible Laboratorium Archive
What: a book that contains a tiny circuit board that runs an Internet independent wireless server, hosting an archive of projects (needs 2x AA batteries).
Who: Julian Oliver, Danja Vasiliev
When: March 2012
Link: http://weise7.org/book/
Code: ??
Captives of the Cloud
What: Critical design inquiry/essay.
Who: Metahaven
When: September 2012
Link: http://www.e-flux.com/journal/captives-of-the-cloud-part-i/
Code: n.a.
Qaul.net
What: “qaul.net implements a redundant, open communication principle, in which wireless-enabled computers and mobile devices can directly form a spontaneous network. Text messaging, file sharing and voice calls are possible independent of internet and cellular networks. Qaul.net can spread like a virus, and an Open Source Community can modify it freely.”
Update: in October 2013, Chinese authorities denied an entry visa to Wachter & Jud.
Who:Christoph Wachter & Mathias Jud
When: started in 2011, released in 2012, still ongoing.
Link: http://qaul.net/
Code: https://github.com/wachterjud/qaul.net
License: GNU GPLv3
OFFLINE ART: new2
What: exhibition at XPO GALLERY, Paris. “Web-based art works will be disconnected from the Internet but accessible via a wireless network”.
Who: curated by Aram Bartholl
When: February-March 2013
Link: http://datenform.de/offline-art-new2.html
SuperGlue – system for independent and distributed Web
What: “a distributed version of Hotglue, a Content Manipulation System that allows anyone to construct a website directly in a web-browser.”
Who: Danja Vasiliev
When: coming soon (2013)
Link: http://lgru.net/archives/5392
Code: n.a.
Captive Portal
What: “a network of open WI-FI access points freely accessible in public space. By logging on to one of these access points it becomes possible to view a single web page, disconnected from the internet, containing artistic material in the form of text, video, downloadable PDFs, interactive web pages, sounds or other formats”
Who: Kristoffer Ørum
When: upcoming (2014)
Link: http://oerum.org/work/?/solo/CaptivePortal/
Code: n.a.
Firecloud
What: “a basic publishing platform building upon a distributed, P2P network of Firefox browsers.”
Link: http://firecloud.co/ / http://literaci.es/firecloud
Who: Vinay Gupta and Doug Belshaw
When: upcoming
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