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Hello dorkbot community!<br>
My name is Susie Lee, and I'm a new media artist working in Seattle.<br>
Through people that I know at DXArts, 911 Media Center and a few<br>
dorkbot members themselves, I thought this might be a good<br>
starting point for an inquiry that I have for a piece, and see if<br>
there might be any good leads or collaborative possibilities.<br>
<br>
I am interested in creating some sort of "telematic" piece in which<br>
people (location can be anywhere in the world, ideally) can send a<br>
signal (even a text on a cellphone might work) to be sent to a piece<br>
(in a fixed location in a gallery in San Francisco). Once this signal<br>
reached the piece, it would light up momentarily and there would be a<br>
brief chime.<br>
<br>
What I wanted to explore was the meta-messages in this age of<br>
instantaneous communication--in other words, through email, texting,<br>
skyping, cell phones, facebook, etc.. The actual details and<br>
information conveyed seems less vital than this implied notion of<br>
"Hey, I'm here," or "Hey, I'm thinking of you." The actual words and<br>
the time required to have a conversation seem the primary impediments<br>
to directly contacting someone (for example, if you want to talk to a<br>
friend or a parent, but you don't have the time or space for an entire<br>
hour long conversation). So I began to wonder what the effect might<br>
be if one could receive the signal that someone was thinking of them,<br>
and would that be enough to counter a sense of loneliness and<br>
alienation.<br>
<br>
On the fixed end, I can imagine that a computer would be able to take<br>
the data feeds, and a microcontroller could signal to turn on the<br>
lights and sound. What I'm struggling with is the possible vehicles<br>
that the "moving" people could use that would send a reliable signal<br>
from pretty much anywhere with minimal accoutrements. In addition,<br>
Laury MacCary brought up a good point about feedback to the person, to<br>
encourage that people continue sending a signal. I'm wondering if I<br>
could pick someone's brain at dorkbot, if there might be anyone<br>
interested!<br>
<br>
Thanks for your time,<br>
cheers,<br>
Susie Lee<br /><hr />Get more out of the Web. Learn 10 hidden secrets of Windows Live. <a href='http://windowslive.com/connect/post/jamiethomson.spaces.live.com-Blog-cns!550F681DAD532637!5295.entry?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_getmore_092008' target='_new'>Learn Now</a></body>
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