[ISEA2006] Artists Statement: Jeff Mann & Michelle Teran – LiveForm:Telekinetics

Artists Statement

LiveForm:Telekinetics creates experiences in transgeographic temporary performance zones, centred around wireless Internet access points that are now ubiquitous in the urban landscape. No longer tied to a terminal screen and keyboard, nomadic groups pack mobile feasts of sensors, antennas, robotics, food, and music, and head out on the town. Networked telepresence picnic parties unfold in vacant lots, roadsides, cafe’s, alleyways, bars, and hotel lobbies – wherever bandwidth is plentiful and security guards scarce. The events are not meant as entertainment for an audience, but as experimental and collaborative acts of creativity, research and development of new social forms, and interventions in public space.

For ISEA2006, artists Jeff Mann and Michelle Teran proposed their “LiveForm:Telekinetics” project. The project will be presented as a series of mobile interventions in public urban space, within range of the WiFi hotspots near the main Festival Area, over the course of the symposium.