_#12OCT
Interactive installation prototype
2015-2016
#12OCT reflects about certain aspects of the past and present of the colonial panorama.
The paradigmatic date of October 12 reminds us that in 1492, Christopher Columbus arrived to America for the first time.
The Spanish state officially celebrates the beginning of the colonization of America as the day of national holiday or Hispanicity Day, by holding a sumptuous military parade. In the colonized countries of Latin America this date is known among other names, as day of the race or day of indigenous resistance.
This interactive installation, makes a critical approach of the controversy of these different connotations, with the use of simple and open devices to the public, using social networks like a collective thinking sensor on both sides of the Atlantic.
It utilizes data visualization a physical form with a representation of a world map provided in a container with water and three ships of proportional size symbolizing the caravels led by Christopher Columbus.
The piece is programmed to detect the latest twitter messages which are published with the hashtag # 12OCT and containing several of the most popular tags on that specific date: #diadelaraza (day of the race); #DiaDeLaResistenciaIndigena (day of indigenous resistance) in Latin America and #FiestaNacionalDeEspaña (day of national holiday); #diadelahispanidad (Hispanicity Day) in Spain, each associated with its analogue in the representation of the world map.
Each time a match is found while searching with the designated hashtag, water pumps will produce a stream that propels the boat in the direction from one continent to the other.
In this way the collective thinking is reflected in the use of hashtags which will allows us to observe the cultural depth of the approximation on both continents.
Whenever stated in the web a preference related to the command of the celebration in Spain, the pump propels the water stream to mobilize ships to the continent of America. When there are demonstrations in the network matching with the character of the celebration in Latin America, the engine with the help of the water pump generates a stream that returns ships to its origin, making allegory of decolonial thinking.
Presented at
ARS ELECTRONICA festival 2016 - Speculative Materialities
Press coverage: https://goo.gl/YWPUAF
Project documentation timeline: https://goo.gl/O5Fje4
Festival Internacional de Exploración Audio & Visual VOlumens Centre del carmen de Valencia 2018
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#12OCT live on Youtube
October 12, 2017.