The Electronic Man has been created for the celebrations of the centennial of Marshall McLuhans birth. In this occasion our wish is to give form to one of the most outstanding theories of this fundamental figure of our cultural history: the Electronic Man.
This application creates the possibility for people to unite into a connective form of life: a digital ubiquitous body.
Hundreds of people have been disseminating the QRCodes of this global performance all over the world.
When someone scans one of them using a smartphone they will be asked to contribute their emotional state.
These emotions are collected in realtime, thus creating an instantaneous map of the emotions all over the world: this is the body of the Electronic Man.
Whenever someone gives an emotion to the Electronic Man everyones phone vibrates, thus creating a new sensibility, a new digital sense: the sense of emotion of the Electronic Man.
This application is your portal to joining the global performance: install it and your phone will vibrate whenever someone unites to the Electronic Man, or donates an emotion to him.
A chance to get closer to your fellow humans, exploring the possibilities in which technologies and networks can bring us closer together on a global scale, across cultures, nations and individualities.
Presented in Rome at the official celebrations of the Centennial of Marshall McLuhan, May 31st 2011, at Romes University "La Sapienza".
http://electronicman.artisopensource.net
Credits:
Salvatore Iaconesi, concept | design | technology
Oriana Persico, communication | process | networks
FakePress Publishing, production
Art is Open Source, production
Maria Pia Rossignaud, curator | production
Media2000 & Associazione Amici di Media2000, production
Dipartimento di Comunicazione e Ricerca Sociale della Sapienza, event production
Derrick de Kerckove, scientific direction | inspiration
Marshall McLuhan, this project could not have existed without him :)