Desearch and Revelopment
In parallell to my other activities I partake in the endless adventure Desearch and Revelopment (RD for short). RD is a loosely held design collective that engages in all sorts of refreshing activities.
Power Pilgrims
Electricity keeps the world together. The Amber Order is a cult that pays reverence to, and expresses their trust in, the Great Technological Systems through sartorial submission and silent praise. Four Amber brothers made their first pilgrimage to Den Grå Hal for the 1/2 machine event in August 2003.
The Amber pilgrims roam in and outside the exhibition space, ritually charging themselves with power. They rely on the generosity of others to share their 220V AC outlets. The pilgrims wear only the traditional Amber Robes. The robes are made of several pieces of fabric held together by recycled electro-magnets. The magnets are powered by a battery, fitted in a brazen container attached to the robe. Using the umbilical power cord the pilgrim recharges the battery from a normal wall socket. Without power the electro-magnets cease to function and the robe fall to the ground in pieces, leaving the pilgrim naked, ashamed and repentant.
The Power Pilgrims performance is a powerful illustration of how the meltage of man and machine always implies surrendering some control to larger technical structures. Wearing the Amber Robe produces a strong feeling of dependency. The experience makes the pilgrim intimately aware of the power outlet geography of her surroundings and the fragile nature of her identity..
The backdrop of the workshop is the society of control. This theme has been explored extensively by engineers and designers, often resulting in the creation of security aware tools and rigid protections. Critically using naivety and trust this workshop probed new ways of approaching surveillance and control. The exercises presented in Dressed for Dependence were to provoke an awareness of the two faced nature of design, systems, and technology as both liberator and vehicle of enslavement.
The power pilgrim predicted the massive power failure in the us that occured right after their first pilgrimage.
