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The aim of
this piece is to set up oppositions and frictions in between nostalgic
notions of local, traditional, non-technological cultures and those
of dominant, globalised, technological and corporate cultures. I live
in central Madrid, which is full of traditional ‘cafeterias’.
These are typically independent, unsophisticated, unpretentious, and
often shabby, ran by people who have being working there for most of
their lives. A couple of years ago multinational coffee shops began
appearing, now at an increasing rate, and beginning to affect the trade
of the old cafeterias. This new ones have come to symbolize globalisation,
and are the target for numerous political campaigns, whereas the old
cafeterias come to symbolise a nostalgic local culture now under threat.
I have already seen several of them been closed down to be replaced
by a corporate chain.
In creating this piece I chose working in reference to traditional art
practices. Artists sketching places they frequent with pencil and paper,
although by using tools and practices derived from corporate technological
cultures. In this light I took a laptop to the old cafeteria and wrote
(live-coded) computer code which modelled the cafeterias to generate CAD
like wire-mesh renderings of the cafes. Beforehand I wrote a simple rendering
engine, which provided me with a language of graphical primitives, from
which more complex shapes could be composed, thus, during sessions (sat
at a table for hours on end) I would code the specific geometry of mathematical
coordinates and shapes.
After completing several models I worked on other aspects. I produced a
series of digital prints of the cafeterias, which I mounted in frames.
I also produced a series of printouts of the code (engine and cafes) and
mounted these in frames too. The last aspect of this piece is a computer
and monitor running the software in which to view the models, spinning
and rotating as if they were examining some historical artefact. This provides
a juxtaposition of traditional and modern presentations and representations.
All shown representations of the cafeterias are based on technology, cafeterias
have been turned into code and wire-mesh CAD, a suggestion of their impending
fate to be consumed by the techno-cultures. The code, an arcane text in
highly formalised language, is seemingly impenetrable to the code-illiterate
majority. Datafications have been used as the process for psychological
associations to power and authority as they are essential 'materials' for
the 'technological dictatorships' – controlling the code is a form
of power and most people do not know its language. The code of the software
used by commerce and business contain many conditionals and rules, these
can have a direct or indirect effect on aspects of everyday life, for example
if you will get a bank loan or not. In order to give the viewer a partake
in these virtualised cafes, a simple controller is used to adjust view
angles and zoom in/out, a participation which suggests the level of involvement
we have in the real world. I found out that one of the cafeterias I coded
was in the process of closing down. If it will be replaced with a multinational,
I do not yet know.
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