Zip Guns – Design & Violence

The Zip Guns were built as a commision for MoMA & Science Gallery as part of the exhibition Design & Violence.

These artefacts were based on the kind of firearms that had been fabricated illegally by inmates of prisons using material at hand.

Following much research and prototyping, I fabricated three “weapons” from scrap metal, stationery and hardware store parts, based on actual designs found in the prison system. Each one is almost capable of single or multiple use.

Personal Food Computer – Field Test

Personal Food Computer (2016)

The Personal Food Computer (PFC) was commissioned by The Center for Genomic Gastronomy for the exhibition Field Test at Science Gallery Dublin in 2016.

At the time the PFC was still a work-in-progress at the MIT Media Lab. As such, much of the final version had to be figured out as it was built.

The PFC is a self-contained hydroponic grow box with a computer controlled environment which could be programmed to grow a large variety of food. Temperature, light, humidity, acidity could all be monitored and controlled based on ‘recipes’ loaded into the computer.

Disobedience

Disobedience

Disobedience is an smartphone app which holds a database of acts of civil disobedience.

Based on how you are feeling about the current system and what mood you are in, it will suggest an act of disobedience ranging from non-consumption of material goods to acts that might get you arrested.

What’s In It For Me? (2015)

In 2015 an Irish county councillor and politician was caught in an undercover sting asking for a bribe from a private company to lobby the government on their behalf.

The memorable quote from this exchange was, “What’s in it for me?”

This is an ongoing project using light to paint these corrupt words in various urban and rural locations around the country. A reminder of how this kind of petty corruption invades and insinuates itself into the unlikeliest places.

Further quotes, as they emerge, are in the pipeline…

[Tech: Canon EOS 1000D/Arduino/RGB LEDs]

LightStick

LightStick

The Lightstick is a row of 60 addressable RGB LED lights controlled by a small computer.

Designed to be portable and battery powered, images and generative art can be loaded into it and be ‘painted’ anywhere using long-exposure photography.

It is currently being used to produce my ongoing “What’s In It For Me?” project, and other interventions.

Focus Lamp

Focus Lamp

The Focus Lamp was a small device I designed for myself to help with studying and writing during my MSc in Interactive Media.

It was the result of an excercise in product design and User Centred Design. It also reflected my interest in Calm Design and technology.

I wanted something with no obvious interface and no noise that would disturb me from work. Instead the lamp would sense which way it was turned or placed on the table and use gently changing colours to alert the user.

When flipped, it would change to a soft green colour. After 45 minutes had elapsed, it would slowly change colour to let the user know that they could take a break. When you wanted to take the break the user would flip the lamp again and the sequence would run again for 15 minutes.

Voyager (2014)

Voyager is an experiment with face detection technology and a tribute to the Voyager I & II spacecraft which have moved through our solar system since the 1970s.

A camera monitors how many people are looking at the exhibit and refuses to interact until there is only one person viewing. This forces the participant to be alone with the piece and also encourages participants to ask others to leave.

What the participant is rewarded with is an intimate meditative orbit of random planets with the accompanying otherworldly sound of its electromagnetic aura.

If you look away, it notices…

Audio is sourced from NASA’s space sounds library.

[Tech: OpenFrameworks]

Occasional Earthquake Table (2013)

Occasional Earthquake Table (2013)

The Occasional Earthquake Table is an inoffensive small table which reacts to any earthquake occurrence in real time.

Constantly monitoring – it shakes, rumbles and vibrates based on live earthquake data: magnitude, depth, duration and proximity to populous areas.

Teacups rattle and sometimes get ejected and smashed on the floor.

The table brings the delicate balance of the earth’s tectonic plates into your living room, and serves as a intermittent reminder of our place on this violent globe.

[Tech: Raspberry Pi/Vibration Motor]

The Memetic Phone (2012)

The Memetic Phone (2012)

The Memetic Phone is an old industrial telephone which rings occasionally and describes cat videos, memes and other internet ephemera to the listener.

Responding to the transition from the time of storytelling to the era of “you have to watch this”, it pokes at the human difficulty of consolidating old and new medias into the social space.

The Memetic Phone may bore you.

[Tech: Arduino/Audio Player/Phone]

Public Access Drones

Hexacopter

In the early 2010’s when amateur drone technology was was becoming affordable, and before legislation was enforced, I built a series of drones that were offered out for public use.

They have been used to get accurate counts of turnout for protests and to peek behind hoardings to see what property developers were actually up to.

Since then, access to drones has become much easier, and laws to their use have been introduced. This has opened up this field of investigation to the general public and my original drones await another purpose.