Installation shot, The Game of the Indian (2005). Courtesy of Suzete Venturelli.

In the category of cell phones as artwork data generators, acting in real time and inviting public participation, the work Poetrica developed by Giselle Beiguelman[3] in 2003/2004 is an outstanding example. The teleintervention Poetrica first happened in São Paulo in 2003, allowing anyone to submit messages over the internet and by SMS to electronic billboards located in downtown São Paulo, between Paulista, Consolação and Rebouças avenues. Those messages were converted to non-phonetic fonts (dings and system font) and transmitted to the three billboards simultaneously. All contributions were transmitted back to the website by on-line webcams and contributors were notified by email or SMS about the transmission schedule of the broadcast.

Poetrica (2003/2004) used telecommunications to create a very unique form of urban intervention, converging several media in a very interesting way. The conversion of texts to non-phonetic symbols guaranteed universal reception regardless of language or culture, without losing the intentions of the work. The work was such a success that it was performed again in 2004 in Berlin.

Billboard showing Poetrica in Rebouças Avenue, São Paulo, (2003)
Courtesy of the artists. Poetrica

Talking to computers and machines has been a world-wide dream and due to the enormous advances in speech synthesis and voice recognition technologies, that dream has recently come true. Now, it is easy and possible to use voice interfaces on the web, by converging phone, computers and the Internet. Each of the three works mentioned use telecommunications in a particular way. Moone uses telematics to create a participative environment where two people can build images together in a digital space (via modem/ telematics); the Game of the Indian uses the shared data of mobile phones to allow for a multi-user virtual environment, where the game happens simultaneously via all mobile phone devices; Poetrica uses telecommunications to create urban interventions (via mobile phone, internet & electronic billboards).

The next and last kind of work I will discuss uses the telephone, the most common telecommunication technology in the world, however it is used in a very new way: to talk to the web.  The art work Voice Mosaic [4] was developed by me in 2004 and in order to allow people to experiment with talking on the web, they must make a phone call and talk to the voice interface in order to create a new coloured tile and a recorded message into a mosaic which can be seen on the website.

To participate and create your own tile, in English, you must call the number in the United States (407) 386-2174, and dial the PIN 9991421055. Then, you can start talking with the interface, which will ask you to choose a colour (among 7 available) and invite you to record a free message. After you end the phone interaction, you can access the Voice Mosaic on the web, where you will be able to locate, see and listen to your tile. You will also be able to see other tiles and listen to other voice recordings.

To limit the challenges of language barriers, the Voice Mosaic was developed in three languages – Portuguese, English and Spanish, to allow global participation. To date, the mosaic contains approximately 600 tiles from all around the world. All messages, regardless of the language they were generated in, are stored in one database, representing the conflict and harmony of different people within one world. This work is active and a work in progress on the web, until all the 1600 tiles are completed.

Screen shot of Voice Mosaic (2004), (accessed June 2006). Courtesy of Martha Gabriel

Conclusion

According to the research “25 years of really cool stuff” (2005) developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in association with broadcaster CNN, the Internet tops the list of the most important technological innovations in the last 25 years, followed by email, the personal computer, optical fibre and the mobile phone. All top 5 innovations are related to telecommunications. These technological and communications innovations have caused profound social changes, which affect the way we perceive and act in the world. Among these changes, media convergence and technological addiction are two phenomena that, although effect human behaviour, usually are not perceived in this way, by people, who absorb them without questioning. Besides media convergence, we are also experiencing several kinds of hybrids and ‘cybrids’ mixing on-line and off-line worlds.

This new techno-social infrastructure and the need for continuous human adjustments have raised uneasiness and questionings that have been embraced by artists around the world. Artistic manifestations are required to expose and explore any social transformations, and our modern history is strongly characterised by telecommunications revolutions. However, these revolutions are happening at different paces in different countries and even in cities within the same country. There are places in the world that are almost still living in the stone-age while other places are completely immersed in the digital/information era. There are some isolated villages in areas of Brazil that are experiencing close to no communication revolution and at the same time there are also places experiencing a hectic communication revolution such as the big cities in Brazil, like Sao Paulo, Rio and other large urban centres.

The artworks discussed in this article are great examples of the ways in which telecommunication art is trying to accommodate for our needs here, in Brazil, where we are focusing on reaching and embracing people globally, sharing feelings and thoughts, through telecommunications. Thousands of other artists and people are doing the same around the world, and thanks to telecommunication, this becomes easier each day, allowing us to be able to try to overcome the communication limits and also collaboration ones.

Biography
Martha is an artist and engineer with a Postgraduate in Marketing and Graphic Design and a Master’s Degree in Art and is currently working as a Professor at the Digital Design and Business School at University Anhembi Morumbi. Martha has a passion for communication and the convergence of voice and web technologies and has presented and spoken on a number of topics surrounding web design and development. Martha has spoken at internet conferences in Brazil, the USA, China and Plymouth in the UK and has participated in several international digital art exhibitions and events including Soundtoys (UK, 2004), Turbulence.org (USA, 2005), Media Arts Unesco (Colombia, 2006) and SIGGRAPH Art Gallery (USA, 2006). She has also received the Institute of Engineering of Sao Paulo Award (Brazil, 1985), Best of Track Award from Indiana University (USA, 2003), Best of Track and Best of Conference Awards from Rochester Institute of Technology (USA, 2004), and the Top 20 Professor Award from the University of Anhembi Morumbi (Brazil, 2005). Since 2005 she is also reviewer for Leonardo Electronic Almanac, MIT, USA.