Class 9 - Viruses and Devices
Class Schedule
- intro to viruses (and viruses as ‘artworks’)
- ethics and artworks
- projects and artworks
- studio time
Artworks
Mediengruppe Bitnik - Random Darknet Shopper
“Can a robot, or a piece of software, be jailed if it commits a crime? Where does legal culpability lie if code is criminal by design or default?”, asked Mike Power in an article about the Random Darknet Shopper published in the Guardian.
0100100101110101101 / Eva and Franco Mattes - Biennale.py
Biennale.py is a computer virus we created – with hackers group Epidemic – for the 49th Venice Biennale. Released on the night of the opening, it quickly spread around the world. Immaterial and self-replicating, when the virus enters a computer it stays there, hidden, trying to survive for as long as possible.
Lauren Lee McCarthy - LAUREN
LAUREN Testimonials from Lauren Lee McCarthy on Vimeo.
I attempt to become a human version of Amazon Alexa, a smart home intelligence for people in their own homes. The performance lasts up to a week. It begins with an installation of a series of custom designed networked smart devices (including cameras, microphones, switches, door locks, faucets, and other electronic devices). I then remotely watch over the person 24/7 and control all aspects of their home. I aim to be better than an AI because I can understand them as a person and anticipate their needs. The relationship that emerges falls in the ambiguous space between human-machine and human-human. LAUREN is a meditation on the smart home, the tensions between intimacy vs privacy, convenience vs agency they present, and the role of human labor in the future of automation.
Monkey Selfie Legal case -> Generative Art
The monkeys took the picture, but monkeys aren’t people and so monkeys can’t have copyright. And so it feels like monkeys taking selfies is very different from an elaborate AI machine learning algorithm generating art. But I think the principle was the same which is you need a person involved in order to be able to have a copyright in the first place. And there are lots of good reasons for that. One of which is if you want to use that photograph or the image or whatever it was generated, you need a license from somebody. And you know a monkey can’t give you a license, can’t enter into a licensing agreement. A robot can’t enter into a licensing agreement. So there just needs to be a person for the system to work at all.–Michael Weinberg, via Artists and Hackers podcast
Project work
Mini lesson: autostarting programs
There are multiple methods. One simple method is editing rc.local which runs on successful startup.
sudo edit the file /etc/rc.local, for example with nano or micro.
Add a line that launches your script (for example).
Finish music device prototype
See our Bok Joy demo.
Build a prototyping performance device. It can make music and/or visuals. Decide the device and purpose, then build with a Makey Makey and the language and hardware of your choice. The goal is to prototype this project, in a rapid prototyping approach. Use cardboard, tape/glue, speakers, etc on your Pi.