2008
Marguerite Kahrl, Artist in residence March 17th – April 8th
Studio For Interrelated Media
Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA
Studio For Interrelated Media
Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA
Hot Spot: Mesh Networked Radiation Monitors
WORKSHOP: Marguerite Kahrl and Kevin Lay, March 27 and 28th
During a residency at Mass Art, I explored artistic practices in developing scenarios and prototypes for a mesh networked radiation monitor. I invited software designer Kevin Lay, Phoenix, AZ to collaborate with me on a workshop entitled, Hot Spot: Mesh Networked Radiation Monitors.
Hot Spot: Mesh Networked Radiation Monitors employed tangible media to represent radiation, an invisible element. During the workshop we took information transmitted from a mesh-networked real time radiation monitor and interpreted it into artifacts and other sensory venues. The result is a system of interpretation, which will strive to prompt citizens to rethink their relationship to data concerning their environment and how it is collected, monitored and distributed.
The workshop offered students the possibility to participate in a collaborative design process between artists, scientists, technologists and Boston residents. My hope was to give participants the opportunity to gain and respond to knowledge about their environment, giving voice and form to concerns about invisible, environmental hazards. At a time when nuclear power is being considered as a viable energy source for the future, it is important that people are able to assess for themselves, on a basic level, the radiation associated with nuclear energy generation.
Prototype of a real time mesh networked radiation monitor developed by Marguerite Kahrl and Kevin Lay during the workshop Hot Spot: Mesh Networked Radiation Monitors, Studio For Interrelated Media, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA