The Electronic Man

Marshall McLuhan on the Electronic Man

Marshall McLuhan

“Electronic man like pre-literate man, ablates or outers the whole man. His information environment is his own central nervous system.”
Derrick de Kerckhove  on the Electronic Man

Derrick de Kerckhove

“We are invited to refine our proprioception to extend our point of being (rather than our point of view) from wherever we are to wherever technically extended senses can allow us to reach.”

The Project

The Electronic Man produces a connective global body in a realtime performance that takes place simultaneously all over the world.

The Electronic Man Stickers have been placed all over the world by internet users (internet is coming out of monitors, lately, and into the streets). Each sticker has a QRCode and connects people to the body of the Electronic Man.

When someone scans the QRCode on the sticker (for example using a smartphone), the body of the Electronic Man gets stimulated:
  • the person is asked to choose a word that will ble correlated with the geographical place in which the sticker is located;
  • the person is asked if he/she wishes to download a smartphone application that will connect his device in realtime with the body of the Electronic Man;
  • everyone's smartphone that is connected to the body of the Electronic Man through the application, instantly vibrates;
  • these people's bodies will be, thus, physically stimulated by this vibration, directly connected to the place in which the sticker is placed, therefore producing a globally disseminated sensibility, an additional global digital sense for our body.








Credits

Salvatore Iaconesi, concept | design | technology
Oriana Persico, communication | process | networks
FakePress Publishing, production
Art is Open Source, production
Maria Pia Rossignaud, curator | production
Media2000 & Associazione Amici di Media2000, production
Dipartimento di Comunicazione e Ricerca Sociale della Sapienza, event production
Derrick de Kerckhove, scientific direction | inspiration
Marshall McLuhan, this project could not have existed without him :)