The 2008 Digital Soiree series was kicked off with a presentation on Friday 25 January by Ralph Borland entitled "Provocative Technology" Ralph is no stranger to Wits Digital Arts having played a key role in establishing Physical Computing in the Division with the workshops that he held here in 2003 & 2004. He is currently studying for a Ph.D in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Trinity College, Dublin. With his background in Fine Arts (he graduated with an MFA in sculpture from UCT) this is a rather surprising direction to take; however Ralph did a crucial additional degree at NYU’s ITP programme where he started working with Physical Computing.
Ralph’s presentation began with what he called a "montage" of the influences that have informed his approach towards his research topic. He is examining an area of critical technology design practice undertaken mainly by artists and designers, and proposing its application to appropriate technology design. Citing the dictum by Brazilian political activist/artist Cildo Meireles that "we are no longer working with the metaphor of gunpowder, we use gunpowder itself" Ralph outlined the main characteristics of the critical technology works he has found inspirational. Cildo Meireles, for instance, in his "Insertion into Ideological Circuits" , silk-screened subversive messages onto empty Coca-Cola bottles before returning them to the bottling plant for recirculation. By matching his ink and typeface to the Coke brand, Meireles was able to by pass the strict censorship imposed by the Brazilian miltary regime in the 1970s. Ralph pointed out that what such works have in common is a resourcefulness and a strategic understanding of networks which they utilize to "talk back to power".
His own inflatable protective suit (seen in the photograph above) is another example of this approach. Ralph based his design on the protective padding employed by the "white overalls" movement who have been prominent at anti-globalisation demonstrations, where they provide protection from the police for demonstrators. His inflatable suit is designed to "push against the boundaries of control" using humour and hyperbole to engage with the media. For instance, his suit is made out of conspicuously red plastic, and has an amplifier and speaker built into the front to broadcast the sound of the wearer’s heartbeat. It would also, Ralph points out, be positively dangerous to the user in an actual demonstration because you could fall over and suffocate.
In the second half of his presentation, Ralph critically appraised a number of appropriate technology projects, most of them South African. In general, he took a rather dim view of such projects. With the exception of the "Destroy the Meter/Enjoy Free Water" campaign, most were judged to be overly expedient and prone to serve the interests of capitalist sponsors.
Sadly, Ralph didn’t have much to say about the creative component of his Ph.D project except to hint that it would focus on setting up an alternative wireless network between Cape Town and Johannesburg.
More information about Ralph’s projects is available on his website, at http://ralphborland.net/