Infrasense

The Infrasense project plays with the notion of the 'Trojan Horse' and the 'Bug' as two digitally bound elements that live and replicate on the Internet. For this installation, they are extracted from the web and subsequently rendered as physical objects which roam the gallery space they incorporate. Freed from the digital dynamics of the Internet, they are however, bound back to pre-programmed digital softwares and electronic hand held remote devices utilised by the audience. As one of the bugs is controlled from the Infrasense website they are ultimately connect back to the Internet.,

There are 9 Trojan Horses (the number of Horses installed change in each gallery according to its dimensions). A Trojan Horse is a type of virus that is deceptive in its intent, which is why it carries the same name as the historical horse that was given as a present, only to surprise the recipients with its hidden agents of warfare. The Horses are placed parallel to each other so that they move across a space in a straight line, backwards and forwards. They are pre-programmed, not controlled by the audience and move very slow so that their movement is barely perceptible to the human eye. On the back of each horse is a plastic backpack (plastic pieces taken from old computers and refashioned into objects which resemble machines). These backpacks, acting as metaphors for the ‘house’ of the giant historical Trojan Horse, utter voices at a low level when the audience enter the gallery.
Upon arriving to the city where the project will show, the artists interview people on the street and ask a simple question – “Would you tell us a story about ways in which a bodily based or computer virus has affected your life?” If a member of the public agrees, then their story is recorded and it remains unedited. A number of recordings are made and certain stories selected. Each story is then placed onto a CD which plays from a back pack on the Horse.

In contrast to the slowly moving Trojan Horses are 3 faster moving 'Bugs' that are controlled in different ways. The number of bugs may vary depending on the size of the gallery. The Bugs are constructed of pieces of plastic from computer casings, aluminium and old scuzzy, serial and ethernet cables. The Bugs appear as if they are looking for connection with some, or any other type of technological hardware via the adaptors at the end of the leads that they are covered with. The Bugs move faster and manoeuvre around the Trojan Horses looking as if they are desperately trying to some how hook up to them or discover what they are carrying. One bug is controlled via a handheld device in the gallery, one is pre-programmed, and the third is controlled remotely from the project website. When a bug is driven near to one of the horses, the horse stops briefly and the volume of the voice that is being emitted from the back pack is triggered and raises so that the narrative can be heard by the audience in the gallery.

As it moves parasitically from country to country and from location to location Infrasense mimics viral carriers with its intentions and movements. The project (the carrier) is replicated in each new space it is contracted from. The content changes however, as the stories change in each new city it travels to. In this way, Infrasense acts as a virus would, replicating itself yet reacting and mutating in each new environment it’s passed onto.