RE: [-empyre-] Experience with connecting people via a "hugoveradistance"

[Christina McPhee <christina112@earthlink.net>]

dear Floyd, Heidi, Katherine,  Patrick, and all,

Floyd's wondering about intimacy over long distances, via a  
possibiity of enhanced technology, just reminded me of a recent  
project on Turbulence last spring called In Network Sleep.   
Interesting to think about presence because of hands =free, thus more  
'wearable' , less 'mani (hand) -pulated' technology.

Christina



http://turbulence.org:8080/ramgen/encoder/mandiberg.rm
Michael Mandiberg and Julia Steinmetz

From their bedtime at 11PM in Los Angeles, and 2AM in New York, until
they wake eight hours later, the artists Michael Mandiberg and Julia
Steinmetz will sleep together on the phone. Separated by three time
zones and 3000 miles, they curl up in the same sonic space.
Connected via cell phone, they will hear the sound of each other
breathing, tossing and turning, snoring, etc. This audio will be
webcast real-time as they sleep.

This sleep webcast is part of IN Network their month long extended
cell phone life-art performance about distance, communication,
intimacy, telepresence, and living together while apart. In August
2004 Michael moved to New York; Julia remained in Los Angeles,
postponing her move until the end of April because of commitments to
her job and her collaborative art practice. Faced with most of a year
apart, one of the things they did was switch both of their cell
phones to a provider with free "IN Network" service.

Michael and Julia started out having normal conversations, giving
each other updates about their days, and sending cameraphone pictures
back and forth, etc. As they switched to using hands-free
microphones, they began using the phone differently. What began as a
pragmatic attempt to make their relationship last the separation
through good communication, turned into something less about
communication and more about intimacy and presence through
technology, and sharing sonic-virtual space.

IN Network Sleep Webcast:
http://turbulence.org:8080/ramgen/encoder/mandiberg.rm

Free Real Player (Required for webcast):
http://www.real.com

IN Network Website
http://Turbulence.org/Works/innetwork

IN Network Podcast (RSS 2.0 Feed)
http://Turbulence.org/Works/innetwork/mp3/rss.xml

Contact Info
juliasteinmetz -at- yahoo -dot- com
michael -at- mandiberg -dot- com