[spectre] artstream: Ben Woodeson - Portable Bug

[Chris Byrne]

artstream: Ben Woodeson - Portable Bug

http://artstream.mediascot.org

Portable Bug is the next generation in self-sufficient solar powered 
bugging devices. Capable of piggy backing any unlocked wireless 
network, the device broadcasts sound and vision of it's surroundings 
over the internet.

Portable Bug draws inspiration from the trolleys used by buskers on 
the Paris Metro in order to transport their amplification and 
performance equipment. Whilst these trolleys are vehicles for 
entertainment and thus possible empowerment and financial gain for 
their owners, Portable Bug carries references to homelessness, 
censorship, access to technology, the purpose of art in contemporary 
society, and yet absurdly the net result is both pathetic and 
unsettling.

A systemized yet playful variation on science, Ben Woodeson's 
practice uses quasi-scientific experimentation and investigation to 
draw links between disparate possibilities, connections and energies. 
Ben describes his work as "An artist's version of a laboratory 
cut-a-way model with art not science as the space between. The works 
are complex, active, tactile, convoluted, envelope-stretching, low-fi 
and sometimes primitive attempts to recreate solutions, rattle cages, 
and open windows."

Find out more at http://artstream.mediascot.org

Portable Bug is showing as part of Free-fall, an exhibition at 
Peterborough Digital Arts. Supported by Peterborough Digital Arts, 
New Media Scotland, Peterborough City Council, Arts Council of 
England.

artstream is an experimental project exploring the potentials of 
artists' use of streaming media. artstream comprises occasional 
projects with live and prerecorded material. artstream is a New Media 
Scotland project.

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