The Random Information Exchange : Raranga Tangata Exhibition.
New Plymouth, NZ. 2009.

The Polytechnic, an art collective based in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK first initiated the Random Information Exchange project at a local art fair held in vacant storefronts. Through the project they sought to reexamine the way that the philosophy of redistribution, derivation and modification can be adapted to fit with a creative community. Two elements were established, a bureau and a production unit: the bureau handled the exchange of information, allof which took the form of simple text (*.txt) files, often in the form of instructions; the production unit produced derivations and modifications of the intended outcome of the data (the text files). These files ranged from cooking recipes, directions for a walk, musical notation in the form of abc files, tablature or saved data for complex multimedia programming environments. The person depositing the data also received a random piece of data in return. The production based on this data (or text file instructions) also took many forms e.g. cookery, knitting and interactive media. Production tasks were performed by mostly unskilled labor to ensure accidental modification.

What you see here are the results of the Random Information Exchange residency during the last week of January 2009 at Puke Ariki Library. Instructions for everything from how to run a car engine on water alone to how to poach pears in hibiscus syrup were exchanged. The objects on view were all created based on these randomly created and exchanged information files. The bureau was open throughout the duration of the exhibition for continued participation.

Sarah Cook.
http://www.sarahcook.info


SCANZ {Solar Circuit Aotearoa New Zealand} residency - http://www.intercreate.org/view/about-scanz
Intercreate research center - http://www.intercreate.org/
Western Institute of Technology (WITT) - http://www.witt.ac.nz/
Puke Ariki Library - http://www.pukeariki.com/
The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery - http://www.govettbrewster.com/