Hard Drivin’ Follows You On Twitter, Powers A Remote Controlled Car

The mass communication networks that surround us in our everyday digital lives are becoming a privileged source for artistic creation. Wifi infrastructures and social networks tie us all together yet remain invisible, intangible, and therefore largely inscrutable. Many contemporary artists seek to unveil these invisible networks and give them an actual presence, but then the question always arises—how do you visualize the invisible? Three members of RECYCLING, a collective that questions hacking, technological accumulation, and absolution, utilize what are generally regarded as inconveniences, exploiting their playful and interactive facets.

Hard Drivin’ is a kinetic installation that reproduces the ebb and flow of Twitter streams on an actual circuit. Cars are guided by reacting to the relayed Twitter messages, moving over a 3D terrain composed of polygons that was inspired by the game Hard Drivin,’ which first introduced the polygonical structure into its environment in 1989.

RECYCLING describe the installation on their website as ‘an archeological installation of medias, the exploration of the misappropriation of artistic practices and machinery hacking.’ The project site supplies an additional users guide to the installation here.

Users can thus program the cars to follow particular Twitter users or control them using hashtags or discussion threads.