INTRO.
Experiment of interaction conceived and realized by italian artists Biancoshock and Elfo.
Through a poster attached to a billboard in St. Etienne on the occasion of artistic event "Le Mur de St. Etienne", the artists invited people to send a message to a phone number to be added to a WhatsApp closed group.
The WhatsApp group is the platform used by the artists to develop this interactive and social experiment between unknown people who, during the month of performance, have become a group from all points of view.
This site is the documentation of this 33-day experience, a virtual performance that has created a group of people unknown and distant among themselves, but capable of creating strong exchanges of ideas, thoughts and actions.
The artists have been trying to stimulate interactions and actions within the group this month, to move from real-world actions realized in the external physical environment to others actions within the virtual space, they tried to exchange roles between artist-spectator, between user and actor/author.
Through a poster attached to a billboard in St. Etienne on the occasion of artistic event "Le Mur de St. Etienne", the artists invited people to send a message to a phone number to be added to a WhatsApp closed group.
The WhatsApp group is the platform used by the artists to develop this interactive and social experiment between unknown people who, during the month of performance, have become a group from all points of view.
This site is the documentation of this 33-day experience, a virtual performance that has created a group of people unknown and distant among themselves, but capable of creating strong exchanges of ideas, thoughts and actions.
The artists have been trying to stimulate interactions and actions within the group this month, to move from real-world actions realized in the external physical environment to others actions within the virtual space, they tried to exchange roles between artist-spectator, between user and actor/author.
PREVIEW OF LE GROUPE DU MUR.
THE CREATION OF LE GROUPE| from 04.03 to 05.03
In the first 3 days the two artists focused on creating the group, not just as a number of people but more specifically as creating a common awareness of physical and psychological inclusion of the participants. Through the simple request, to every new member, of sending to the chat the seventh photo saved in their smartphones, the two artists tried to break the group's initial doubts, dismantle fears and embarrassments, beginning to create a sort of confidence process which has led to an initial sense of belonging, the essential element to start the project. The seventh photo is a random choice that reveals a simple investigation of the members' ability and willingness to sacrifice a small part of their privacy for the creation of a mutual purpose. It was also a way to highlight a casual part of their intimacy, an anticipation of what was going to happen during the project, that is everyone’s willingness of sharing and spreading information and private material in the name of a united group, a place where sharing thoughts, actions and emotions.
Members added in the group after 2 days: 84 people.
Total Seventh Photos collected: 71
Total Seventh Photos collected: 71
.1ST WEEK | from 06.03 to 12.03 >> THE CELEBRATION OF THE EVERYDAY.
During the first week, the two artists have assigned each day simple tasks to strengthen a conscious passive role by the subjects involved. The week's macro-theme was the ‘Celebration of the Everyday’. Each day was assigned a task that belonged to actions or elements of all members’ daily life. The tasks of the first five days of the week were given at the same time and inspired by the five senses: one for each day. For each assignment assigned, the two artists requested to use different WhatsApp tools: photography, video, audio/voice notes and geo-localization. Through this continuous change of tools to accomplish the daily work, the members started to meet each other, they could see the different contexts in which the others lived, they have seen each other’ sights and where they were coming from. These simple actions have been implemented to create greater awareness in individuals, to make them lose any doubts by raising a sense of belonging and familiarity: these dynamics have strengthened the group itself and the artistic duty of it. An important side was to break the privacy barriers and concerns or fears stuck to it. All of these elements have been mitigated by the curiosity and the desire to know each other: this allowed to become essential to the other in order to complete the daily assignment and to feel the protagonists of the success of the task itself. The sixth day of the week was devoted to the sixth sense: they were asked to represent, using the instrument they preferred, their sixth sense conception. This task was a voluntary attempt of artistic stimulation, asking to share an abstract but intimate concept through a small artistic representation. These, shared in the chat, showed how members have become active at this time, striving to represent something inward and then share it with the group. Every week's action, step by step, has allowed to get to know each other deeply, to lay the foundations for becoming a solid group. The week ended with a break for the group, a day of 'non-work' that left the subjects free in the communications, allowing them to be autonomous and able to interact without the danger for the artists to losing control of the chat and the project.
On the same day, the two artists sent to the group a first ‘gift’, a kind of thanksgiving for taking part of the group and for expanding their sense of belonging. By collecting all the geolocation screenshots submitted by the group members on the third day, they created a map of the city of Le Mur. A simple gesture embodied in a map of an imaginary city: an invitation to become a sort of virtual far away community but united under a virtual space, through a WhatsApp chat indeed.
On the same day, the two artists sent to the group a first ‘gift’, a kind of thanksgiving for taking part of the group and for expanding their sense of belonging. By collecting all the geolocation screenshots submitted by the group members on the third day, they created a map of the city of Le Mur. A simple gesture embodied in a map of an imaginary city: an invitation to become a sort of virtual far away community but united under a virtual space, through a WhatsApp chat indeed.
06.03 ASSIGNMENT > Send us a photo of the first natural element you will see from now.
SENSE: Sight
TOOL: Photo camera
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 73
SENSE: Sight
TOOL: Photo camera
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 73
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07.03 ASSIGNMENT > Send us an audio note (max 10 sec.) of the enviroment sound around you. Don't speak, just the enviroment sound.
SENSE: Hearing
TOOL: Audio/vocal note
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 125
08.03 ASSIGNMENT > Send us a picture of your action that resulted in a fragrance.
SENSE: Smell
TOOL: Photo camera
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 126
SENSE: Smell
TOOL: Photo camera
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 126
09.03 ASSIGNMENT > Send us your geolocation.
SENSE: Touch
TOOL: Geolocation position GPS
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 142
SENSE: Touch
TOOL: Geolocation position GPS
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 142
10.03 ASSIGNMENT > Send us a video (max 8 sec.) of your eyes (not face, just eyes) while you are tasting a piece of chocolate.
SENSE: Taste
TOOL: Video Camera
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 74
SENSE: Taste
TOOL: Video Camera
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 74
11.03 ASSIGNMENT > Give us your representation of the Sixth Sense using the tool you prefer.
SENSE: Sixth
TOOL: Video Camera / Photocamera
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 91
SENSE: Sixth
TOOL: Video Camera / Photocamera
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 91
.2ND WEEK | from 13.03 to 19.03 >> FIVE ARTISTS BREAK INTO LE GROUPE.
In the second week happened a daily change of "administrators" through the involvement of five international artists who replaced Elfo and Biancoshock. The five artists (Matteo Locci from ATIsuffix, Toni Spyra, Guildor, Mathieu Tremblin and Rub Kandy) were chosen for the attitude and the similarity of the concepts expressed in their personal artistic projects. During this week the intervention of Elfo and Biancoshock was just for introducing of the artist of the day to the group: over the days in which the other artists were taking over the project, Elfo and Biancoshock remained silent observers. The protagonists of this period were the five artist that involved the members of Le Groupe du Mur through works, performances, actions and exchanges that were completely different from each other by topic, modality of execution and content. This has demonstrated five different ways of interpreting the management of the group and how to involve it. These new administrators were free to choose what to do and how to handle the group on the day they were on charge. The two early actors were not aware about what others would do to observe and document how each of them was interacting with the group, what approach and which methods of managing and disseminating the idea of the day, in order to finish off the day with a small artistic project obtained from the chat contributors, who this week reached 160/170 members. The five, free to choose whatever they wanted to do, how and where; well aware about the responsibility they would have had during the day and maintaining a sort of balance and order within the group that would allow the implementation of the project. They could create different levels of difficulty, given by various factors: firstly, the fact that they were only introduced on the first day of this week without having been able to know what happened the previous week.
Also, the fact that they had only one day to gain public trust and participation without being able to support anyone and creating a performance - action that could engage and motivate a change of administration- has not altered the interactions but reinforcing them instead.
Biancoshock and Elfo the day before the entrance of the five had introduced them to the group, through a brief description, a link to their official website and some photographic examples of their most representative work: the group was curious and amazed by them and welcomed these artists with sincere enthusiasm and curiosity.
The week produced a substantial amount of material including photos, videos, audio tracks, etc. The five artists, in different ways, interacted with the members by offering small actions and
performances that were shared at the end of the day and grouped into a final collection of artworks.
A special fact to note goes to the fifth day, that one devoted to the artist Rub Kandy: a member of the group suddenly self-proclaimed himself the artist of the day, starting to give a task to the group. The unplanned action initially destabilized the role of artist Rub Kandy, who had just started to interact and present himself to the group. The two artists didn’t decide to interrupt nor censor the initiative of this fake chosen artist: the subject proved to be self-proclaiming, demonstrating his effectiveness as administrator and offering an interesting artistic work that was going to touch even the personal and family sphere of the group. The involvement of the five artists allowed for the first time Biancoshock and Elfo on the background, enabling them to observe and analyze in an external manner the dynamics and interactions that followed in the chat.
Their role in this week was secondary as a physical control and as a presence in the chat, but it still engaged the two full-time, trying to solve all the issues related to the others' intervention, their management and their presentation, but being strictly absent from the chat.
This aspect was essential to give a different signal to members, to refresh their union, to make them protagonists of actions and performances that somehow increased their responsibility and awareness of being an active part of the project. From an artistic point of view, the partecipation of these five artists offered to the group a new perspective of public art, concepts, like the online performance.
An interesting element that emerged was the commitment of the group to accomplish its task / intervention not just for a sense of duty, but they became willing to create something, conscious and pleased to be able to work for a whole day with a variety of artists very predisposed to comparison.
Also, the fact that they had only one day to gain public trust and participation without being able to support anyone and creating a performance - action that could engage and motivate a change of administration- has not altered the interactions but reinforcing them instead.
Biancoshock and Elfo the day before the entrance of the five had introduced them to the group, through a brief description, a link to their official website and some photographic examples of their most representative work: the group was curious and amazed by them and welcomed these artists with sincere enthusiasm and curiosity.
The week produced a substantial amount of material including photos, videos, audio tracks, etc. The five artists, in different ways, interacted with the members by offering small actions and
performances that were shared at the end of the day and grouped into a final collection of artworks.
A special fact to note goes to the fifth day, that one devoted to the artist Rub Kandy: a member of the group suddenly self-proclaimed himself the artist of the day, starting to give a task to the group. The unplanned action initially destabilized the role of artist Rub Kandy, who had just started to interact and present himself to the group. The two artists didn’t decide to interrupt nor censor the initiative of this fake chosen artist: the subject proved to be self-proclaiming, demonstrating his effectiveness as administrator and offering an interesting artistic work that was going to touch even the personal and family sphere of the group. The involvement of the five artists allowed for the first time Biancoshock and Elfo on the background, enabling them to observe and analyze in an external manner the dynamics and interactions that followed in the chat.
Their role in this week was secondary as a physical control and as a presence in the chat, but it still engaged the two full-time, trying to solve all the issues related to the others' intervention, their management and their presentation, but being strictly absent from the chat.
This aspect was essential to give a different signal to members, to refresh their union, to make them protagonists of actions and performances that somehow increased their responsibility and awareness of being an active part of the project. From an artistic point of view, the partecipation of these five artists offered to the group a new perspective of public art, concepts, like the online performance.
An interesting element that emerged was the commitment of the group to accomplish its task / intervention not just for a sense of duty, but they became willing to create something, conscious and pleased to be able to work for a whole day with a variety of artists very predisposed to comparison.
13.03 MATTEO LOCCI - ATISUFFIX (IT)
CONCEPT: Matteo Locci uses the chat as a platform to make several different and interactive performances. The members of the group are an active part of his performance.
All the informations, documentation and reflections will be explained on the printed book edition.
TOOLS: Photos, Audio Note.
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 144
CONCEPT: Matteo Locci uses the chat as a platform to make several different and interactive performances. The members of the group are an active part of his performance.
All the informations, documentation and reflections will be explained on the printed book edition.
TOOLS: Photos, Audio Note.
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 144
14.03 TONI SPYRA (AUS)
CONCEPT: Toni Spyra plays with le Groupe du Mur using his favourite skills: creativity, improvisation and imagination.
All the informations, documentation and reflections will be explained on the printed book edition.
TOOLS: Photos, Google Images.
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 416
CONCEPT: Toni Spyra plays with le Groupe du Mur using his favourite skills: creativity, improvisation and imagination.
All the informations, documentation and reflections will be explained on the printed book edition.
TOOLS: Photos, Google Images.
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 416
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15.03 GUILDOR (IT)
CONCEPT: Guildor divides the day in two part through two different and connected performances. At the end of the day he shows the final result of this incredible matching.
All the informations, documentation and reflections will be explained on the printed book edition.
TOOLS: Screenshot, Audio Note
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 102
CONCEPT: Guildor divides the day in two part through two different and connected performances. At the end of the day he shows the final result of this incredible matching.
All the informations, documentation and reflections will be explained on the printed book edition.
TOOLS: Screenshot, Audio Note
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 102
16.03 MATHIEU TREMBLIN (FR)
CONCEPT: Mathieu Tremblin proposes to Le Groupe seven different performances: each member can choose his favourite and share it with the chat group. The day is a perfect example of interaction and creativity.
All the informations, documentation and reflections will be explained on the printed book edition.
TOOLS: Screenshot, Drawing App, Urban intervention
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 114
CONCEPT: Mathieu Tremblin proposes to Le Groupe seven different performances: each member can choose his favourite and share it with the chat group. The day is a perfect example of interaction and creativity.
All the informations, documentation and reflections will be explained on the printed book edition.
TOOLS: Screenshot, Drawing App, Urban intervention
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 114
17.03 RUB KANDY (IT)
CONCEPT: Rub Kandy proposes during the day different actions inviting people to use their imagination and the tools they have on their smartphone: photos, video, vocal audio.
People are very participatory and some of them go out of their way to go to the street and perform their own performance.
All the informations, documentation and reflections will be explained on the printed book edition.
TOOLS: urban intervention, Audio note, Screenshots
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 308
CONCEPT: Rub Kandy proposes during the day different actions inviting people to use their imagination and the tools they have on their smartphone: photos, video, vocal audio.
People are very participatory and some of them go out of their way to go to the street and perform their own performance.
All the informations, documentation and reflections will be explained on the printed book edition.
TOOLS: urban intervention, Audio note, Screenshots
TOTAL FILES COLLECTED: 308
.3RD WEEK | from 20.03 to 26.03 >> CALL FOR IDEAS.
In the third week, the two original admins temporarily take their charge back in the chat, to thank the artists involved in the previous week and to also introduce what was about the week after. The aim was to flip the roles again, making the members even more active and protagonist: during this week the members' suggestions and inputs transmitted to the two artists to keep alive and join the chat. In the first week, Biancoshock and Elfo held the chat, directed the actions, gave them precise and organized tasks in order to further increase their sense of duty and membership, that was the week when it was necessary to maintain a control to enable the group to be directed, people inside the chat could start collaborating actively. The second week, however, was crucial to consolidating the group and increasing interaction among chat members: the five artists contributed essentially focusing on the goals and at the end of the second week became a solid and participative group , united and eager for new reasons.
At this point, the reversal of the roles becomes a focus for the project and the growth of this chat as an intentional work of art. At this moment the foundations of the group were very solid and it was important to put the group in the foreground: it was decided to organize the week in a way allowing members to free their own fantasy by giving the two artists suggestions, ideas and proposals for the realization of artworks. The reversal of roles was also a democratic signal to consolidate a relationship between artists and members who have had, until that moment, been deliberately detached and unilateral. The two authors for the first two weeks decided to maintain with the chat a very professional and little relational behavior: the choice was dictated by the need to keep an order which avoided the degeneration of the chat. On different occasions (the evening or weekend when performances were interrupted) members, who did not have input from the two, began to interact with each other in autonomy to know more about sharing thoughts or moments of hilarity. All this was left in full freedom by the administrators who, on the other hand, have always monitored the situation in order not to forget that the chat was free, without any kind of censorship, but was still part of an artistic project, of a sort of social experiment.
For this reason, untill this week, an unilateral and highly organized communication form (messages sent with a standard setting, repetition of the same message several times throughout the day as a reminder of the daily task, statistical messages on the number of people present at the moment and how many different countries were there at that time in the group) was an essential element that put the two artists as unilateral members of the group. In this week things changed a little bit: while remaining administrators and sending messages and indications to members of the group, their "physical" role within the chat changed: they remain an active part only when they introduce members to the main concept to be developed during the period, and then become the 'passive' part, making the members and their ideas / proposals the absolute protagonists. The first three days were used to gather the ideas and proposals of the various members. Every morning, artists sent a message asking the group to give them suggestions and ideas to create a work of art that would later been realized. There were some indications about the theme (the first day was an artwork to be contextualized in the urban area, the second to be contextualized in an extra-urban environment and the last day a work that could be realized through virtual tools, on the net) and practical / technical aspects (inviting members to propose simple ideas, achievable in a short period of time, focusing more on the content and not on the aesthetic aspect). During these three days, the two have maintained a behavior similar to the previous week, remaining silent and picking up the material received and started reflecting on this. From the second day, Biancoshock and Elfo started sending some sneak peek showing some work in progress but without giving any indication of the chosen work. The response was extraordinarily positive: loads of all the inputs received in the previous week by the five artists, the participants offered a very large number of interesting ideas and suggestions. Each proposed idea was described and sometimes accompanied by sketches: the interesting thing is that it was not only described from a technical point of view but, spontaneously, the members also deeply described the concept. Step by step, idea after idea, was born an interesting exchange of ideas from a conceptual and artistic point of view.
The proposed works has been shown to be related to sensitivity and orientation consistent with an aesthetic sense commonly and indirectly induced by the previous works carried out by the two. Appreciative was the effort by the group to propose ideas that were close to the modus operandi of Elfo and Biancoshock, proving to know very deeply the artistic approach of them. While overturning the roles, it was noticed that the general behavior of the chat was completely correct and stable: different moments of confrontation and discussion about the ideas and works proposed, sometimes even in an ironic way, but always characterized by initiative and maximum respect. These interactions, always deliberately incensored, have proved to be a fundamental glue for the members of the group. At this point, they no longer feel strange that they have been in a group to participate in an artistic experiment but begin to recognize the group as a daily and community virtual environment where they can exchange communications and thoughts with other people physically located in different parts of the world. Then the artists selected a series of ideas and, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, began to send in the chat the final result of this work of sharing ideas with the group: some of them were adapted to the artistic character of the two who have slightly modified them, others have been made in the same way. In all cases the final artwork was presented as unique, signed and numbered (number of copies corresponding to the participants in the chat). The group's response was very positive: the artworks submitted were highly appreciated and some of them were shared by some members on their personal social networks, beginning to divulge material of the experiment outside the chat. Sunday's day was a 'break' day in which the two artists through a small action introduced the concept of the next week, the closing week.
Infact they have tried to give a face to the members of the group through the information they had: nicknames on WhatsApp, nationality, some of the social interactions of artists, eyebrows sent in the first week, etc. With these elements, a large number of members of Facebook and Instagram profiles beloging to the members were been identified: at this point the two captured a picture of the members randomly found in their photo galleries and subsequently posted these photos inside the chat by specifying that the person was within the group but they did not indicate the name. There was so spontaneously born among users a kind of game of 'Guess who?' In which they tried to give themselves a face and a name after more than twenty days in the same chat without having an official face. The goal was to bring the members closer together, another small privacy violation to deepen the relationship and give the appearance to the participants.
At this point, the reversal of the roles becomes a focus for the project and the growth of this chat as an intentional work of art. At this moment the foundations of the group were very solid and it was important to put the group in the foreground: it was decided to organize the week in a way allowing members to free their own fantasy by giving the two artists suggestions, ideas and proposals for the realization of artworks. The reversal of roles was also a democratic signal to consolidate a relationship between artists and members who have had, until that moment, been deliberately detached and unilateral. The two authors for the first two weeks decided to maintain with the chat a very professional and little relational behavior: the choice was dictated by the need to keep an order which avoided the degeneration of the chat. On different occasions (the evening or weekend when performances were interrupted) members, who did not have input from the two, began to interact with each other in autonomy to know more about sharing thoughts or moments of hilarity. All this was left in full freedom by the administrators who, on the other hand, have always monitored the situation in order not to forget that the chat was free, without any kind of censorship, but was still part of an artistic project, of a sort of social experiment.
For this reason, untill this week, an unilateral and highly organized communication form (messages sent with a standard setting, repetition of the same message several times throughout the day as a reminder of the daily task, statistical messages on the number of people present at the moment and how many different countries were there at that time in the group) was an essential element that put the two artists as unilateral members of the group. In this week things changed a little bit: while remaining administrators and sending messages and indications to members of the group, their "physical" role within the chat changed: they remain an active part only when they introduce members to the main concept to be developed during the period, and then become the 'passive' part, making the members and their ideas / proposals the absolute protagonists. The first three days were used to gather the ideas and proposals of the various members. Every morning, artists sent a message asking the group to give them suggestions and ideas to create a work of art that would later been realized. There were some indications about the theme (the first day was an artwork to be contextualized in the urban area, the second to be contextualized in an extra-urban environment and the last day a work that could be realized through virtual tools, on the net) and practical / technical aspects (inviting members to propose simple ideas, achievable in a short period of time, focusing more on the content and not on the aesthetic aspect). During these three days, the two have maintained a behavior similar to the previous week, remaining silent and picking up the material received and started reflecting on this. From the second day, Biancoshock and Elfo started sending some sneak peek showing some work in progress but without giving any indication of the chosen work. The response was extraordinarily positive: loads of all the inputs received in the previous week by the five artists, the participants offered a very large number of interesting ideas and suggestions. Each proposed idea was described and sometimes accompanied by sketches: the interesting thing is that it was not only described from a technical point of view but, spontaneously, the members also deeply described the concept. Step by step, idea after idea, was born an interesting exchange of ideas from a conceptual and artistic point of view.
The proposed works has been shown to be related to sensitivity and orientation consistent with an aesthetic sense commonly and indirectly induced by the previous works carried out by the two. Appreciative was the effort by the group to propose ideas that were close to the modus operandi of Elfo and Biancoshock, proving to know very deeply the artistic approach of them. While overturning the roles, it was noticed that the general behavior of the chat was completely correct and stable: different moments of confrontation and discussion about the ideas and works proposed, sometimes even in an ironic way, but always characterized by initiative and maximum respect. These interactions, always deliberately incensored, have proved to be a fundamental glue for the members of the group. At this point, they no longer feel strange that they have been in a group to participate in an artistic experiment but begin to recognize the group as a daily and community virtual environment where they can exchange communications and thoughts with other people physically located in different parts of the world. Then the artists selected a series of ideas and, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, began to send in the chat the final result of this work of sharing ideas with the group: some of them were adapted to the artistic character of the two who have slightly modified them, others have been made in the same way. In all cases the final artwork was presented as unique, signed and numbered (number of copies corresponding to the participants in the chat). The group's response was very positive: the artworks submitted were highly appreciated and some of them were shared by some members on their personal social networks, beginning to divulge material of the experiment outside the chat. Sunday's day was a 'break' day in which the two artists through a small action introduced the concept of the next week, the closing week.
Infact they have tried to give a face to the members of the group through the information they had: nicknames on WhatsApp, nationality, some of the social interactions of artists, eyebrows sent in the first week, etc. With these elements, a large number of members of Facebook and Instagram profiles beloging to the members were been identified: at this point the two captured a picture of the members randomly found in their photo galleries and subsequently posted these photos inside the chat by specifying that the person was within the group but they did not indicate the name. There was so spontaneously born among users a kind of game of 'Guess who?' In which they tried to give themselves a face and a name after more than twenty days in the same chat without having an official face. The goal was to bring the members closer together, another small privacy violation to deepen the relationship and give the appearance to the participants.
20.03
CONCEPT: Biancoshock and Elfo ask to Le Groupe to give them an idea to realize in the city. The idea must to be useful to create a public work of art (installation, intervention, performance, action) in an urban contest.
TOTAL IDEAS COLLECTED: 37
CONCEPT: Biancoshock and Elfo ask to Le Groupe to give them an idea to realize in the city. The idea must to be useful to create a public work of art (installation, intervention, performance, action) in an urban contest.
TOTAL IDEAS COLLECTED: 37
21.03
CONCEPT: Biancoshock and Elfo ask to Le Groupe to give them an idea to realize out the city. The idea must to be useful to create a public work of art (installation, intervention, performance, action) in a natural contest.
TOTAL IDEAS COLLECTED: 48
CONCEPT: Biancoshock and Elfo ask to Le Groupe to give them an idea to realize out the city. The idea must to be useful to create a public work of art (installation, intervention, performance, action) in a natural contest.
TOTAL IDEAS COLLECTED: 48
22.03
CONCEPT: Biancoshock and Elfo ask to Le Groupe to give them an idea to realize a virtual project. The idea must to be useful to create a public work of art (performance, action) in a virtual contest.
TOTAL IDEAS COLLECTED: 21
CONCEPT: Biancoshock and Elfo ask to Le Groupe to give them an idea to realize a virtual project. The idea must to be useful to create a public work of art (performance, action) in a virtual contest.
TOTAL IDEAS COLLECTED: 21
23-24-25.03
CONCEPT: Biancoshock and Elfo realize some interventions inspired with the ideas suggested by Le Groupe. They also ask to Le groupe members to try to realize some interventions in the same way and at the end they present all the final artworks as limited edition, signed and numbered.
TOTAL IDEAS REALIZED: 20
CONCEPT: Biancoshock and Elfo realize some interventions inspired with the ideas suggested by Le Groupe. They also ask to Le groupe members to try to realize some interventions in the same way and at the end they present all the final artworks as limited edition, signed and numbered.
TOTAL IDEAS REALIZED: 20
.4TH WEEK | from 27.03 to 02.04 >> LE GROUPE.
The fourth week concludes the project and focuses on the more relational aspects that have been set up that need to be evaluated to address the moment of detachment from the chat itself. This theme was a topic on which the two creators of the group have been reflecting and reasoning since the very first day of the creation of the work, but they certainly could not imagine what kind of dynamics could take shape. At this point it was very clear that the group was a solid and united group in which there are different virtual friendships, rituals. The tasks of the previous weeks had created such a daily life that the detachment was to be gradually dealt, without too determined action, in order to avoid an immediately collapse of the group or leave them completely "lost". At this point, the form of communication has changed: it has been chosen not to use more messages as commands or orders but to use a more friendly and direct language and to put the artists on the same level of the group in order to eliminate roles or positions. The intent was to lower the level of attention and control that had been an integral part of the first few weeks: now the most important thing was the sharing of roles, tasks and actions, the final stage of the project. The chat has fully achieved its form, its internal relationships, and the awareness that it has become artwork in itself. And that is why they now needed to understand how to handle the final part of the project: the artwork was born, the artistic experiment perfectly succeeded beyond any expectation, but it had to be understood how to manage a group of affiliated, propositional and all Self-conscious and aware of being a group. In order to induce a mild and gradual detachment from the chat, artists change their attitude: they no longer give directions or daily tasks but use a form of friendly and direct communication with the components to demonstrate their equalization.
For the day of Tuesday, they decide to create an online performance that physically moves the group to another platform accentuating this progressive departure from the WhatsApp group. The idea of this action was born from an original inspiration by Rub Kandy who, confronting the two artists in the period following his performance with the group, kindly shared and made available to the project. On Monday evening, members of the group were informed that the next day there would be a shared action on another social network: Facebook. The futile and ironic motive with which it was sought to engage the group, which was previously stressed and stimulated in the theme of privacy violation and healthy stalking, was to invade for a whole day the official fan page of famous rapper Jay-Z. The next morning, Biancoshock and Elfo posted on the chat the photo of a post published on the rapper's official page pointing to that place as the virtual place where the chat would be moved throughout the day. The group members were invited to go to that post and continue the conversation using the box of the comments of the identified photo. The goal was to virtually invade an official virtual space owned by a recognized artist to continue to have normal exchanges of thoughts and words: the group is at that moment coming out of WhatsApp chat to enter, always together, on another platform that, by its own characteristics, allowed members of the group to see in the face for the first time. In fact, through this action, members have agreed to further lower the level of their privacy by agreeing to show up with their Facebook profile, which makes available to all other members detailed information: name, surname, profession, personal photos and daily life moments. This aspect has been decisive with regard to the implementation of artistic experimentation. The two artists initially created a WhatsApp group that immediately required a substantial sharing of privacy: providing the phone number. In the group there are more than 200 people who have left their phone number to strangers. But even though leaving this private data, users were still potentially protected because only few people had registered their first and last name on their profile, and many of them did not use personal photos as WhatsApp account profile photos. With this performance suggested by Rub Kandy they have been able to create a more personal connection between members of the group who now, after almost a month of living in a "virtual common area", may associate a face to a nickname or in some cases simple to a phone number. The answer was explosive: the american rapper's account was literally bombarded with comments by those who throughout the day never stopped interacting, commenting and tagging other members to lead them into the same conversation. During the day the chat on WhatsApp was silent: except from some members who, considering the different time zones, asked how to reach the group, anyone interacted with the group. The experiment of this performance had been perfect. The group got a face and moved away from the WhatsApp chat and the daily task factor. In the two days before the end of the project, they continued on the same mood as the previous ones, or rather looking for the project closure and, consequently, the abandonment of the chat and the conclusion of the interactions. The two artists explicitly asked the members of the group a couple of useful questions for final reflection on the project and its success: in particular they asked why they had decided to join the group and what their thoughts about the absurd month lived together in a virtual chat. All opinions have been collected and documented: the prevailing thoughts were those of being intrigued by the way the project was promoted, that is the giant phone number that appeared at the renowned Le Mur de St. Etienne artistic event. Many people through the social pages of the two artists who had promoted the billboard photo had decided to take part in the project curious about the extravagance of that number and aware that Elfo and Biancoshock have often created unforeseeable collaborations and projects. Others, on the other hand, simply admitted to being acquainted with the project by others who had previously joined the project. As far as the final considerations are concerned, many aspects have emerged. Common sense was that of a large majority of subjects left aloof from the communicative power of the project, from the sense of belonging and sharing and union that was born in a month of virtual coexistence between strangers. Each member pointed out different aspects: who was struck by the
ideas and tasks proposed by Biancoshock and Elfo, who by the incredible number of interactions that are spontaneously born, who by the splendid and different inputs of the five artists who, together with those daily given by the two, showed to users a a new way to see the enviroment and urban elements, a new kind of artistic expression, improvisation and public art. Art is surely the most manifested factor in these final messages: apart from a few members, the components are almost all foreign to the art world and they were pleasantly affected and involved with creative stimuli and performance made during the period. One of the artists' goals was to create a group that would become artwork in itself, but at the same time to carry out this work through actions and small artistic interventions that could offer a nonindustry audience of inputs on which reasoning. Many members in their final thoughts expressed their satisfaction for this month with a "virtual cutout spot" in which to express their creativity, often choked or otherwise unused to leave room for daily life and work. Finally, the last day was the closing, a closure completely different from what the artists had predicted at the beginning of the project. The initial idea was to close the chat once the goal was achieved: delete the participants from the group, delete the group, and then turn off the phone number used for the project, which would become through the SIM card part of the documentation of the work of art. The artwork once finished had to remain in the final documentation but not in the virtual world. A few days before the end of the project, the two artists reflected deeply on what had happened and how the project had taken an unexpected response, not having imagined at the beginning that this group became so close and dependent. In recent days components have begun to create links by extending a will to keep the chat alive, not to abandon it or otherwise, aware that it would be closed, have begun to evaluate and share together the possibility to open another chat or a dedicated Facebook page to continue to have a dialogue and a comparison. At this point, the last day was announced the change of idea: the experiment was over, the work of art had come to life, but Elfo and Biancoshock would not end the project by eliminating it, but leaving it in the hands of the group, the work of art in itself. At midnight the two would abandon the group appointing 30-40 member as directors: a witness passage that certified the success of the experiment and made it even more important and identifiable, leaving it the chance to self-serve or, eventually, self-eliminating. A decision greatly appreciated and supported by the group, happy to be able to keep alive a chat born as an artistic experiment with a casual and extravagant appearance and identified in a work of art itself. A few hours before their release Elfo and Biancoshock thanked all those who participated in Le Groupe du Mur helping them succeed. At midnight the two went out of the group, the project was finished.
For the day of Tuesday, they decide to create an online performance that physically moves the group to another platform accentuating this progressive departure from the WhatsApp group. The idea of this action was born from an original inspiration by Rub Kandy who, confronting the two artists in the period following his performance with the group, kindly shared and made available to the project. On Monday evening, members of the group were informed that the next day there would be a shared action on another social network: Facebook. The futile and ironic motive with which it was sought to engage the group, which was previously stressed and stimulated in the theme of privacy violation and healthy stalking, was to invade for a whole day the official fan page of famous rapper Jay-Z. The next morning, Biancoshock and Elfo posted on the chat the photo of a post published on the rapper's official page pointing to that place as the virtual place where the chat would be moved throughout the day. The group members were invited to go to that post and continue the conversation using the box of the comments of the identified photo. The goal was to virtually invade an official virtual space owned by a recognized artist to continue to have normal exchanges of thoughts and words: the group is at that moment coming out of WhatsApp chat to enter, always together, on another platform that, by its own characteristics, allowed members of the group to see in the face for the first time. In fact, through this action, members have agreed to further lower the level of their privacy by agreeing to show up with their Facebook profile, which makes available to all other members detailed information: name, surname, profession, personal photos and daily life moments. This aspect has been decisive with regard to the implementation of artistic experimentation. The two artists initially created a WhatsApp group that immediately required a substantial sharing of privacy: providing the phone number. In the group there are more than 200 people who have left their phone number to strangers. But even though leaving this private data, users were still potentially protected because only few people had registered their first and last name on their profile, and many of them did not use personal photos as WhatsApp account profile photos. With this performance suggested by Rub Kandy they have been able to create a more personal connection between members of the group who now, after almost a month of living in a "virtual common area", may associate a face to a nickname or in some cases simple to a phone number. The answer was explosive: the american rapper's account was literally bombarded with comments by those who throughout the day never stopped interacting, commenting and tagging other members to lead them into the same conversation. During the day the chat on WhatsApp was silent: except from some members who, considering the different time zones, asked how to reach the group, anyone interacted with the group. The experiment of this performance had been perfect. The group got a face and moved away from the WhatsApp chat and the daily task factor. In the two days before the end of the project, they continued on the same mood as the previous ones, or rather looking for the project closure and, consequently, the abandonment of the chat and the conclusion of the interactions. The two artists explicitly asked the members of the group a couple of useful questions for final reflection on the project and its success: in particular they asked why they had decided to join the group and what their thoughts about the absurd month lived together in a virtual chat. All opinions have been collected and documented: the prevailing thoughts were those of being intrigued by the way the project was promoted, that is the giant phone number that appeared at the renowned Le Mur de St. Etienne artistic event. Many people through the social pages of the two artists who had promoted the billboard photo had decided to take part in the project curious about the extravagance of that number and aware that Elfo and Biancoshock have often created unforeseeable collaborations and projects. Others, on the other hand, simply admitted to being acquainted with the project by others who had previously joined the project. As far as the final considerations are concerned, many aspects have emerged. Common sense was that of a large majority of subjects left aloof from the communicative power of the project, from the sense of belonging and sharing and union that was born in a month of virtual coexistence between strangers. Each member pointed out different aspects: who was struck by the
ideas and tasks proposed by Biancoshock and Elfo, who by the incredible number of interactions that are spontaneously born, who by the splendid and different inputs of the five artists who, together with those daily given by the two, showed to users a a new way to see the enviroment and urban elements, a new kind of artistic expression, improvisation and public art. Art is surely the most manifested factor in these final messages: apart from a few members, the components are almost all foreign to the art world and they were pleasantly affected and involved with creative stimuli and performance made during the period. One of the artists' goals was to create a group that would become artwork in itself, but at the same time to carry out this work through actions and small artistic interventions that could offer a nonindustry audience of inputs on which reasoning. Many members in their final thoughts expressed their satisfaction for this month with a "virtual cutout spot" in which to express their creativity, often choked or otherwise unused to leave room for daily life and work. Finally, the last day was the closing, a closure completely different from what the artists had predicted at the beginning of the project. The initial idea was to close the chat once the goal was achieved: delete the participants from the group, delete the group, and then turn off the phone number used for the project, which would become through the SIM card part of the documentation of the work of art. The artwork once finished had to remain in the final documentation but not in the virtual world. A few days before the end of the project, the two artists reflected deeply on what had happened and how the project had taken an unexpected response, not having imagined at the beginning that this group became so close and dependent. In recent days components have begun to create links by extending a will to keep the chat alive, not to abandon it or otherwise, aware that it would be closed, have begun to evaluate and share together the possibility to open another chat or a dedicated Facebook page to continue to have a dialogue and a comparison. At this point, the last day was announced the change of idea: the experiment was over, the work of art had come to life, but Elfo and Biancoshock would not end the project by eliminating it, but leaving it in the hands of the group, the work of art in itself. At midnight the two would abandon the group appointing 30-40 member as directors: a witness passage that certified the success of the experiment and made it even more important and identifiable, leaving it the chance to self-serve or, eventually, self-eliminating. A decision greatly appreciated and supported by the group, happy to be able to keep alive a chat born as an artistic experiment with a casual and extravagant appearance and identified in a work of art itself. A few hours before their release Elfo and Biancoshock thanked all those who participated in Le Groupe du Mur helping them succeed. At midnight the two went out of the group, the project was finished.
GUESS WHO?
CONCEPT: Biancoshock and Elfo violate the privacy of the members of Le Groupe in order to create a first real connection between the people in the group.
People decided to enter in the group giving their personal phone number Without knowing who they were talking to in the group. through the informations they had (nickname on WhatsApp, their fans on social pages, international country code, etc.) the artists found on Facebook and Instagram some members of le Groupe and publish their photos on the chat without saying the name of the people, but just that they were in the chat. A sort of Guess Who? game.
TOTAL PROFILE FOUND: 52
CONCEPT: Biancoshock and Elfo violate the privacy of the members of Le Groupe in order to create a first real connection between the people in the group.
People decided to enter in the group giving their personal phone number Without knowing who they were talking to in the group. through the informations they had (nickname on WhatsApp, their fans on social pages, international country code, etc.) the artists found on Facebook and Instagram some members of le Groupe and publish their photos on the chat without saying the name of the people, but just that they were in the chat. A sort of Guess Who? game.
TOTAL PROFILE FOUND: 52
JAY-Z DAY
CONCEPT: during this day the group was been hijacked on the official Facebook page of Jay-Z: Biancoshock and Elfo invite members of Le Groupe to move on the post published on the page of the rapper and continue to normally talk together using the box of photo comments.
The aim was to move the group on another social platform to start detaching from the WhatsApp group and to allow people to see them in face, give them a real name. During that day whatsapp chat remained silent, all members were on Jay-Z's page.
INVOLVED MEMBERS: 34
CONCEPT: during this day the group was been hijacked on the official Facebook page of Jay-Z: Biancoshock and Elfo invite members of Le Groupe to move on the post published on the page of the rapper and continue to normally talk together using the box of photo comments.
The aim was to move the group on another social platform to start detaching from the WhatsApp group and to allow people to see them in face, give them a real name. During that day whatsapp chat remained silent, all members were on Jay-Z's page.
INVOLVED MEMBERS: 34
CLOSING
CONCEPT: before to close the artists ask to the members opinions, thoughts and feedback about this virtual experience and ask their contact. The last day is the day of greetings and good-bye. The last message sent by the artists to le Groupe reveals to members a change of decision: the chat will not be deleted by the artists, cause the work of art was been successful and the Le Groupe du Mur became a work of art and they gave to the members freedom to decide about the end of the chat.
And they came out of the chat.
CONCEPT: before to close the artists ask to the members opinions, thoughts and feedback about this virtual experience and ask their contact. The last day is the day of greetings and good-bye. The last message sent by the artists to le Groupe reveals to members a change of decision: the chat will not be deleted by the artists, cause the work of art was been successful and the Le Groupe du Mur became a work of art and they gave to the members freedom to decide about the end of the chat.
And they came out of the chat.
HOW IT WILL END?