Mobile Democratic Communication Device
2008
Aluminium and plywood ‘hot-dog’ stand, bicycle wheels and casters, canvas canopy, bubble machine, light, universal timer
Installation view: Federation Square, Melbourne. Photography: Next Wave Festival, Paul Jones and Michaela Gleave
The MDCD was a portable, bubble-powered communication unit, devised to facilitate the public and democratic use of communicative air space. Part ‘hot-dog’ stand, part polling booth, and part mobile radio transmitter, the MDCD invited the audience to post their thoughts, hopes, troubles, dreams and wishes anonymously out into public air space. The stand operated by ‘translating’ the participants posted text into bubbles, activating the air space of the site through a visual demonstration of both ambient wind movement and the constant flow of naturally occurring as well as human generated air-borne data. Highlighting the shared nature of global air space, the MDCD operated in response to the environmental and social consequences of humanities current use and commoditisation of the atmosphere.
The MDCD was commissioned by the 2008 Next Wave Festival’s Membrane Project, and sited in various locations around Federation Square, Melbourne during the festival period.