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SIMONE MICHELIN 23-04-2021
In the Cuban version, it was not possible to connect Lilliput with the internet, due to the current political conditions and its control and surveillance laws. Internet access in 2009 was still limited to some public institutions and foreign people living in Cuba. It was necessary to close the system using only the cell phone and the computer within the installation space.
In April 2008, Raul Castro granted access to cell phones to Cubans in general - until then only foreigners and some civil servants were allowed. So, when I put together the fourth version of Lilliput, Cubans who had the money to buy the devices were able to participate by generating their own content. However, what really worked was the participation of the public directly on the walls of the listed building. Visitors created a semiotic landscape as an expression of that geography and social context.
The Cuban version was unique. Three islands inhabited the space of Fuerte de La Cabaña: a display with a catwalk and figures with a hollow face; a small, very low table, a stool, notebooks about Lilliput's history and sets of colored pencils, various pens that were available to the public; a table with a computer that produced the database, photo galleries, videos and panoramas.
The set design was reduced to the very essencial elements.
The installation's cell phone was stolen on the second day, and from then on, the space was transformed into an environment with remnants of a collective performance that lasted, in full, 24 hours. As a database, it resulted in a small quantity of material, but extremely significant.
SIMONE MICHELIN: , 23-04-2021, in: Archive of Digital Art In the Cuban version, it was not possible to connect Lilliput with the internet, due to the current political conditions and its control and surveillance laws. Internet access in 2009 was still limited to some public institutions and foreign people living in Cuba. It was necessary to close the system using only the cell phone and the computer within the installation space.
In April 2008, Raul Castro granted access to cell phones to Cubans in general - until then only foreigners and some civil servants were allowed. So, when I put together the fourth version of Lilliput, Cubans who had the money to buy the devices were able to participate by generating their own content. However, what really worked was the participation of the public directly on the walls of the listed building. Visitors created a semiotic landscape as an expression of that geography and social context.
The Cuban version was unique. Three islands inhabited the space of Fuerte de La Cabaña: a display with a catwalk and figures with a hollow face; a small, very low table, a stool, notebooks about Lilliput's history and sets of colored pencils, various pens that were available to the public; a table with a computer that produced the database, photo galleries, videos and panoramas.
The set design was reduced to the very essencial elements.
The installation's cell phone was stolen on the second day, and from then on, the space was transformed into an environment with remnants of a collective performance that lasted, in full, 24 hours. As a database, it resulted in a small quantity of material, but extremely significant.
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