Information
Ashok Sukumaran >
»Everything is Contestable«, 2006 - 2006
Co-Workers & Funding:
Thank you:Sharmini Pereira
Gunalan Nadarajan
The Armenian Church
http://0ut.in/contestable/
Technology
Installation Requirements / Space
Technical notes: This project uses a stand-alone DMX-512 controller, the Lanbox LCX . The switches are connected to different a/d ports (one through a wireless relay, the other wired). The percentages are calculated within the Lanbox using Forth and stored sequences. In other words, a simple Forth program calculates the trigger, and then applies it to various light "cues", including the fade-out.
' nop TO 'PreMixTick
gregory.fth \ call marker to clear previous upload
marker gregory.fth \ and make a new marker again
0 VALUE OnFlag \ -- ) set if Lights are ON
12 VALUE LightTriggerInterval \ 12 seconds wait on holding ON
12 VALUE LightTrigger2Interval \ 12 seconds wait on holding ON
0 VALUE LastLight2Trigger \ --) trigger value
0 VALUE LastLightTrigger \ --) trigger value
0 VALUE currand \ --) random value
: Rand ( -- i ) \ random value in range 0 - 65535, no native random function.
currand 1664525 * 1013904223 + DUP TO currand
$FE42 w@ + ClockTime @ +
DUP wswap xor $FFFF and
;
: Darkness ( -- )
1 IdToEngineNr \ -- engine valid? ) locate layer A
IF \ -- engine ) if it exists,
1 6 EnGo \ result go to 1.6 in layer A
DROP \ ignore failures
ELSE
DROP \ -- ) ignore invalid engine
THEN
;
: SwitchOne ( -- )
1 GetInput \ -- val )
10 < \ trigger threshold value on input 1
IF \ -- ) if so,
ClockTime CELL+ @ \ -- time ) current time
LastLightTrigger - \ -- delta ) time since last trigger
LightTriggerInterval U< 0= \ -- flag )
IF \ -- if 1 second has passed
12 TO LightTriggerInterval \ -- if on) run thru cues 12 secs
ClockTime CELL+ @ TO LastLightTrigger
Rand
DUP .
15728 < \ -- this is 24 percent
IF
1 IdToEngineNr \ -- engine valid? ) locate layer A
IF \ -- engine ) if it exists,
1 1 EnGo \ result go to X.1 in layer A
1 TO OnFlag
DROP \ ignore failures
ELSE
DROP \ -- ) ignore invalid engine
THEN
THEN
THEN
ELSE
1 TO LightTriggerInterval \ -- ) allow immediate
new presses
OnFlag
1 =
IF \ -- ) test for if lights are on using your
switch
Darkness \ -- ) turn darkness cue on if released
0 TO OnFlag
THEN
THEN
;
: SwitchTwo ( -- )
5 GetInput \ -- val )
10 < \ triggering threshold
IF \ -- ) if so,
ClockTime CELL+ @ \ -- time ) current time
LastLight2Trigger - \ -- delta ) time since last
trigger
LightTrigger2Interval U< 0= \ -- flag )
IF \ -- if 1 second has passed
12 TO LightTrigger2Interval \ -- if on, run
thru cues 12 secs)
ClockTime CELL+ @ TO LastLight2Trigger
Rand
DUP .
15727 > \ -- this is 76 percent
IF
1 IdToEngineNr \ -- engine valid? ) locate layer A
IF \ -- engine ) if it exists,
1 1 EnGo \ result go to X.1 in layer A
2 TO OnFlag \ -- ) flag for 2nd switch ON
DROP \ ignore failures
ELSE
DROP \ -- ) ignore invalid engine
THEN
THEN
THEN
ELSE
1 TO LightTrigger2Interval \ -- ) allow immediate
new presses
OnFlag
2 =
IF \ -- ) test for if lights are on using number 2
switch
Darkness \ -- ) turn darkness cue on if released
0 TO OnFlag
THEN
THEN
;
: BothSwitches ( -- )
SwitchOne
SwitchTwo
;
' BothSwitches TO 'PreMixTick
For more questions about using forth on the lanbox, contact the very helpful matthijs at lanbox.com
Descriptions & Essays
Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator, Hill Street, Singapore 2006.
In 1909 the Armenian Church of St Gregory the Illuminator was the first building in Singapore to acquire electric lights and fans. This fact no doubt had its resonances with the interior, faith-based work of the church, but also mingles with a broader, external context of 'electrification', and the state's presentation of such buildings as monuments, as state heritage, and so on. This project, as part of the Biennale, is a 'partial' celebration of this history, filled with doubts about the contemporary context of such power.
The work employs two switches that control the church lighting, its 'appearance' after dusk. A switch placed at the entrance gate to the church has only a 24% chance of working. This is the percentage of the electrical market in Singapore that is provided electricity directly by the State. The other switch, remote from the church and in an 'arbitrary' location across the street, actually works more often. Its percentage of success, 76%, represents consumers who have access to the so-called contestable market: where prior to its consumption, electricity is traded whole-sale, much like any other commodity. These consumers (usually bigger fish) have access to multiple providers.
In this way, each switch ‘represents’ a power regime, a slice of the market pie. A sign next to the switch tells you the reasons for its (un)reliability. As in democracy, this becomes a peculiar state of affairs.
The contestable market in Singapore is tightly controlled. The state actually owns about half of the ‘private’ generating companies, making the binary itself far from simplistic.
The title of the work is a provocation… is ‘everything’ contestable? If this were true, the traditional locus of power (the switch at the gate) would not be active at all. The mix is far from clear, as the state mingles with market interests, and a number of apparent positions are put into question, as we begin to look at what happens behind consumer activity in almost any goods or service available today. This work deals with a particular type of infrastructure, in which such positions are deeply rooted, and whose formal presence, in the public imagination atleast, is barely contested at all.
Literature
Sukuraman, Ashok. »A Critical Review of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's Work in Venice.« .
Sukuraman, Ashok. »Selection from an Interview with Ashok Sukuraman.« In Cinema of Prayoga, edited by Karen Mirza and Brad Butler. London, UK: no.w.here, 2006.
Exhibitions & Events