Public intervention
ABSTRACT
Relationships between Cubans living on the island and those who have emigrated have been conditioned by specific political and economic circumstances -depending on the time period-. Both contexts handle concepts like emigration, freedom, and nation, most of the time from opposite perspectives, marked by resentments and differences of ideas. This project uses the triad poetry-aphorisms-technology to create micro poems, many of them bilingual. I set out to collaborate with young Cuban poets from the same generation: some reside on the island; others are first-generation born in Miami. The poems respond to two requirements: they have a maximum of 30 characters (standard SSID length on Wi-Fi systems) and express the personal vision of their authors about Cuba. In both Miami and Havana, these “ideas from Cuba” will be in the air, in the public space, waiting -literally- for a signal to be captured through Wi-Fi connections, reaching hundreds of users and potential readers.
STATEMENT
Relations between Cubans living on the island and those who have emigrated have been conditioned by specific political and economic circumstances -depending on the time period- and have had an impact on the social, cultural, and family order. The biggest Cuban exodus has been to the United States, which has turned Miami into a second home for a large percentage of Cubans. In both contexts, concepts such as emigration, freedom, and nation are handled, most of the time from opposite perspectives, marked by resentment and ideological differences. Other concepts such as “artists in exile” or “Cuban diaspora” are topics of the current debate in the field of the arts.
This project uses the triad poetry-aphorisms-technology to create micro poems, many of them bilingual. I set out to collaborate with young Cuban poets from the same generation: some reside on the island; others live in the United States, Latin America, Spain, and China; others are first-generation born in Miami. Through the language of poetry, I wanted the written word to be a bridge of communication, a linking dot between those contexts, and a way to find communion between individuals’ feelings about Cuba.
The poems respond to two requirements: they have a maximum of 30 characters (standard SSID length on Wi-Fi systems) and they express the personal vision of their authors about Cuba. The micro poems will intervene in different locations in the city of Miami through a digital device called CU.WEMOS, created specifically for this project. It can emit multiple wifi signals simultaneously. Viewers will find 100 poems inside their digital devices, without the need for a password.
Also, in collaboration with hundreds of alternative businesses in Havana, the same intervention will take place in several points of the Cuban capital. From the process of digitalization in a crescendo that is happening in Cuba, in almost every neighborhood of the city, you can find Wi-Fi signals providing independent Internet service.
Both in Miami and Havana, the “ideas about Cuba” will be in the air, in the public space, waiting -literally- for a signal to be captured through Wi-Fi connections, reaching hundreds of users and potential readers.
It is a device developed for this project to emit multiple Wi-Fi signals at the same time. It makes use of a WEMOS D1 Wi-Fi prototyping board, commonly used in IoT (Internet of Things) products. It allows extending the functionality by connecting Shields.
This device has two versions: one designed for indoors, which needs direct electrical connection and has a range of 100 to 150 meters of signal; and a second one developed for outdoors, with a security system, waterproof 3D printed box, and a self-sustainable clean energy system. This system uses a solar panel and its plate reuses the charging port of a recycled power bank. This outdoor version has a range of 200 to 300 meters of stable Wi-Fi signal and can survive for more than 5 months without human intervention.
The software used is based on a Wi-Fi flooder. It generates spores in the form of Wi-Fi packets and does not allow a stable connection, although they do appear on people’s phones as legitimate Wi-Fi networks.
This technique is common in the world of hacking and state espionage to take control over networks, or to trick users into believing they are connected to a legitimate access point when in fact they could be being spied on. In this project, it is used for its ability to invade the Hertzian waves with poetry and reproduce that scenario in the Wi-Fi parks in the Cuban context.
CREDIT
Concept co-developer & software (Amsterdam): Luis Rodil-Fernández
Editing and Correction (Cuba): J. Medina Ríos
Assistance (La Habana): Yainet Rodríguez
Copyediting (Miami): César Segovia
Graphic Design (Miami): Noah Levy
Participating Poets: Ismaray Pozo, Mario Espinosa, Gabriel Ojeda-Sagué, Oscar Cruz, Jamila Medina Ríos, Legna Rodríguez Iglesias, Lisann Ramos, Javier L. Mora, Adonis Ferro, Lizabel Mónica, Katherine Bisquet, Kyle Carrero Lopez, Sindy Rivery Elejalde, Martha Luisa Hernández Cadenas, Cuci Amador, Yosie Crespo, Julián Bravo Rodríguez, Ricardo Mayo, Randy Amor and Ylena Zamora-Vargas.
Havana Team
Development Lab: COPINCHA
Structural Design: Maurice Haedo
Electronic Hardware: Lázaro Alejandro Navarro Méndez
Structures Printing: Eduardo Puyol
Miami Team
Presenting Partner: O, Miami
Artist’s Residency: Fountainhead
Special Thanks: Julia Weist, Enedys Seijo Planes, Sindy Rivery, Lizabel Mónica, Chuli Herrera, Steffen Köhn, Petra Novackova and Paola Calvo.