Exhibition Interactivos?'08: Technologies of Laughter

Laughter is a psychological phenomenon that is a human characteristic. Frequently associated with fun, play and pleasure, it serves as a way of communicating moods that are not always positive or pleasurable. Laughter can be intelligent or stupid, liberating, forced, nervous, contagious or sinister. The incongruent and the unexpected provoke laughter; however, depending on the context, they can also cause terror. Laughter is also a social phenomenon. To be shared, a common cultural milieu is required. As a result, it can reinforce belonging to a group and also exclude “others”.

What mechanisms lead to laughter? What are the social and political implications? What happens if we understand laughter as a possible form of communication between humans and machines? Can machines have a sense of humour? How can machines make us laugh? What is a machine or software programme’s cultural milieu? How can a machine handle the unexpected? What kind of narratives/machines can be built to provoke various feelings related to laughter?

The 8 projects presented at this exhibition use hardware and software tools to create prototypes that explore the relations between machines and humour/laughter.

i.m.pshovr

Max Kazemzadeh

Collaborators:
Edgar Zúñiga, Gabriel F. Martinez Valois, Mauro Herrera, Julio Lucio

Sensitive water

Carla Capeto

Collaborators:
Ben Faga, Alejandro Garza, Sem Aser Pérez, Rubí Adams

Moyote I

Cristian Saucedo

Collaborators:
Eduardo Meléndez Medina, David Sánchez Ruano, Aída Domínguez Nevares, Yadira Salvador González, Citlalli Nayelli Castillo Cadena

Absurdity Tracker

Jacqueline Steck

Collaborators:
Julio Lucio, Eloísa Avila, Rubi Adams, Iván Macuil Priego, Jazmín Morales Contreras, Jorge Hauss Vergara

IEM - Insatiable Entropic Machines

Rui Pereira

Collaborators:
Eduardo Meléndez, Eloísa Ávila, Ruth Aguirre

CabulTag

Jorge Eduardo Benet

Collaborators:
Héctor Zárate, Moisés Miñón

J.A.-J.A. Jockey Action – Jolly Answer

Leonor Torres

Collaborators:
Adrián Santuario, Héctor Loyola, Alberto Cerro, Iván Macuil, Rubí Meneses Adams, Ruth Aguirre

Catty CPU Cliques

Jenny Chowdhury

Collaborators:
Petra Farinha, Héctor Zárate, Emilio Zamudio Murillo, Adrián Santuario, Eduardo Alarcón, David Regla Demaree

More info about the workshop and projects at wiki.medialab-prado.es

Organized by:

Medialab-Prado – Área de Las Artes del Ayuntamiento de Madrid

Centro Cultural de España en México – Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo

With the collaboration of: Centro Multimedia – Centro Nacional de las Artes

In collaboration with the Centro Multimedia – Centro Nacional de las Artes