Taeyoon Choi is an artist and organizer based in NYC.

He works with mobile phones, digital camera, and wire-

less technology as artistic medium, creating participa-
tory performance and humorous urban intervention. At
LIFT ASIA 09 [Serious Fun], Choi will talk about two
of his latest projects, and issues of working with in and
out of the networked environment. The main segment
of the talk will be pre-recorded in his New York studio
in a style that reminds of avant garde lecture perfor-
mance. Most of the visual elements will be animated
for presentation, and the talk will finish by connecting
through video conference. The total length will be about
10 minutes.

The talk begins by the proposing few critical questions regarding

the wireless technology as a tool of control, deception, and prof-
it for the power. Choi shares his insights in working around the
limitation by <End user’s guide> to innovation, hacking,
misuse, and open source practice.

www.tyshow.org
Photo courtsey of Christian Bulter and EYEBEAM
Two Projects mentioned in the talk are following.
‘Camerautomata Charlie’ (2008) is a ‘picture digesting robotic duck’, inspired by tourists’ desire to pho-
tograph and the ‘digesting duck automata’ by the 19th century French inventor Jacque de Vaucanson. Charlie
is created by hacking various home electronics and brought to life by a single micro controller. He interacts
with the tourists in p­ublic space, and prints photos and publish them online. Through a humorous inter-
vention, the project pokes fun at the touristic desire within us and critiques the blind belief of auto-
mation.
‘Liars Picnic’ (2009) is a social game for liars. A social game about how good liar you are. A “Speak-
er” player meets a “Listener” player at a crossroad, and tells a story which could be lie or truth. The Depend-
ing on how believable the story is, their role and direction change each turn. They meet new player in the next
turn. The game continues until everyone lied at least once. The game gives an opportunity to talk to strangers,
without the usual stress of honesty and sincerity. Therefore, everything discussed in the game could either be
truth or lie. Online research has shown that people are better at lying over the phone or chat. Participants in
distant places are encouraged to participate in the game through video conference or telephone call.
In addition, Choi will reference few recent social phenomenon in the networked environment, such as
micro communities and activist’s creative use of technology for social change. He also will end the talk
by mentioning DOTPLAY Telecom Inc (2007), a workshop that imagined the future of user friend-
ly, grassroots mobile telecommunication.