The Gambiologia Project: Brazil’s take on Techno-Cannibalism

• SXSW 2011

This panel will present and discuss the innovative Gambiologia project, a collaborative work being done with the Graffiti Research Lab Brazil. The "gambiologists" will articulate the concepts behind their project and the artwork they create. These pieces are generally produced by adapting and reinventing everyday materials, recycled industrial rubbish and electronics which are transformed into art under the concept of techno-cannibalism. The objects are multifunctional electronic artifacts, sculptures and decorative lighting objects which incorporate LED displays, lamps, modified toys, sound generators, microcontrollers, etc. In this project the group is also artistically thinking about the massive production of devices and the accumulation of industrial disposables on the planet. The group critiques the world’s surplus of objects that are either out of use or outdated, yet accumulating. Within a wider view, the term Gambiologia has also been adopted in Brazil to refer to the science of "gambiarra" (kludge, makeshift) or people’s ability to relocate the functionality of materials of common use for practical objectives and/or distinct aesthetics far away from its original. The Gambiologia project is being carried out by the artists Fred Paulino, 'The Goose' and Lucas Mafra.