P@TCH

BY JANNA AHRNDT

USA 2018

WOULD A SELF-TRACKING DEVICE CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOUR?

Like a Fitbit for your ethical performance, P@tch is a textile-based tracking device inspired by DIY culture. Each homemade P@tch is a piece of wearable technology that combines environmental sensors and self-reporting. Users can also track their own consumption of single-use plastics. Based on their usage, the P@tch then either shames or celebrates the person wearing it, using LEDs and social media.

The artist contrasts this object with slick tracking devices to question personal versus corporate responsibility. The sensors also track CO₂ emissions and volatile particles in the air, so that the user can be aware of local pollutants. Is this the future of accountability?

‘I was curious to explore if technological devices could function as an aid for accountability related to the plastic that we use. Could we fuse craft and technology for participatory political action? The P@tch has had three iterations so far. The first was a simple color change LED that I used to publically self reflect on my single-use plastic purchases. The second was linked to my Twitter feed. The tweeting patch also utilised a color change LED, but also would send my self-reflection data to my Twitter account saying things like, "Janna is failing at her goal to stop buying plastic" or, "Janna is doing well at her goal to stop buying plastic." It was a kind of public shaming motivator. The data used in the latest iteration of the P@tch is from a gas sensor. The sensor tracks relative CO2 levels, volatile particles in the air, and the user’s self-reported single-use plastic status – good or bad.’
– Janna Ahrndt

This work was previously featured in the DISPOSABLE exhibition at Science Gallery Melbourne.

ABOUT

Janna Ahrndt received her MFA in Electronic and Time Based Art from Purdue University and is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Digital Art at Indiana University. Janna is part of a wave of new media artists rejecting the notion that craft and technology are directly opposed. Her work explores how deconstructing everyday technologies, or even making them for yourself can be used to question larger oppressive systems and create a space for participatory political action. Janna has presented her research on the use of DIY electronics as a medium for participatory political art at ISEA 2019 in Gwangju South Korea and facilitated workshops for the P@tch project in collaboration with Science Gallery Melbourne and Science Gallery Dublin.

CONNECT

Website: jannaveve.com

Twitter: @jannaveve

Instagram: @jannaveve