A Global Poetic Positioning System

ELECTRONIC CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE and BANG labs brings us the latest in Electronic Disturbance Theater and artpixel poetix in the shape of the new Transborder Immigrant Tool. While some US denizens concern themselves with fences, walls, and shrug off deaths in the desert as “their own fault” or some other loathesome croaking of inhumanity and ignorance, rebel artists and tech entrepreneurs are painting crystal cathedrals of resistance and poetry that illuminate the earthy corridors leading toward tomorrow. The Transborder Immigrant Tool is a demonstration of heart-hackery that uses simple tools to create an app that helps people wandering in the desert find the safest routes and thus, survival.

Associate Professor, tech genius and personal friend of Subcomandante Marcos of the EZLN, Ricardo Dominguez gives us the gritty:

We looked at the Motorola i455 cell phone, which is under $30, available even cheaper on eBay, and includes a free GPS applet. We were able to crack it and create a simple compasslike navigation system. We were also able to add other information, like where to find water left by the Border Angels, where to find Quaker help centers that will wrap your feet, how far you are from the highway—things to make the application really benefit individuals who are crossing the border.

How exactly does it do this, and why is that so important right now?

The primary goal of the Transborder Immigrant Tool is to increase safety during border crossing by directing heavy-footed immigrants to safe routes, shelter, food, water, and friendly sympathizers. With the recent surge in militia membership and the Obama administration’s announcement that they will be reducing the number of Border Patrol agents next year, it looks like we’re getting ready to witness a showdown for the ages.

And how did Dominguez arrive at this point?

In the 80s I was a member of something called the Critical Art Ensemble. We wrote a series of books published in the 90s that speculated on what the future, and computers especially, might bring. Our core speculations were that we would see the emergence of three different arcs of capitalism in the 90s: digital capitalism, genetic capitalism or clone capitalism, and particle capitalism or nano-driven technology. We decided we would speculate not only on the artistic aspect of these emerging capitalisms but also on how we could intervene as artist-activists into each of these areas. We developed the idea of electronic civil disobedience as a way to mediate the emergence of digital capitalism.

But do the Minuteman types know about this fierce and intelligent vato and his work?

One of the first things we did at BANG Lab was to interfere with the Minuteman Project in 2005. They were quite angry because not only were we committing public actions against them, but Calit2 and the UCSD system were also supporting it. They’re well aware of who we are and what we do. Once they get full knowledge of the Transborder Immigrant Tool—and we’re very transparent about it—I’m sure they’ll be quite critical. …  but again we’re not trying to hide. It’s a safety tool. It’s not trying to resolve the political anxieties of these communities or resolve the inadequacies of a fictional border for a so-called free-trade community. Again, our position is that it’s not a political resolution; it’s a safety tool.