biancoshock brings ‘real-life’ internet to the elderly residents of an italian village
all images courtesy of biancoshock

 

 

 

civitacampomarano is a tiny village in the province of central italy’s campobasso region with a population of about 400 inhabitants — most of which are elderly. in this town of rich tradition and history, the internet remains a partially unknown world: cell phones hardy function and data connections are essentially nonexistent.

 

for the first edition of the cvta’ street art festival staged throughout the village, italian artist biancoshock has brought a ‘real-life’ internet to the residents of civitacampomarano. for the project ‘web 0.0’, 12 urban interventions give ‘virtual’ functions to commonplace analog technologies.

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a facebook wall has been made into a bulletin board, where updates about the town are displayed

 

 

 

a ‘twitter bench’ provides a place for locals to casually chat with each other; a ‘facebook wall’ has been made into a bulletin board, displaying town updates and news; a ‘whatsapp booth’ provides a place for residents to make phone calls; and a ‘wetransfer-mobile’ delivers packages and goods around town. 

 

while many of these virtual technologies are considered to be necessary parts of everyday modern life, biancoshock demonstrates that these instruments — in other forms — have always existed. while many aspects of communication take place through a screen, these methods of conversation were once places and spaces, where communities would come together for cultural exchange by simply meeting at a bar, or gathering in the town’s streets.

 

 

biancoshock: ‘web 0.0’
video courtesy of fra biancoshock

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locals gather near the facebook wall to discuss the town’s upcoming events 

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a whatsapp booth provides a place for locals to make a phone call 

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a wetransfer-mobile delivers packages and goods directly to the homes of the residents 

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the gmail icon indicates the place where residents post their mail 

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an RSS feed comes in the form of a local newspaper 

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an ebay shop hosts commercial activity for the local community 

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residents watch TV and movies in a youtube ‘theater’ staged at a local bar 

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an elderly woman is the host of countless knowledge, just like wikipedia 

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residents meet up and exchange knowledge, information and ideas at a local bar

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antivirus software company avast is realized as a pharmacy where locals can treat ailments