Maquinarte
Caceres, Spain, 2004
Advertisements and artificial voice

Una vida programada was an interactive art work, which consisted of a newspaper advertisment, that encouraged people to call a certain phone number. When calling the number, one reached an automated answering system, that asked the caller questions and gave scientific explanations about the origins of sexuality.

10 years ago an advertisement was placed in the ‘País’ newspaper. When calling the number and artificial voice answered. The sense of discomfort before the artificial voice serves as trampoline to reconsider our experience of reality. ‘A programmed life’ is based on the similarity that exists between cognitive maps, conceptual maps and the nodes and trajectories used by platforms of artificial speech. Some parallels between biological and technology programming allow us the reinterpretation of concepts like artificiality and reality.

The work is based on the similarity between cognitive maps, conceptual maps and the connections and routes that are used by platforms of artificial voices. The parallelisms between biological programming and technology allow for the reinterpretation of the concepts of reality and artificiality. The discomfort produced by and artificial voice is the springboard to reconsider everyday assumptions.