Project Blinkenlights was a light installation in the Haus des Lehreres building at the Alexanderplatz in Berlin that transformed the building front into a giant low-resolution monochrome computer screen. The installation was created by the German Chaos Computer Club and went online on September 11, 2001.
The project fits in Colangelo’s framework in the following ways:
- The project is very large scale, and transforms online massive media into public facing messages in the physical world.
- The project gives control of a public space to the mass public instead of any particular authority. People are able to interact with the system in many ways through mobile device. Some novel uses of the screen are for people to call a number, play Pong or send animations for display.
- The messages displayed on the building facade are the continuous representations of the project’s ability to connect space, technology and people. The mass public are able to engage with each other through either direct interaction or emotional resonance from distance.