WALK DONT WALK
2022
Found pedestrian crossing, motion sensor, microcontroller, Twitter account, plywood
1.6m x 34cm x 50cm
By using a pedestrian crossing, we gain order and safety while losing facets of bodily awareness due to being less likely to look left and right when told to walk. In WALK DONT WALK (2022), Sandberg shifts its algorithm to respond directly to human bodily presence, rather than wider systems of traffic control. In doing so, the crossing says DONT WALK as soon as it sees you, and equally DONT WALK when you attempt to leave.
The crossing tries to tweet each interaction in an attempt to connect to those it surveils. Sadly, it has been banned from Twitter, yet continues this mechanical, futile act of connection, resigned to ineffective communication through platform dependency. Perhaps we too may pause to consider the complex entanglement of systems tasked to house and transmit fragments of ourselves.