Piksel regulars Martin Howse and Jonathan Kemp was just awarded the first prize in the art & artificial life competition VIDA 8.0. They won the prize for the work AP0201 which they presented at Piksel04.
AP0201 is a set of autonomous devices placed in a desert in Southern California. The devices use wi-fi to communicate among themselves and collect various data from the surroundings. The embedded code is constantly modifying itself.
From the jury statement:
‘ Their small computer displays tells us nothing — we have no way
of entering their processing or conversation. They are functionally
inscrutable, while nonetheless communicating a sort of technical authority.
While their location is available as GPS coordinates it’s hard to imagine
what one would gain by visiting them, and knowing the American Southwest
they would probably be peppered with bullet holes anyway. Quixotic as they
appear, they nonetheless present a challenge to our self-importance, as
oblivious to our curiosity as are the desert tortoises or cacti that share
their space.’