1992-1997
Projects featuring the Alien Staff carried out in: Barcelona, Paris, New York, Stockholm, Helsinki, Marseilles, Warsaw, Rotterdam, Houston, Boston. The first in a series of Xenological Instruments designed for immigrants to let themselves be heard in public space.
The first version, resembling the staff of the biblical shepherds, was created in Barcelona; the subsequent versions have built-in plexiglas containers, inspired by the form of the reliquary, where the user can store memorabilia, documents, photographs, etc. The staff is crowned by a hood-like head containing a monitor and a speaker to play back the user’s pre-recorded statements. A special bag worn on the shoulder contains video players, batteries, walkie-talkie or CB radio. As portable performative instruments, imbued with the user’s personal experiences, the staff’s purpose was to allow immigrants to present themselves and communicate. “Doubled” with their own image, voice, and memory stored in the staff, the immigrants/users visualized themselves both for him- or herself and for potential viewers/listeners who, approaching the staff, overcame the distance separating them from aliens.
Several versions of the staff were made: wooden, metal, and an interactive one realized in collaboration with the MIT Interrogative Design Group.
