Rixome was a concept, partially developed in 2004 with Macromedia Director, that aimed to build a new Internet extension into physical space before the augmented reality euphoria began around 2009.
Rixome applied GPS and WIFI for build a simple authoring tool that allowed me to write anywhere in a hybrid or augmented reality, avoiding any legal or physical limitations. The main objective was to start the building of an ambitious creative tool in the context of locative media, my personal brush, or at least something equivalent to what this is for an oil painter.
The idea was conceived in 2003 in the Master of Arts and New Technologies of the European University of Madrid, and the first version of the Rixome application was presented in June 2004. The web of the project was referenced by popular blogs like WMMNA, Engadget and Infosthetics, among others, receiving some emails from people interested in collaborate. During a year after graduating from the university, I presented it to around 12 calls for artworks in Spain, but unfortunately it didn’t get any funding…
These were the ideas, still valid, that moved me towards Rixome:
Nowadays we see how a city is not that social structure at the service of the citizens, but an aggressive auctioning area that mutilates any personal expression, a city-screen, instead of a city-interface.
With no rights for sharing any graphical or textual impression, the citizen must respect the advertising media that is handled by expert groups, and along with this, their messages. Advertising has exclusive rights over publication in the urban setting, and the streets are devoid of citizens creativity and thinking.
To this untouchable non-city, we purpose a city where you can leave your mark. The public space should also be a media space open for communication. We should reconsider the ductility of our streets and the publishing rights of their walls.
In the future we must avoid confusing a clean city with a city where there are no ways to civically declare our presence.
This is a concept video I did to explain the idea very briefly: