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The OPENCOIL_speedshow exhibition explores the impact of micro-mobility services on urban space by using its decentralised infrastructure as an exhibition space, while also addressing the conditions and effects of this infrastructure.

11 artists were invited to present their work on a small Wifi controller with ~2MB offline memory.

These "digital gallery spaces" are attached to 11 randomly selected e-scooters. Thus the exhibition, unnoticed by the regular users of these scooters, drives through the city as a "roaming speed show". In order to view the works the corresponding "Scooter Gallery" must be found in the offline urban space and can be accessed via personal smartphone.

The pavements of many cities around the world have been flooded in recent years by so-called 'dockless sharing vehicles'. With promises of eco-friendliness and electromobility, these risk capitalism activists have occupied the grey zone between private and public space on the streets of our cities. However, this unscrupulous conscientiousness of 'micro-mobility services' raises important questions about urban space, ownership, agency, production, ecology and very late capitalism.

How to deal with the occupation of public space? What tools and ways are there to reclaim it?

OPENCOIL is a creative (re)use of e-scooters, an attempt to approach them by artistic means. On show are works that deal with questions of the overlap between public and private space, the use of resources, as well as greenwashing, risk capitalism and vandalism.

The participating artists are:

Aram Bartholl
Constant Dullaart
Dennis de Bel & Anton Jehle
JODI
Jonas Lund
Martin Howse
!Mediengruppe Bitnik
Rosa Menkman
Sarah Grant
Sofya Aleynikova
Danja Vasiliev

Other explanatory notes:

The artistic contributions are each stored on a Wifi microcontroller, which is connected to a scooter and is thus supplied with power as soon as the scooter is rented. To view the works, you connect to the local unencrypted WiFi network sent by the Wifi chip. A web portal opens automatically, where the work can be viewed. No mobile data connection is necessary. All works have been specially optimised by the artists to be viewed on smartphones.

OPENCOIL is in no way associated with the "micro-mobility services", but only uses the existing scooter network. The conversion of the scooters into an exhibition space is completely reversible after the exhibition ends and in no way restricts the conventional use of the scooters (even during the exhibition). The scooters will not be damaged.

The exhibition took place on October 26th to 1st of November 2020 with the scooters spread all around the Berlin service area.