Spore Protocol
Spore Protocol is an experimental web server whose means of access aims to replicate the symbiotic action of fungi. Just as mycelia thrive by simultaneously taking and providing, this speculative alternative model of internet communication only provides information to the user once it has been given information by the user.
Spore Protocol presents itself to users as a Wi-Fi network within the gallery space. When a user joins on their mobile device, they will be prompted to first provide something to the server from a list of prompts: a feeling, a sound, a colour, etc. In exchange, the user is provided an assemblage of other contributions, collaged into a sort of living emotional history of what has occurred in the gallery space. In facilitating the exchange of these simple, esoteric prompts, Spore Protocol aims to render a poetic form of communication based on contribution rather than consumption. Ultimately, the project aims to provoke audience members to consider forms of communication, such as those found in mycological systems, which might serve as alternatives to the provider-consume hierarchies typical to most contemporary digital communication platforms.
Craig Fahner is an artist and musician from Calgary. Fahner’s media artworks examine the politics and poetics of invisible digital infrastructures. His works have been exhibited in various venues and festivals internationally, including the 2017 Alberta Biennial, the Museo de la Ciudad in Queretaro, Mexico, and the Device Art Triennial in Zagreb. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Joint Program in Communication & Culture at York and X Universities.