Vid: Cuban's Technological Disobedience, 8.5 minutes

[erudne]

Published on Jun 20, 2013
In 1991, Cuba's economy began to implode. "The Special Period in the Time of Peace" was the government's euphemism for what was a culmination of 30 years worth of isolation. It began in the 60s, with engineers leaving Cuba for America. Ernesto Oroza, a designer and artist, studied the innovations created during this period. He found that the general population had created homespun, Frankenstein-like machines for their survival, made from everyday objects. Oroza began to collect these machines, and would later contextualize it as "art" in a movement he dubbed "Technological Disobedience."

Originally aired on Motherboard in 2011. Read the full article here: <broken link removed>

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[OLDNEWBIE]

Wouldn't like living under Castro but would strangely enjoy the need to be inventive and repurpose things to have a more comfortable life. I do this a bit now just because I'm cheap!

Americans have become too soft and our mechanical aptitude has nearly been bred out of us. If America's good fortunes shifted suddenly, many would not only find themselves unbearably uncomfortable, but dead!

 

[Stomper]

Fortunately I'm what you call a Machine Whisperer.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

That was really cool! Thanks, OP! I don't know how many sanders and grinders powered by washing maching motors we had when I was a kid, a lot! My folks were very talented at reusing and repurposing!