Creating body interfaces and wearable technologies to explore new forms of perception and interaction with a future cyborg garden
In 2019, María Castellanos and Alberto Valverde participated as invited artists in Taller Mutante, an intensive creative laboratory held at Matadero Madrid as part of Matadero Acción Mutante and within the framework of Madrid Design Festival.
Over five days, they worked with students from different design schools in Madrid on the creation of body interfaces and technological devices to explore relationships between the body, the environment and public space. The workshop was conceived as an electronic and sensory investigation connected to the development of a future cyborg garden for Matadero Madrid.
The group led by Castellanos and Valverde explored the use of sensors and wearable technologies to register and interpret different environmental conditions and translate them into bodily perception through interfaces designed to expand the way the surrounding space could be sensed. Through prototyping, electronics and material experimentation, participants developed proposals that investigated new forms of interaction between people, technology and the environment.
Taller Mutante brought together around one hundred students from twelve design schools, alongside international artists, designers, architects and researchers, generating a collective process of research and creation around new ways of inhabiting and transforming public space.