Press

City Overtaken by Art
Echo Weekly    Issue #51, Volume 5, September 19-25, 2002
[...] Kitchener’s own design collective made up of Matt, Rob and Susan Gorbet is presenting P2P at the entrance to City Hall. This high-concept interactive piece brings real power directly into the hands of the public as it provides a direct line of electrical current from a massive marquee lit with a great number of individual bulbs leading to individual switches. The participants are encouraged to flick the switches allowing them to see the result of this everyday activity "without the oversight of a centralized authority and within a government-owned public space." [...] more

Clampdown: Police Use Bad Judgement at City Hall Art Show
Echo Weekly    Editorial, Issue #52, Volume 5, September 26 - October 3, 2002
The Power to the People contemporary art festival saw a disturbing confrontation on opening night. [...] more

CAFKA'02 Catalogue Entry
CAFKA'02: P2P    exhibition catalogue
[...] Conversely, it was a work by Kitchener artists Rob Gorbet, Susan Gorbet, and Matt Gorbet that generated an incredible response from both participants and authorities. [...] Available 24 hours a day for the duration of the Forum, anyone could arrange the lit bulbs to spell out personal messages. Suddenly, the tools of corporate communication and advertising were made available and free, democratic expression began, bolstered by partial anonymity. [...] The dais where the switch panel was located became the site of heated arguments between people of all descriptions (including police), all eager to voice their thoughts, kudos, or objections to the messages displayed, which were often only single words. Others devised and played games with the work, while others still turned the marquee into a decorative pattern. [...] more

Private2Public: Artists on the Shifting Boundaries of Privacy and Public Space
Horizon Zero    Issue 04, "Touch", November 2002
[...] Digital artists are similarly reclaiming public space as a place for dialogue. In Kitchener, Ontario, a creative team [...] developed a sort of "whispering wall" in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of public hydroelectric power in that city. [...] more

Best of Lola: Shotguns
Lola    Issue 14, Winter 2002-2003
[...] "P2P": by the Gorbets, was one of the most interesting pieces of the show. [...] The switch panel was an open invitation of freedom of expression extended to the general public and it proved to be an interesting social experiment. [...] This installation was fun to interact with, and it was just as fun to watch others interacting with it, which is a rare experience indeed. more

Tart Shorts: Power of Language
Tart    Issue 12, Fall 2002
[...] The ephemerality and accessibility of the project were truly empowering, as the marquee was suddenly decentralized and for the people. The project was successful because it didn't matter that it was art -- it delighted and provoked while communicating through and for the community. more

Power Trip
[a-n]magazine    January 2003
[...] Another memorable piece was that constructed by Matt, Rob and Susan Gorbet. In a reinterpretation of an illuminated marquee sign above City Hall, they literally presented an opportunity for people power: 125 light bulbs were connected to 125 switches on a pavement stand. Passers-by could spell out short messages or images, something a wide range of people took advantage of. [...] more

Power Shift: Power to the People
FUSE Magazine    Volume 26, Number 2, April 2003
P2P animated the theme of "Power to the People" as directly as an on-off switch. [...] The key to P2P is the simplicity of the operation. more

Power to the People
ESPACE Sculpture    Volume 63, Spring 2003
[...] By flipping a switch positioned on a panel on the sidewalk in front of City Hall (each switch connected to one light bulb in the marquee) people could create their own messages, spell out words or create random patters. The decision to communicate or obfuscate was left to the individual. Something as simple and routine as turning on a light bulb became a joyous, playful and somewhat subversive activity, liberated from traditional confines and restrictions. more

UW Engineering Prof Uses Art to Bring Power to the People
UW Gazette    September 18, 2002
[...] using art to stimulate a dialogue about technology. [...] more