“Gambiarra” is a word that only exists in Brazilian Portuguese. It indicates informal uses and technological solutions to everyday life and infrastructure problems. Surreptitious electrical connections and water services diversions in areas with public sanitation problems or using brillo pads as TV aerials are some examples of common “gambiarras” in Brazil. The Gambiologia Collective transforms this repertoire into a science of combat. It promotes workshops, urban interventions, debates and exhibitions that stimulate the use and the reinvention of obsolete, broken or discarded devices. The jury recocgnizes its work and action methodology, directed at the critical and creative use of media, and decided to award Gambiologia as a process and strategy rather than as specific art works.
By Giselle Beiguelman, José Luis de Vicente, Jeffrey Huang, Susanne Jashcko and Tomoe Moriyama
http://prix2011.aec.at/winner/2311/ – menção no website prix ars