The year 2002 marked the celebration of the 100th anniversary of public hydroelectric power in Kitchener. P2P (Power to the People) by Kitchener artists Rob Gorbet, Susan Gorbet, and Matt Gorbet highlighted the ubiquity of the most basic icons of the electric age: the household switch and bulb. Significantly situated at the entrance to City Hall, P2P puts the marquee, a now-ubiquitous and iconic tool of corporate communication, into the hands of the general public. By engaging in the everyday unconscious activity of flipping a light switch, citizens are able to communicate directly, without the oversight of a centralized authority, within a government-owned public space. Literally and figuratively, P2P brings power to the people.

 

P2P consisted of two components. The first was a large marquee sign made up of 125 light bulbs suspended beneath the canopy over the main entrance to Kitchener City Hall. The second was a panel of 125 household light switches located in front of the reflecting pool. Each switch controlled a single bulb that could be turned on or off at will.

 

The work was reminiscent of a celebratory marquee that spanned King Street in 1910 in which the words “Hydro” and “For the People” were spelled out in light bulbs. The difference here was that the message was not fixed. Available 24 hours a day for the duration of the Forum, anyone could arrange the lit bulbs to spell out personal messages.

 

As with all forums where there is potential for differences in opinion, the debate around what were "appropriate" messages for the citizenry became particularly intense. 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 decorative pattern.

 

The work endured, and remained operable for the full duration of CAFKA.02. Early one morning I drove by Civic Square which was still dark and deserted. ‘P2P’ simply read ‘SERBIA’.   It seemed an important reminder that outside our petty debates about what constitutes appropriate democratic expression, there are still places in the world where democracy itself is as tenuous as the flicker of a light bulb.

 

The team behind P2P (Matt Gorbet, Rob Gorbet and Susan Gorbet) is an experienced design collective dedicated to enriching the lives of citizens through the creative application of technology as social grease in public spaces. Collectively, they hold several patents and have research affiliations with the University of Waterloo, MIT, Stanford, Interval Research, Xerox PARC, and Silicon Graphics. Their work has been shown in the USA, Sweden, Austria, and Japan.

 

Text by Andrew Wright.