Ghostwriter - a vintage typewriter which types by itself - is the brainchild of hardware hackers Neil Mendoza and Anthony Goh. It is currently on display in East London at The Great Eastern Bear gallery.
Not only does the Ghostwriter tap away unaided - causing words and sentences to appear as if by magic onto the reems of paper it digests - it also has no censor button! Expletives and dark thoughts pour out of Ghostwriter's ribbons - for a typewriter he clearly has some issues!
Neil Mendoza says of the creation 'Whether we realise it or not, the tools we use to communicate, from spoken word to email, affect the content and tone of what we say, as well as the context of how our messages are received. It's as if the devices add their own personalities to our messages as we communicate through them.'
Anthony Goh explains that they gave the typewriter a personality that matches its 80 year age. Messages it types include "What are you seeking?", "Please leave me alone" and "Seriously, I'm not in the mood to talk right now".
'It's generally baffled or grumpy,' said Anthony.
See the Ghostwriter in action at www.greateasternbear.com
Implications - Neil Mendoza takes an redundant tool for communication and adds some very modern technology to create something inspiring
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