Proyecto Cybersyn Ingles

8/13/2019 Proyecto Cybersyn Ingles

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Cybersyn


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If we dont support digital art and media cultur,our cultural life will be lost trough the dominance of the machines

Monika Fleischmann

The Historical context of this project was reviewed by Mr. Raul Espejo


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During the administration of Salvador Allende in Chile,in the early 70s, a most visionary project about the useof information and communications in government was

undertaken.

The project was called CyberSyn, and contemplated thetransmission of information in real time to support themanagement of the countrys industrial economy. At itscore was an Operations Room constantly receivinginformation and transmitting decisions. A network ofabout 500 telex machines linking the country from northto south supported all this. Its futurist design offered thehope of a more participative and less bureaucratic society.

Its creator was the British scientist Stafford Beer, fatherof organisational cybernetics and creator of the ViableSystem Model, today in use in enterprises of all kindsand part of the curriculum of universities worldwide.

The project had the participation of a multidisciplinarygroup of national and international scientists. Their taskwas to build a system for distributed decision-makingsupported by relevant information. But their efforts wereinterrupted by the coup d'etat of 1973, just when theOperations Room was going to be transformed from a

prototype into a fully fledged operational centre for thegovernment in the presidential palace.

INTRODUCTION

After 30 years, we want to revisit this visionary creationwith the support of a documentary, an interactiveinstallation and a web site, to inform and involve todaysspectators and visitors in a noteworthy story. Thesethree technologies should give us the opportunity totransmit a rich vision of a multilayered project.

operation room ( opsroom )


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This project is intended as a point ofdynamic convergence of information, whichwi l l portray through di f ferent

representational devices the social,technical, conceptual and political contextsof CyberSyn.

Stafford Beer was the scientific force behindthe project. He was its conceptual andaesthetic designer. Fernando Flores, at thetime general technical manager of theNational Development Corporation (CORFO)conceived the project and gave politicalsupport to its development. Raul Espejowas the day-to-day manager. Gui Bonsiepe

and his colleagues from TechnologicalInstitute of Chile (INTEC) were the designersand implementers of the Operations Room.

Our investigation will be based on thetestimonies of participants in the projectand also on the views of people who wererelated to Stafford Beer in later projects.

Testimonies and views will be recorded ina documentary and serve as the platformfor the construction of an audio-visual

exhibit and an Internet site.

Our construction will have two phases; alinear narrative or documentary and aninteractive presentation that will use anInternet site to develop its content.

METHODOLOGY OF INVESTIGATION/ACTION/ DEVELOPMENT (I+A+D)

Linear

An audio-visual documentary that will

contain reports about the CyberSyn project,by interviews of participants andconnoisseurs of the project, and a 3Ddocumentary will be made to represent itstechnical devices.

Interactive

We will construct a chair similar to thoseoriginally designed for the OperationsRoom. It will serve as a control centre toshare information through an interactive

menu in its right arm.This menu will be made up of four links:- Documentary- Time line- Semantic Map- Technical Context through animation 3Dof equipment and devices.

The documentary and the exhibit will becomplemented by a website, which willcontain all the compiled information that

will be made available to interested people.


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We want to rescue this project, which livesin the memory of multiple actors, whoembody until today several aspects aboutwhat was its routine character andcontingency.

Chiles geography and social conditionsoffer a great laboratory for social, economicand cultural experimentation. Chileans,we believe, are willing to experience newforms of development and the CyberSynexperience, whose conceptualunderpinnings today represent a viableconstruction of information andcommunication systems all over the world,

we believe can positively affect newgenerations.

Little has been known in Chile aboutCyberSyn for the last 30 years. Thanks tothe efforts of foreign researchers, like EdnMedina from the University of Indiana inthe USA and exhibitions such as Making

Things Public at the ZKM, an institute ofart and new media at Karlsruhe, Germany, that new interest has arisen in Chile about

its documentation.

FUNDAMENTS

Also, different people have developedeconomic and social management modelsbased on this experience, of which it ispossible to point at the group "TeamSyntegrity" created by Stafford Beer inCanada, Raul Espejos work through thecompany SYNCHO Ltd. in the UK, andLeonid Ototskys project of informationmanagement at the "SIM chair of the MIPT"in Russia.

Our project of investigation, action anddevelopment is a Chilean enterprise beingimplemented by a multidisciplinary group(without leaving aside possible international

contribution for its correct development).The idea is to turn the CyberSyn projectinto something more than an anecdote;we want to make it an example of atransdisciplinary art, science andtechnology, with possibilities ofimplementation in governmental, industrialand cultural organisations.

Important to this project is theconfiguration of innovation projects thatare sustained by the cross fertilization ofthe arts, science and technology in a worldthat respects nature.

The constructi on of an interactiveinstallation wants to give the visitor theoption to manage the information fromthe origins of the CyberSyn project. Thisaction is imagined as an active synergeticact, in which the visitor is both the engineand receiver of the work.

We give much value to the cross fertilization

of concepts and exercises, sustained byfacts that happened in Chile 30 years ago.


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- To investigate, locate and compile existing information about theCyberSyn project, and make with all this material a documentaryand an interactive installation.

- To inform about a project that happened in Chile, which at leastconceptually, anticipated developments of communication andinformation systems worldwide.

- To stimulate the use of the arts in the development of newtechnologies, through an interactive installation, with a content ofhigh complexity and easy usability.

- To disseminate the works of Stafford Beer, one of the greatcyberneticians of recent times .

OBJECTIVES

Stafford BeerCyberSyn main d irector


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Genera l produ ct ion

Our project contemplates 2 steps for his accomplishment:

Pr e-pr oject d esign. Contemplates building up international alliances with groups and institutions interested in the subject, which couldprovide necessary resources for its accomplishment.

Obtain ing of resources and general invest igat ion. HolonLAB will implement the project. We are working to obtain resources from audio-visual sources of the Chilean government (Fondart), private foundations related to cybernetics, cultural institutions sponsored by Europeancountries and private companies. Contributions will be asked for the technical work (equipment) and for its dissemination.

EXECUTION

Aesthetic proposal

The aesthetic proposal is based on thework of the CyberSyn project, which wasoriented to the practical usability of futuristobjects/ resources.

Recording

Audio-visual orientation: these aestheticresources will be aligned to the techniquesused by Stanley Kubric in "2001 odysseyin the space", using slow movements,

angular, flat lenses great closeness thatemulate scientific documentaries andsimple but concrete narrations.

Edition

Editing will give preference to the relevatconcepts more than to personalities. It willtravel freely through the concepts leadingto the stories offered by the interviewedpeople, supporting it technically by thecompiled images in file.

The documentary will be constructed onthe bases of the experience of differentparticipants in the CyberSyn project andof experts from different areas:

Collaborators of Stafford Beer andparticipants in the project (preliminary):

Jorge Barrientos, Isaquino Bedanov, Simon

Beer, Guy Bonsiepe, Raul Espejo, FernandoFlores, Mario Grandi, Tomas Kohn andGabriel Ramirez will be interviewed.

To contextualise the CyberSyn project inChile, we will make visual analogies relatedto the following images:

Neuronal Networks, Communicationnetworks of the Seventies, Images of fileof companies and society, Places in whichthe system was installed, Masses of people

moving in the city, Nature images(transference of information betweenanimals, insects and vegetables), telepathy,algorithmic ecolocation.


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Locat ion of par t ic ipants of the pr oject . The location of the producers and participants of the project is one of the important stages ofthis project.

We contemplate to obtain permissions so that these participants use appropriate locations.

Compi la t ion of mat er ia l wr i t ten , graph ica l and of test imon ies.This compilation will be based on the recovery of graphical material andtestimonies written about the CyberSyn project.

Recordi ng of interv iews.The recordings will be made in the natural environments of the interviewed persons (their place of work, factoryor study). In the case of the persons who live abroad, like Raul Espejo in England, Guy Bonsiepe in Germany, or of Stafford Beers archivesat the University John Moore Liverpool in England, we contemplate resources to travel to interview/visit them. Otherwise, the interviewscould be made via video conference, nevertheless we considered of great importance to make these captures in situ for the aestheticcontinuity of the documentary and its correct narrative development

Creat ion of 3D animat ions. The animations in 3D will complement the technical explanation on the different devices used for theconstruction of the CyberSyn project and will be based on testimonies of the participants and resources conserved by different institutionsand people.

Semant ic map. The semantic map will explain the different concepts that involved the development of the CyberSyn project.

Tim e Line.This line of time will be constructed on the basis of the different chronological historical landmarks.

DOCUMENTAL


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Fi lm m ater ia l view.The view of the material will be made from the beginning of the process of recording in the occasion to select thematerial and complementing with graphical images the stories of the different interviewed people.

Edit ion and post product ion of the mat er ia l .The edition of the documentary will have two stages:

1. Documentary edition.This edition will have around 1 hour of duration.

2. Documentary edition made for the interactive installation. This edition will be subdivided in different points:

- Interviews and historical context: The spectator will be able to build up his/her own story.

- Time line: It will explain the chronological process and the main landmarks that were developed before during and after the CyberSynproject.

- Semantic Map: interactive thesaurus of concepts related to the CyberSyn project. This space will allow the visitor to identify the conceptsrelated to this project.

- Technical Analysis of devices in 3D: Animations of the different computers and telex machines used for the development from theproject.


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Proj ect ion and design of chair .This stage will be made supported by the testimonies of participants in the project and the documentsarchived at the University John Moore in Liverpool/ England. Additionally, the new requirements for the optimization for the interactive

installation will be implemented.

Constr uct ion of chair .The construction of the chair will be made in a factory or storeroom, with similar materials to those used by theCyberSyn project. In this construction the implementation of a computer supported interactive menu will be contemplated.

Program ming for in t erac t ive menu. This menu will be made in director or max jitter (sofwares oriented to the programming of objectsand the handling external controllers).

Internet si te. The Internet site will contain the important parts of the project, and it will be presented as an information space in whichthe visitors will be able to offer comments and suggestions.

Tree of the site: - Beginning - Historical Context - Related Texts - Semantic Map - Line of time - Related Bonds - Contact Exhibition

INTERACTIVE INSTALATION


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Exhibition

In addition to a permanent exhibition based on the Internet site, we contemplate making different exhibitions.

One of the proposed places is the cultural centre at La Moneda Palace (the Presidential Palace in Chile), since it represents a symbolichistorical place for this exhibit. We also contemplate an itinerant exhibition, exhibiting the chair in different art and new media museumsand galleries.


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During the government of Salvador Allendein Chile, in the early 70s, was undertakenone of the most ambitious and creativeprojects about the use of information andcommunication technologies in the world;the CyberSyn Project or the Synco Projectas it was called in Chile.

Fernando Flores, whom in 1970 becamethe technical general manager of CORFO,was responsible for the management ofthe State owned enterprises. Managing thenewly nationalised enterprises, togetherwith the ones that traditionally had beenin CORFOs hands, required creating aflexible and transparent informationsystem. He was well informed about the

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

theories and solutions proposed by theBritish scientist Stafford Beer since his daysas an engineering student and incollaboration with Raul Espejo, who alsoworked at CORFO, wrote a letter full of the

revolutionary spirit that Chile lived in thosedays.

Beer not only gave quick attention to Florescall, but also saw in that request animportant opportunity to put in practicehis scientific work, which British companieshad disregarded as perhaps too advancedfor the time. He then adjusted hisprofessional priorities and started to travel

to Chile, where he begun to work with agroup of engineers, designers, scientistsand technicians, in one of the mostinnovative projects about information andcommunications in the world, consideringthat the Arpanet project, the first computerbased communications network developedby the military in the United States, had

just begun in 1969.

The Allendes government, after his firstvisit, in a bold decision, gave Stafford Beerthe green light to proceed with atechnological experiment at national level,which he called CyberSyn. The name inChile was Proyecto Synco.

Salvador AllendeChilean president (1970-1973)

Fernando FloresCORFO technical manager (1970-197 3)


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Beer described this project like the designof a nervous system, through whichimportant administrative, economic andsocial decisions would run. This referenceto the neurosciences, a characteristic ofcybernetic thinking, l inked the project tothe biological concept of autopoiesis,

created by the Chilean scientists HumbertoMaturana and the deceased FranciscoVarela, and made the project accessible toPresident Allende, thanks to his medicalstudies. Formally, an autopoietic systemis operationally closed, structurallydetermined and self-regulated,fundamental characteristics of the Syncoproject.

The Synco Project was focused on thedevelopment of communications (i.e. the

Telex network), information to supportmanagement (i.e. a system of indices ofperformance), which required of

computational resources (provided by theNational Computing Enterprise- ECOM) anda decision node to display information andmake decisions (The Operations Room).Raul Espejo was responsible for the day-to-day management of these activities andStafford Beer was the scientific director

throughout.

The design and construction of theOperations Room required the technicalcontribution of a group of designers andtechnicians, who recently were identifiedby the architect Hugo Palmarola in hisstudy of the evolution of the design inChile, where he offers an extensivereference to this project. In 1971 the newlycreated Group for Industrial Design at the

Technological Institute of Chile (INTEC)

started the design of the Operations Room,under the supervision of Gui Bonsiepe,becoming an important point ofconvergence between the arts, science,technology and the systemic thinking ofcybernetics.

The key problem addressed by this projectwas the transmission of relevantinformation in real time to support decision-making. This was a deficiency in private

enterprises as much as in governmentthroughout the world. Delays of months,if not years, were common. In those yearsthe development of information systemsnot only lacked adequate technologycompared with that is available today, butmost significantly of good models tounderstand the complexi ty of organisational processes. The model

proposed by Beer for this project was hisViable System Model, which allowedmodelling the complexity of the ChileanState without the need of great volumesof information. The design of a limitednumber of key indicators for management,fed daily by data coming from companies

of the social sector, allowed the system toprovide managers at all structural levelswith reports in almost real time aboutsignificant changes in the industrialeconomy.

This system was implemented in two

computers located in Santiago, and theflow of data was supported by about 500

Telex located in di fferent points of thecountry. This meant a great advance in theconstruction of a society based oninformation technology, and it would havemeant a great advance for Chile shouldhave it evolved without the interruption ofthe 11 of September of 1973 coup d'etat.

Ral EspejoChilean manager of the Project CyberSync

Gui BonsiepeDesign coordinator INTEC


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Actually, the system had limited use for multiple technicaland political reasons. However, some people granted thatone of its products was coordinating the flow of trucksfrom and towards the state owned companies during thetransport strike of October 1972, organized by right winggroups and financed by the CIA.

CyberSyn should have had a wider use from September1973; Presidente Allende had asked to move the OperationsRoom to the Presidential Palace. Unfortunately, even beforethe military coup, there were speculations in the pressthat this was a sinister system to support repression. Theproject was seen as the great socialist brother. After thecoup, the developments and equipment of the Syncoproject were destroyed irremediably.

For Stafford Beer this project, in spite of its sudden end,

meant a great contribution to his experience, as he reflectedin one of his great works "The Brain of the Firm (secondedition)", which still today is an important point of referenceto understand communication and information structuresin the economy.


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This art project is an action research

investigation of or_am.

or_am is Catalina Ossa, multimedia artist, and

Enrique Rivera, filmmaker and audiovisual artist.If you want to help us to develope it or learn

more about the cybersyn project, we encourage

you to contact us:

or_am lab phone: 56-2-6395679

cell phone: 56-9-9493368

e-mail Catalina: [email protected]

e-mail Enrique: [email protected]

URL: www.or-am.cl

Documents

Proyecto Cybersyn Ingles