Porta2030 - Imaginary And Real

Ilze Black


Porta2030 initiated by Take20301 started as performative urgency network exercise first realised in real situ during the week in April06 on Broadway Market, East London. In winter06 Porta2030 continued its mission at Dirty Yoga, Taipei Biennial 2006.

Run Porter Run

Porta2030 much inspired by the melt down of London's mobile phone network in the aftermath of the 7/7 events is response and endeavour to build parallel, decentralised mobile network run by multitude itself. Porta2030 embraces experimental open source technology and wifi street networks which relied on peer to peer (mesh) connectivity. By predicting a porta(ble) network era and suggesting possible practice Porta2030 deploys porta-packs - a mobile network units that utilises existing off the shelf technologies detourn by hackers from hivenetworks and are clothed by Vexed Generation. Porta-pack functions as a portable data sensing-storage-tranmission unit, for multi-faceted transmission that is easy to use and comfortably curried by porta-porters.

You Are The Net, You Are Porta-Porter

On April06 Porta2030 released first call searching for urgency network porta-porters around Broadway Market in East London. For accurate port(ing) of local environments and personal takes the script for urgency signal performance was developed with participants during a weekly workshops conducted at different shops and cafes around the market. Discussions not only range from what urgencies and emergencies means today but also what generates it in locality like Broadway Market that undergoes changes of regeneration schemes. Questions like "does all urgencies are related to feeling of fear or are there urgencies of joy"? "what unites us and what sets us apart?" came on foreground of debate. Port(ing) individual feelings while responding to urgency signal created the bases for Porta2030 first week long public network performance.

Open Source Open Network Open Society

After the success of London trial Take2030 took off to Taipei Biennial titled Dirty Yoga this year, to investigate possibility and kick start production of building 6billion portapacks for year 2030! Porta2030 workstation was erected at Taipei Fine Art Museum and open call for collaborators released across Taipei.

workstation: http://www.flickr.com/photos/porta2030/sets/72157594396660213/show/

During 3 month Porta2030 workstation draw together many developers from Taipei open source community and fashion students from Shijeng University. Collectively the new team continued the development of porta-pack for year 2030. Brought together by common visions Taipei fashion and software designers came up with new code and design solutions hacking into locally produced technologies.

action : http://www.flickr.com/photos/46818590@N00/sets/72157594560255283/show/

sketches: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46818590@N00/sets/72157594560298823/show/

Inspired for self organisation Porta2030 Taipei team carried out open public performance on February 24, 2007 offering psychogeographical mapping happening for museum audience.

"The porta-pack has limitless potential in practical use. The only limit is your imagination."

Next propagation meeting: Takeaway Festival 2007.


  1. TAKE2030 is brave new media society that operates in parallel net media scheme and shifts the social media mission into hypermedia playing fields. Take2030 imagines post crash scenarios and activates wide variety or producers, hackers, designers, digital artisans, engineers, social workers, free agents and public to create the new situations for year 2030.