Benjamin Gaulon

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Benjamin Gaulon (born 29 June 1979 in Montereau-Fault-Yonne, Seine-et-Marne, France) is a French artistresearcher, educator and cultural producer whose work explores the environmental and social impacts of consumer technologies. Since the early 2000s, his practice has addressed issues such as planned obsolescence, consumerism, disposable society and consumer culture through circuit bending, hardware hacking, and media archaeology. He has previously released work under the name "recyclism". More recently, Gaulon has expanded his research into ecological and technological symbiosis, co-founding the collective Nø (2018)[1] and Nø School Nevers (2019),[2] and developing projects such as the Internet of Living Things (2025).

Biography

Benjamin Gaulon is known for critical interventions that repurpose consumer technologies and question the lifecycle of electronic devices. His projects often address obsolescence, electronic waste, and the hidden infrastructures of networked systems, through interactive installations, workshops, and performances.[3][4]

He received a degree in Visual Communication from l'École Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg and a MFA in Interactive Media & Environment from the Frank Mohr Institute. During his time at the Frank Mohr Institute, he developed several high-profile projects, including de Pong Game,[5][6] the Recycling Entertainment System,[7][8] The PrintBall[9][10][11] and Corrupt.[5]

After Graduating, Benjamin Gaulon started leading 'D.A.T.A. (Dublin Art and Technology Association) and co-founded the Irish Museum of Contemporary Art in 2007. Since 2005, in collaboration with Lourens Rozema, he is running workshops entitled the e-waste workshops,[12] inviting participants to create art projects from recycled electronic waste.

From 2006 to 2013, he was a lecturer in fine art media at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, where he taught courses on digital media, electronics, and critical approaches to technology.[3]

From 2013 to 2018, Benjamin Gaulon was Assistant Professor and Program Director at Parsons Paris, where he launched and directed the BFA in Art, Media & Technology (2013) and the MFA in Design + Technology (2014). He also served on key academic committees and contributed to faculty recruitment, training, and student advising.[13]

In 2018, Benjamin Gaulon co-founded the collective Nø[1] with artist Dasha Ilina, a non-profit dedicated to promoting emerging art and design research on the environmental and social dimensions of information and communication technologies (ICTs).[2]

Since 2019, he has also been co-director of Nø Nevers, an annual summer school and festival in Nevers, France, combining workshops, lectures, and exhibitions on digital culture and critical design.[2][14][15]

He currently teaches at SciencesPo, École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay (diplôme en Recherche-Création, ARRC), CentraleSupélec – Université Paris-Saclay, and is a regular lecturer at HEAD – Genève (Haute école d'art et de design).[2]

Notable projects

  • Recycle Bin Project (2002) – An open-source software intervention exploring digital waste and the lifecycle of deleted files.[16]
  • De Pong Game : Augmented Reality (2003) – An augmented architecture interactive projection.[5][6]
  • Digitalrecycling (2004) – An online community project.[17]
  • Corrupt (2004) – An online glitching software.[18][19][20]
  • The PrintBall (2004-2005) – A modified paintball gun used as a printing device, merging street art, robotics, and hacking culture (with Géraud de Bizien)[9][10][11]
  • Recycling Entertainment System (2004) – An interactive installation.[7][8]
  • 2.4 kHz Project (2008) – A series of works repurposing wireless camera signals to expose the lack of privacy and security in consumer surveillance devices.[21][22][23][24]
  • Hard Drivin' (2010) – A Twitter controlled installation. (with Ivan Twohig and Brian Solon)[25]
  • ReFunct Media (since 2010) – A Hardware hacking installation.[26]
  • Internet of Living Things (2025) — Developed during a residency at Creative Coding Utrecht (CCU), IoLT is a prototype "technological totem" merging obsolete artifacts, live plants, and electroculture devices, investigating how electromagnetic fields might influence plant growth and how electronic waste can be reimagined within ecological systems.[27]
  • The Internet of Dead Things (2025) — This book explores the creative reuse of obsolete digital devices and electronic waste. Developed through the Internet of Dead Things Institute, the book presents projects that transform outdated technologies—like Minitel terminals—into functional, open-source tools, investigating sustainability, planned obsolescence, and the ecological and cultural potential of “dead” technologies.[28]

Exhibitions

Selected exhibitions, screenings and performances include:

  • 2011, Resonate – Belgrade – Serbia
  • 2011, C4 Contemporary Art – Los Angeles – USA
  • 2011, Flux Factory – New York City – USA
  • 2011, R.I.P. – Recycling Pervasive Media, Intervening in Planned Obsolescence – Banff – Canada
  • 2011, New York Electronic Art Festival 2011 – Harvestworks – NYC – USA
  • 2011, Bent Festival 2011 – NYC – USA
  • 2011, Filtering Failure, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  • 2010, BLK River Festival, Vienna, Austria
  • 2010, Les Grandes Traversées 2010, Royan, Soulac, Bordeaux, France
  • 2010, Arts Research: Publics and Purposes conference, GradCam, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
  • 2009, International Symposium on Electronic Art 2009, Dublin, Ireland
  • 2009, ISEA 2009, The LAB, Dublin, Ireland
  • 2008, Dublin Electronic Art Festival 2008, Dublin, Ireland
  • 2008, Square Eyes Festival, Arnhem, The Netherlands
  • 2008, TECHNOTHREADS, The Science Gallery, Trinity College. Dublin, Ireland
  • 2008, Lightwave08, The Science Gallery, Trinity College. Dublin, Ireland
  • 2007, Dublin Electronic Art Festival 2007, Dublin, Ireland
  • 2007, Cluster, Gallery la Chaufferie, École Supérieure des Art Décoratifs de Strasbourg, France
  • 2007, Come out and Play, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  • 2007, Sous la Plage, Paris, France
  • 2006, SUPERFLUX, Gallery Roger Tator, Lyon, France
  • 2006, €10000 SHOW, W139, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  • 2006, Art Rock, Inter-disciplinary Festival, St Brieuc, France
  • 2005, Ososphere Festival, Strasbourg, France
  • 2005, Axis Festival, Assen, The Netherlands
  • 2004, Cite Rap Festival N.6, St Brieuc, France
  • 2004, Festival Sonic Acts X Unsorted, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

References

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  1. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Association Nø". www.nowebsite.org. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Nø School website". Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  3. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gaulon, Benjamin. "Benjamin Gaulon – Recyclism". Recyclism.com. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."SICT Doctoral School < Benjamin Gaulon". SICT Doctoral School. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  5. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Contact coinop: Comment (22 March 2006). "Interview/Article by Brucker-Cohen, Jonah. Gizmodo Gallery: Benjamin Gaulon. Gizmodo (Mar 22, 2006)". Gizmodo.com. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  6. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Clement, Thiery. "de Pong Game" Regarde (July, 2007)". Regarde.org. Archived from the original on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  7. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."O'Shea, Chris. The Res. Pixelsumo August 2005". Pixelsumo.com. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  8. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Kirn, Peter. Create Digital Music. The Res: Multiplayer Mac Music with 6 NES Controllers (August 2005)". Createdigitalmusic.com. 3 August 2005. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  9. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."O'Shea, Chris. Printball by Recyclism. Pixelsumo August 2005". Pixelsumo.com. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  10. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Zjawinski, Sonia. "Graffiti Hackers". Wired Magazine Issue 13.12, December 2005". Wired. 4 January 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  11. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."""PrintBall" Paintball Inkjet Printer" core77 July 2005". Core77.com. 1 July 2005. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Recyclism E-Waste Workshop". recyclism.com. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Parsons Paris' MFA DT/BFA AMT Director Benjamin Gaulon in Fast Company - Art, Media, & Technology". Art, Media, & Technology. 27 October 2015. Archived from the original on 20 May 2025. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ferreira, Elsa (21 March 2024). "NØ School : Apprendre à s'émanciper du capitalisme". Makery (in français). Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Champaulaune, Gwénola (3 May 2021). "Technologies de l'information - La No School revient, pour sa 2e édition, du 28 juin au 10 juillet, à la manufacture Montagnon à Nevers". Le Journal du Centre. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."digitalrecycling: online digital trash recycling center". recyclism.com. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Turbulence Spotlight 2004". Turbulence.org. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  18. ^ – Ludovico, Alessandro. "Corrupt, software for rotting pictures". Neural (magazine), November 2017
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Menkman, Rosa. "From enchanting to the default cultivation of artifacts, From software art to generic manipulation. Sunshine in my throat, July 2009"". Rosa-menkman.blogspot.com. 22 July 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Turbulence Spotlight 2010". Turbulence.org. 21 October 2010. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Canonico, Tony. "2.4 kHz, detourned surveillance". Neural Magazine. February 2008". Neural.it. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  22. ^ Brucker-Cohen, Jonah. "Sniff wireless video cameras with 2.4Ghz". Makezine. February 2008 Script error: No such module "webarchive".
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Michael Lithgow (3 March 2008). "Lithgow, Michael. "Broadcasting the panopticon: Art project transforms wireless surveillance into public art". Art Threat. March 2008". Artthreat.net. Retrieved 17 January 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."reBlog. "FC#3 – Self-portraits by Benjamin Gaulon". Eyebeam. July 2010". Eyebeam.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Visnjic, Filip. "5 Twitter Art Projects – Volume 3" Creative Applications, March 2010"". Creativeapplications.net. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Lechner, Marie. "Techno : recyclage à l'oeuvre" Libération, March 2011"". Ecrans.fr. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  27. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Residency Benjamin Gaulon | Creative Coding Utrecht". creativecodingutrecht.nl. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  28. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Internet of Dead Things – Benjamin Gaulon". CreativeApplications.Net. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
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