Fair hack

École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne (ECAL) university student Sebastian Vargas wants to help bridge the digital and physical divide by using Instagram as a directory service to connect him with new people.

Every time Vargas posts a photo on @post.gram, a bot uses its geolocation data to look for someone living nearby using a public directory. Once found, that contact is automatically added to his phone and sent a printed postcard of the image. New contacts are then called to notify them with a proposal to meet and film the encounter.

In one encounter on a pleasant Swiss estate, Route de Chavannes, Vargas meets an unidentified football fan who laments the stadium ban he received while at a game with his brother. In another he meets an unidentified female playwright as she comes to a revelation about the character Antigone of ancient European theatre.

‘Postgram is my personal automated online bot dedicated to the practice of ‘fair hack’,’ says Vargas. Using only open public digital services and applications, the student has been able to adopt an original approach to storytelling.