A voté
Shown: Cavea, historic council chamber of the Gouvernement, Ghent, 3–11 October 2026, as part of Design Fest Gent
Curated by: DesignUnDisciplined and BRUT Collective (scenography)
Shown with: Wendy Andreu x Bram Vanderbeke; Bento; Théophile Blandet; Matthijs De Block; Liesbet Bussche; Marie Caye; Laurie Charles; Studio Copain; Suzanne Corcessin; Amandine David; Elise de Falletans; Charles Degeyter; Laurids Gallée; Damien Gernay; Wim Goes Architectuur; Charlotte Jonckheer; Suhee Kim x Camille Tan; atelier lachaert dhanis; Audrey Large; Noémie Le Meur; Flora Lechner; Carlo Lorenzetti; Christine Louviaux; Odd Matter; Nonhuman Nonsense; Maxime Prananto; ROBBERT&FRANK FRANK&ROBBERT; Vera Roggli & Julia Villamonte; Dries Segers; Yoon Shun; Sidequest; Diane Steverlynck x Maud Vande Veire x OpenStructures; Camille Tan; Linde Freya Tangelder; Terrain Vague; Tim Teven x Flora Lechner; Gijs Van Vaerenbergh; Bram Vanderbeke; Sharon Van Overmeiren; Nel Verbeke; Eline Willemarck; Nicolas Zanoni.
Photo credits: Alexander Popelier and Guillaume Slizewicz
A lamp that turns on and off depending on the decision of a council of five micro-computers.
A voté is a lamp controlled by five microcontrollers, five ESP32s, each with its own temperament. Every ten minutes they vote on whether the light should be on or off. The deliberation is accessible through a local Wi-Fi network.
A voté (has voted) is the ritual phrase used by polling officials in France once a physical ballot has been cast. At a time when AI agents are gaining autonomy, can coordinate, and have more and more influence on our lives, and while Western democracies grow weaker as their voters are increasingly tempted by authoritarian solutions, A voté prefigures the world to come: a humanless society, where objects discuss what to do with the remnants of our civilisation.
Follow the debate
Wherever the lamp is shown, visitors can connect their phone to the a-vote Wi-Fi network. The assembly’s page opens automatically, or at 192.168.4.1. There they can follow the debate, or tap Convene the assembly to start a sitting.
A voté was shown in Cavea, an exhibition by DesignUnDisciplined and BRUT Collective in the historic council chamber of the Gouvernement in Ghent, as part of Design Fest Gent.