Notable Installations, Workshops in the Foyer

31.01.2015
Photo by Julian Paul

Notable Installations, Workshops in the Foyer

transmediale attendees can very easily get captured (pun intended) in the myriads of programme events. But, festival goers would do well to make a short pilgrimage to The Foyer, where a number of installations, workshops, and conferences are taking place. Within are some highlights from Saturday's Foyer Programme, from conferences to workshops and installations.

transmediale attendees can very easily get captured (pun intended) in the myriads of programme events. Screening and conference-hopping can be wondrous blackholes, and musical performances draw good crowds as well. But, festival goers would do well to make a short pilgrimage to The Foyer, where a number of installations, workshops, and conferences are taking place. Below are some highlights from Saturday's Foyer Programme, from conferences to workshops and installations. 

CN:FM's "Commoning the Network"

One of Saturday's great foyer events was CN:FM's "Commoning the Network". CN:FM, for the uninitiated, is an "online/offline network of researchers and digital creative practitioners interested in feminist methodologies". At CAPTURE ALL's Foyer Hub 2, CN:FM held two workshops, led by Penny Travlou and Sophia Lycouris, to co-create and share knowledge, and do so with a feminist approach to technology.

One of the big points of discussion was on the idea of a "feminist server". Originated by Ministry of Hacking's Femke Snelting and Peter Westenberg, a feminist server is a collectivist-created and shared server that works as a counterpoint and breath of fresh air to the traditional commercial server. Like unMonastery, the definition of a feminist server is open to discussion and maleable. If you weren't able to hop on board this train at CAPTURE ALL, be sure to visit CN:FM's Facebook event page and watch this video for more information. 

Offline Art: 'You are not checked in, curated by Adam Bartholl

Those who past by Adam Bartholl-curated exhibition might be a bit confused. Worry not, because all you need is a mobile device or laptop. The Offline Art exhibition format is browser-based digital art broadcast locally from six wifi routers installed in the Foyer. You might have even noticed various different networks on your computer when trying to log on to transmediale's router. Those six other networks are the Offline Art exhibition. And each individual artwork is stored on a USB flash drive connected to each router.

 

Artists with work in Offline Art include Constant Dullaart, Emilie Gervais, Citizens Against Social Media, Claudia Mate, Evan Roth and Amalia Ullman. So, go check it out either tonight or Sunday. 

"Clandestine Offline Sharing Networks" Conference

Festival goers may have noticed two installation placards in the Foyer: Telekommunisten's DeadSwap.net and Harvey Warwick's DATAFIELD project. Both are, as the conference title indicated, clandestine offline sharing networks.

Warwick's DATAFIELD 2 takes the form of Network Attached Storage Unit. These are essentially computers that are used for storing and serving files. Since they are offline, they can be moved and hidden. DATAFIELD 3 is a set of USB sticks that are floating around transmediale. A collaboration with Telekommunisten's DeadSwap.net, DATAFIELD 3 allows people to find the USB sticks through text messages, and then add files, delete others, copy, and share. 

If there was one Foyer conference that absolutely everyone at transmediale CAPTURE ALL should have attended, it would be this one. 

Warwick and Telekommunisten's Baruch Gottlied and Dymtri Kleiner went into detail about their clandestine offline sharing networks, and how they can be created and used in the future. 

Hybrid Letter Box, by Design Research Lab (Andreas Unteidig mit Subsumption & unMonastery)

Also notable was the mysterious-looking Hybrid Letter Box. This red box with a LCD screen might look like a suggestion box that could fit in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, because that's pretty much what it is. Festival goers can write down (or illustrate) three reflections on three paper cards, and load them into the Hyper Letter Box. This little machine then transforms them into a collective digital stream on the box's screen, and http://www.design-research-lab.org/projects/hybrid-letter-box

Photos by Julian Paul (1 and 2) and DJ Pangburn (3 and 4)

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