Projektmodul / Project Module
Subversive Computing for Shared Interactions
Instructor: Vertr.-Prof. Jason Reizner
Credits: 18 ECTS, 12 SWS
Capacity: max. 15 students
Language: English
Date: Plenum: Tuesdays, 11:00-18:30; Consultations: Wednesdays by appointment
Location: Marienstrasse 7b, Room 104 Now Online!
First Meeting: 3 November 2020, 13:30
(Link to online meeting will be sent to accepted participants by email.)
BISON Course ID: 320220028
Description
"The programmability of the earth and its environments as operation-spaces activates distinct ways of approaching the planet as a modifiable object."
–Jennifer Gabrys, Program Earth
In the upheaval of an uncertain world, it has become clear to many that the 'black box' technologies which underpin and mediate interactions between humans, digital infrastructure and physical environments have assumed an outsized role in dictating how we work, socialize, discourse, transact and govern. Although the development of these technologies has been decades in the making, the perceived disruption of the present and the accompanying sudden shift towards the blanket adoption and normalization of these opaque systems has introduced into the zeitgeist a general uneasiness with their topology, transparency and power dynamics.
As centralized, closed-ecosystem and macroscale industrial approaches to telepresence, surveillance, social engagement, content production and information delivery cement themselves into the daily existence and lived experience of billions of users, the need for distributed, open and local interventions that reclaim technical self-determination and facilitate agency at the edge of interaction has never been more pressing. This project module provides a platform for artists, designers and architects to explore and speculate how technologies including edge computing, lightweight machine learning, generative and autonomous systems, environmental sensing, urban cybernetics and participatory platforms can be leveraged and deployed by individuals and groups to affect change in personal and community interaction contexts.
Through a series of lectures, readings, workshops and targeted discussions, participants will address topics including data collection, aggregation and correlation; sensor and actor systems; machine learning and neural networks; computer vision and biometrics; location-based and behavior-based applications; wearable electronics and cyborgs; telepresence and telerobotics.
Admission requirements
Enrollment in MKG/MAD MFA, PANAS MFA or MediaArchitecture MSc programs
Application and registration procedure
Application with CV and Statement of Motivation to jason.reizner [ät] uni-weimar.de
Evaluation
Successful completion of the course is dependent on regular attendance, active participation, completion of assignments and delivery of a relevant semester prototype and documentation. Please refer to the Evaluation Rubric for more details.
Eligible participants
MFA Medienkunst/-gestaltung, MFA Media Art and Design, MFA Public Art and New Artistic Strategies, MSc MediaArchitecture candidates
Platforms and Tools
TBA
Syllabus (subject to change)
3 November 2020 / Week 1
Introduction
Course Organization
Administrative Housekeeping
Assignment: For next week, please review Computer Lib/Dream Machines by Ted Nelson:
http://www.newmediareader.com/book_samples/nmr-21-nelson.pdf
Please be ready to present for five minutes on your preliminary ideas for your concept for your semester project.