View source for Stack In The Middle With You: Letters Against the Algorithm

{{Event
|Name=Stack In The Middle With You: Letters Against the Algorithm
|Location=H&D Studio
|Date=2026/07/17
|Time=11:00-13:30
|PeopleOrganisations=Vittoria Crall
|Type=HDSC2026
|Web=Yes
|Print=No
}}
''This event is only for participants of the Summer Camp 2026 and not open to the public, want to join us: check the [[HDSC2026 Clouds to Commons Public Program]]''


We live in an era of digital hyper-individualism, which is gradually eroding the foundations of community life. In the Western world, the liberal state and capitalism have promised wellness and happiness through services and consumption, resulting in a profound void: an endless quest for self-optimisation at the expense of deep-rooted collective ties. This workshop addresses the urgent need to counter this trend by exploring alternative ways of forming emotional connections within the hyper-surveilled layers of digital labour, such as delivery algorithms, data centres, micro-tasking platforms and cloud maintenance.

'''Activity:''' Working in small groups, participants will be given a narrative prompt to immerse them in a scenario of invisible labour within the digital infrastructure. In this scenario, a “human package” -- be it a friendship, a love affair or collective solidarity -- must navigate the cold, unyielding gaze of an algorithmic surveillance apparatus. Each group will then devise a brief message of care, tenderness or subversion and a “speculative hack” to safely route that message, exploiting the affordances and limitations of the system (e.g. encryption, symbols, system logs, sensor telemetry, gestures or data flows).

* No prior technical expertise is required; all that is needed is imagination and curiosity.
* Materials and equipment: I will provide a template sheet for each group. Pens, pencils or coloured markers will be needed to write the message and create any diagrams or drawings. Ideally, the final product should be bound, with a tangible copy provided to each participant. Access to a photocopier, scissors, glue and sticky tape will be useful for making a physical zine.

'''The final results (the letters and their speculative exploit diagrams) will be compiled into a collective epistolary zine: a short 21st-century symposium on human sensitivity and intersectional solidarity.'''

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