Open Call! HDSA2020: Network Imaginaries

Open Call! HDSA2020: Network Imaginaries
Name	Open Call! HDSA2020: Network Imaginaries
Location	The Internet and a distributed network of local hosts
Date	2020/05/15
Time	[[]]
PeopleOrganisations	Hackers & Designers
Type	HDSA2020
Web	Yes
Print	No

HDSA2020 will take place July 20-25, 2020

In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic Hackers & Designers acknowledges the importance of continuity and solidary action, thus proposes an alternative format for the 6th edition of the H&D Summer Academy (HDSA2020). Without rendering the current events as an opportunity we restructured our annual H&D Summer Academy into a distributed workshop programme—taking place in one dedicated week in July! The outcome and highlights will be shared during a public program in autumn. In earlier editions we worked together with approximately 25 participants during 2 intensive weeks. While we promote the importance of physical encounters for community building, making friends and allies, having discussions and start new initiatives, we think its important to stay safe. Our proposal is to collaborate with smaller groups in different places in the world, help each other with developing and facilitating remote learning formats that will be presented and shared online, with a bigger group of participants. In one week in July we will be all hacking and designing in our own local communities or at home while being connected with the larger H&D network. H&D will support the different intiatives with resources and expertise, and by ensuring a learning infrastructure that is accessible and available to all participants.

We therefore invite creative practitioners whose interest lie in critically and practically engaging with technology, to join us in reflecting and reimagining distributed practices. Whether it be fashion designers, system administrators, or disobedient citizens—we invite the H&D community and the wider public to learn together about network technologies in experimental and hands-on ways. Under the overarching title 'Network Imaginaries' we will challenge and activate participants to use and push the boundaries of existing technology and programming platforms (webware, hardware, software), online/offline networks, high and low tech (internet, IPFS, darknet, peer2peer, blockchain, bot networks), and user experience, all in a practical manner—and while addressing the ethical implications of the proposed technologies and processes.

OPEN CALL FOR WORKSHOPS

Are you a collective or a group of people interested in workshopping topics, technologies and practices revolving around 'Network Imaginaries'? This call is for you!

We are looking for artists, thinkers, coders and other makers to delve with us into three thematic angles:

Objects: Concrete networks

Taking the materiality of network infrastructures as a departure point, we are interested in lifting the fog off cloud concepts, and investigating material implications, such as emissions, the built environment, co-habitation of humans and non-humans, socio-economic and environmental implications of information architecture.

How can we learn from and speculate on concrete digital objects?

Practice: Networked collectivity

The H&D collective could be described as a host as well as a network. We therefore see the importance in constantly reflecting on our own practice, interdependence, relations, movements. How can we, as a collective, help to build relations in sustainable, reliable and responsible ways, while simultaneously challenging dominant technological infrastructures?

Preservation: Weaving Webs

Taking into account the constant dataflows that surround us, what are flexible yet secure and accessible means of disseminating information self-consciously? What are inter-social and technical protocols that accomodate and allow for critical reflections about the ways we distribute information?

How does the distributed HDSA work?

• We will select 6 workshop initiatives.
• You have one month time to develop a 'workshop script' that is accessible for anyone to join. This could be a translation of an already existing workshop (developed for a physical space) or an entirely new workshop script developed for this exceptional circumstance. That means a clear outline of the workshop, a video tutorial if needed, or a well documented readme file, and a list of the necessary equipment.
• We offer a fee of 500€ for each workshop development including 100€ of material costs.
• The 6 scripts will be made available to all participants on the week of the summer academy July 20-25
• Workshop facilitators should be available for occasional questions from participants during the workshop week July 20-25.
• You will be welcome to also join any of the other proposed workshops during that week, either as a collective or individual!

How to Apply?

Submit your proposal...

Deadline for submitting proposals is: 15 May 2020

Related Activities

Throughout the years H&D has been exploring and imagining different network concepts and networked practices in many ways. Looking back at some of our activities dealing with ‘Network Imaginaries’ we are getting very excited about the upcoming Summer Academy!

• Hypermush a workshop with Andre Fincato and Marcel Goethals during HDSA2018
• Modem Workshop a workshop with Dennis de Bel & Roel Roscam Abbing during HDSA2016
• Build your own node a workshop with Frank Beks The Things Network during HDSA2017
• Dowse a workshop with Dyne.org during HDSA2016
• Eliza Ludd the Fog and the Shade a workshop by Char Stiles and Ollie George during HDSA2019
• Walking Signals Workshop Part One a workshop by dianaband in 2019
• Protocols a workshop by Joel Galvez during HDSA2018

AN OPEN CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS WILL FOLLOW ON 15 MAY 2020

Save the date for registering as participant and stay up to date about HDSA announcements by signing up for our mailinglist (send an email to news-join@lists.hackersanddesigners.nl)

Participation this year is free of charge, yet we are asking you kindly to consider donating an amount between EUR 20-50,00 for your participation in the H&D Summer Academy programme taking place 20-25 July 2020.

DO YOU WANT TO SUPPORT US?

H&D is looking for patrons to support our efforts to transition to a localized yet remote environment! Send us an amount you would like to donate + your phone number to info@hackersanddesigners.nl and we will send you payment information.

About Hackers & Designers

H&D is a non-profit workshop initiative with an emphasis on technology, design and art, and cross-disciplinary exchange. By creating shared moments of learning and unlearning, H&D invites ‘makers’, and ‘users’ to discuss topics related to reliances on technology in our daily physical and digital, private and professional lives. H&D furthermore promotes and stimulate self-initiation and strategies of self-determined making to enable socio-technological literacy and critical citizenship.

Kindly supported by Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie