hackteria

We are starting a series of talks/presentations aiming to discuss openly the multitudes of bio art | sci | tec and related practices. HSC (Hackteria Swiss Curriculum) is a cooperation of Hackteria and Corner College, Kochstrasse 1, 8004 Zürich. Find map here

HSC#1: The case study and review of HackteriaLab 2014 – Yogyakarta
Date: 14.05.2014 – 20h
Speaker: Marc Dusseiller (CH)

Researcher and artist Marc Dusseiller, formerly know as Pak Marcjono, will give a presentation of the most recent HackteriaLab taking place in Yogyakarta (Indonesia) from 13. – 25. April 2014, a collaboration of hackteria and their long term partner, lifepatch – citizen initiative in art, science and technology, together with diverse local partners. The two week collaborative and interdisciplinary practice of HLab14 was defined by three ongoing Ecological Research Nodes within the practice of the local Indonesian facilitators. The topics are tightly related to the daily life of Yogyakarta. They are: 1. Biorecovery of Volcanic Soil, 2. Environmental Monitoring of the Rivers, 3. Biodiversity conservation in Wonosadi Forest, together with the focus on Open Source Hardware and DIY & Low-Cost Laboratory Infrastructure.

HLab14 brought together a large group of international and regional participants, of makers, artists, scientists, hackers, educators to investigate and foster the concept of DIWO (do-it-with-others), bio art and citizen science. HLab 14 had a strong focus on workshopology, sharing and collaboration, field-trips and musical experimentation, and was additionally presented in an exhibition format at LAF, Yogyakarta from 25 April – 2. May.

See more information and impressions about HackteriaLab 2014 – Yogyakarta here

Hackterialab2014 from antirender on Vimeo.

More about hackteria
Hackteria is a community platform encouraging the collaboration of scientists, hackers and artists to combine their experitise to develop access to practical knowledge in the artistic engagement with the life sciences. The web platform servers to share simple instructions to work with life science technologies and the network cooperates on the organization of workshops, temporary labs, hack-sprints and meetings. To create public discussions hackteria invites international artists, tinkerers and scientists for critical and theoretical discourse. Since 2010 the network met regularly and gathered for the first editions of HackteriaLab in Switzerland in 2010 & 2011, where the Asia-European collaborations have intensified, including co-organisation and active participation at HackteriaLab2013 – Bangalore (IN) and now for HLab14 in Yogyakarta. Hands-on workshop within this network have been held in more than 20 countries since 2009.

Upcoming:
The presentation is part of a series on the topic of Bioart organized by Hackteria Society and Corner College.

HSC#2: Hybrid Ecology | The Finnish Society of Bioart
Date: 16.06.2014 – 20h
Speaker: Erich Berger (AT/FI)

We are living in a technologically informed world. Our life takes place in hybrid space merging the physical and virtual. As we continue to develop and use technologies which now also include the manipulation of the living we are challenged to rethink our concepts and relations to the environment we inhabit. He will introduce various activities hosted by the Finnish Society of Bioart, their ongoing residency program in Kilpisjärvi and their most recent publication ““Field_Notes – From Landscape to Laboratory – Maisemasta Laboratorioon”.

Erich Berger is a visual artist and trained as a communication engineer and in philosophy. He has produced interactive art installations, artistic wearable interfaces, audiovisual performances and sound-art, which have been shown internationally since the mid 90ties. He also works as educator, curator, content developer and facilitator, focusing on the intersection of art, technology and science. Research interests include telerobotics and telematically mediated environments, interactive participatory spaces, sonification and visualisation of real-time processes with related questions in composition, semiotics and linguistics, generative processes, feedback situations and autopoietic systems. His research engages with hybrid space, deep time processes, biology and ecology and involves the facilitation of interdisciplinary environments for working and learning. His research also includes close cooperation with international partners within the arts and sciences.

HSC#3: A critical perspective on bio-art between tactical media and artistic playground
Date: 16.07.2014 – 20h
Speaker: Boris Magrini (CH)

Since many tools and wetware products to create bio-labs have become affordable, artists have experimented with bio-technologies. Hence, bio-art has established itself as the latest trend in the field of media art. However, this artistic production is extremely heterogeneous, encompassing the spectacular works of Eduardo Kac and SymbioticA, the thought-provoking ones of Paul Vanouse and the Critical Art Ensemble, or again the participative and performative activities of Hackteria, for instance. How have these
practices been described and examined by critics and historians? How were they presented in institutions, museums and festivals? Furthermore, what are the future challenges for the artists engaging in biotechnologies? Through the discussion of a selection of works, exhibitions and essays, I will attempt to answer these questions and offer a possible, critical perspective on bio-art and its reception.