Hacktion is a free micro event spreading over two days during the open days of the École Supérieure d’ Art et Design Saint-Etienne, in France. This event is organized by Aymeric Mansoux (http://goto10.org) and Antoine Moreau (http://artlibre.org) with the support of the ESADSE and the participation of Enrike Hurtado (http://www.ixi-software.net), Florian Cramer (http://pzwart.wdka.nl), Daltex (http://www.daltex-lab.com) and Anne Laforêt (http://www.sakasama.net).

Planning
• jeudi 21 janvier
Noon: Potlach Feast with the «cabas noir» Part I
Afternoon: Présentations from Antoine Moreau, Aymeric Mansoux, Enrike Hurtado, Daltex, as well as works from the students.
Evening: performances from Aymeric Mansoux, Enrike Hurtado, Anne Laforet + Daltatron session with Daltex.

• vendredi 22 janvier
Morning: roundtable with Florian Cramer, Anne Laforêt, Daltex
Noon: Potlach Feast with the «cabas noir» Part II
Afternoon: Programming crash course with Enrike Hurtado + improvised discussions, hacking, writing and drawing.

Workshop with Enrike Hurtado:

Crash course on programing. How to gain control of computers. Computers are pervasive in nowadays world. They are present in almost all moments of our lives, catching a train, sending an email, reading a newspaper… However, the design and production of those systems is controlled mostly by engineers. Thanks to modern programming languages and free software this is not so true any more. Any person
with some reasonable effort and cheap hardware can learn programming and therefore have its say on this. From the perspective of an artist/musician/creator, gaining control of the tools we use or at least understanding how they are built, gives us another perspective on the politics, ethics (and esthetics) implied by them.

In this crash course we will be exposed to tools, ideas and processes used on this field from a practical point of view. We will write small computers programs that communicate different computers in the network, we will control basic graphics, sound and video. We will get content from the internet such as images or data from websites and use it in our applications.

booking, info and hugs:http://www.esadse.fr

http://www.craftivism.net/

Invited artists/collectives: Kayle Brandon + Heath Bunting, Rhiannon Chaloner + Manuel Vason, glorious ninth, GOTO10, Rui Guerra, Household, Christine + Irene Hohenbüchler, JODI, Mandy McIntosh, Gloria Ojulari Sule, Trevor Pitt + Kate Pemberton, Janek Simon, Stephanie Syjuco, Clare Thornton, and projects produced with workshop participants + local residents.

Craftivism is an Arnolfini/Relational contemporary art project that responds to the resurgent interest in craft as it relates to socially-engaged art practice. It involves fourteen projects developed by artists and collectives that work with craft-based traditions and activist practices, and who employ the tactics of ‘craftivism’ (combining crafting + activism) to question and disrupt the prevailing codes of mass consumerism.

The project attempts to collapse the distinction between ‘making’ and ‘doing’ – the former associated with craft, the latter with human action. It places an emphasis on interaction and participation in the wider social realm, and employs aspects of self-organisation and ‘open- source’ principles. The artists involved engage with craft-based traditions through diverse practices including art, technology and fashion. Selected works exemplify ‘innovation’ in the general sense that newly invented forms might diverge from established rules and perceived norms.

Craftivism is developed in relation to a range of contexts and includes nine artist-led participatory projects developed with local
communities, the outcomes of which are shown as part of a gallery-based interactive exhibition, online and in free software-related
projects, workshops, talks and the uncurated satellite event UnCraftivism. Events also take place locally at Brandon Hill Park,
Colston Hall, Full Circle St. Paul’s Youth and Family Centre, Knowle West Media Centre and The Mall Bristol.

The project will invite public interaction and provide opportunities to take part, make work and learn craft-based skills to customise
products. It encourages wider communities to embrace the ‘freedom’ to create, modify and distribute products, and in so doing demonstrates the possibilities for people to modify their own lives.

Craftivism is part of the Artist/Activist season, a series of Arnolfini projects in Autumn/Winter 2009/2010 which provides a
socially-active forum for debate and learning around issues of climate change and alternatives to the culture of consumerism.

Arnolfini
16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, UK
http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/

Craftivism is an Arnolfini/Relational project curated by Zoë Shearman, Director, Relational, Geoff Cox, Associate Curator of Online Projects, Arnolfini, and Ann Coxon, Assistant Curator, Tate Modern. It has been developed with the support of a Crafts Council Spark Plug Curator Award and is funded by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Bristol City Council – Single Project Fund, The Crafts Council, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Mondriaan Foundation and Polska! Year. Additional support and partnership from Arnolfini Café Bar, Bradley Stoke Library, Bristol City Council Park’s Department, Bristol Rope & Twine, Cameron Lee Carpets, CLIC Sargent Cancer Care for Children, Colston Hall, The Cookery School at Bordeaux Quay, Craftspace, CSF Wrestling, Full Circle St. Paul’s Youth and Family Project, Galerie Martin Janda Vienna, Galsworthy Graphics, Knowle West Media Centre, Labour Behind the Labour, The Mall Bristol, Naturepaint.com, POD Projects, West Country Knotters and Wicklea Youth & Community Centre, Brislington.

Talk by Marloes de Valk at the Plan09 Open Source Planning Workshop Ehrenfeld. For an overview of the talk, please have a look here.

plan09 – forum for contemporary architecture
25.09.–02.10.2009

The exhibition and event program “plan” was launched in 1999 with the goal of creating a new mode of communication for architecture and urban development – an annual cultural occasion which is aimed equally at “insiders” from all sectors of architecture and at the general public. The “Forum for Contemporary Architecture” offers a network situation which serves not only to facilitate direct contact between those involved in architectural and urban development processes, but also to promote more public involvement with architecture, urban planning and building culture.

The central theme of plan09 continues to be “Urbanism”, which was also the focus of plan07 and plan08. People worldwide are once again attaching great importance and urgency to defining the ideals of cities and urban life – talk of the “renaissance of the city” is no longer limited to professional circles. Our forum for contemporary architecture this year will once again be dealing with the international debates about what the future holds for cities and urban life. How can, and should, cities in Europe and elsewhere around the globe develop, from enormous growth on one hand to shrinkage on the other? How do we define urbanity today, and how do urban planning and architectural concepts influence this definition? How can intelligent transportation structures be used to improve urban infrastructures and the quality of life? And what role will ecological concepts play in urban planning and action in future?

Not only will we take a look at the state of affairs in Germany, but we will also compare it with the situation in other countries, inviting international experts from the worlds of theory and practice to participate in presentations, discussions, symposia and workshops. Exhibitions, installations and events designed and implemented by curators, architects, municipal planners and artists from around the world will deal with and communicate the full breadth of this theme in diverse ways – in cooperation with German and international institutes and universities.

On tuesday 22nd of September Rob Canning and Claude Heiland-Allen of GOTO10 will give a short workshop on puredyne as part of the OpenLab London series of workshops http://openlabworkshops.org/ This workshop will introduce the participants to the live distribution, giving an overview of the system and its applications as well as a brief look into the scripts behind the scenes showing how it is possible to fork the distribution for your own purposes. This workshop will be paired with the short workshop Animation and Livecoding through Fluxus with Dave Griffiths and Evan Raskob

When: Tuesday 22 September, from 6pm-10:30pm
Where: The Roebuck pub (upstairs room), 50 Great Dover Street, SE1 4YG
Nearest transport: 5, 133, 343, 21 buses, Borough Tube (Northern line)
About 8 minute walk from London Bridge Station (Northern and Jubilee tube, rail, and bus station: 48, 47, 149 buses)
Cost: £15 for the entire night, or per workshop (see below).
How to pay: At the door, or via Paypal to be guaranteed a space (limited to 30 people per workshop). There will be a few spaces for people who show up on the night. Please email reserve@openlabworkshops.org to reserve a space in any workshop.

Rob Canning (GOTO10) and Heather Corcoran (FACT) will give a presentation of puredyne on Thursday 27th of August at the 2009 International Symposium on Electronic Arts (ISEA) this year held in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  A brief overview of some of the key applications will be given alongside an overview of the technical backend of the distribution.  There will also be a presentation of the contexts in which puredyne appears and from which it emerges and its relevance and importance to media labs, artists and institutions who wish to engage creatively with FLOSS.

http://www.isea2009.org

GOTO10 has been invited to get things done, and we like it. We also plan to have several group hugs, to eat tons of stroopwaffels, to gossip about every networks and drink beers. No, it’s not easy to be a network.

more information: http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/wintercamp/

Unlike software possible to build hardware that is not just a collection of simple primitive electrical systems, or on the other hand, an assemblage of industry built low level components. So what is open about open source hardware? Many embraced Open Source for political reasons, and do the same now with open source hardware. But isn’t that too simple? It is time to shed some light onto the dark side of Open Source hardware.