collaborative workshops
Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future (Zastarele tehnologije prihodnosti) was an intensive ten-day workshop and social event, where six selected projects had been co-created by more than 30 international guests at Ljudmila lab. The selected projects aim to rethink the qualities of outdated technology and make way for long-term, sustainable usage of technology in our environment for the decades to come. The project was realised on the initiative of Robertina Šebjanič Ljudmila, programme manager and producer from 2008-2012, in collaboration with Media Lab Prado, Madrid.
[mentors] artist Chris Sugrue, technician Yago Torroja, artist and programmer Luka Frelih, and theorist Ida Hiršenfelder.
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Domače Volt Orkester. Interactivos´12 from Ivan Arroyo on Vimeo.
Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana enabled participants to build prototypes in the fields of art and technology using existing or outdated technologies in an entirely unexpected way to encourage novel approaches, promote sustainability, and explore possibilities in the far future. The outdated technologies have not been pushed aside and rendered insignificant merely for pragmatic but also for economic and political reasons. The topic suggested – but was not limited to – dealing with the increasing lack of natural resources, ecological questions in urban environments and overlooked technologies of the past. Projects were also connected to media hacking and subverting the automatism of the behaviour in society, suggesting new forms of social networking that are not dependent on existing corporative hierarchies.
Alongside artworks, innovative installations, and collaborative practices, the workshops encouraged thinking differently about setting up products and services for our demands and everyday living. A glimpse into the past made us understand the reasons behind technological development and what role art plays in promoting or challenging the existing modes of behaviour. We were thinking: Is it possible for an artwork to hack the system from within? Is it possible to think outside of our mindframes? To think outside of the binary code? To view the world in nanoscale? To explore our perception beyond the virtual and the real? To imagine moving fast without an exhaust engine? To explore how the web should operate? To turn off and tune in?
The Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana workshop aimed to be a collective platform for research, production, and learning, offering support in developing selected projects. The projects were carried out in multidisciplinary groups comprised of the project leaders joined by interested collaborators, with conceptual and technical advice from the advisors/mentors. Science Gallery and Medialab Prado provided materials for developing selected projects as far as possible.
Various activities were scheduled during the workshop, such as talks, presentations, seminars or specific mini-workshops. Work days were adapted to the specific needs of the projects in sympathy with the activities ongoing at the Science Gallery as part of HACK THE CITY events.
Given that one of the main objectives of the workshop was to foster the development, distribution, and free access to new approaches and new technology tools, participants were encouraged to prepare proper documentation for the developed projects, both during and after the workshop, and to publish the results and source code under licenses that grant access and distribution of the knowledge produced during the workshop.
Participants: Chris Sugrue, Bostjan Bugarič, Luka Frelih, Yago Torroja, Ida Hiršenfelder, Matthew Gingold, Ben Olsen, Reid Bingham, Sean McIntyre, Laura Gabriela Olalde Verdes, Yasmina Morán Conesa,Gonzalo Ramírez Restucci, Saša Spačal, Mirjan Švagelj, Anil Podgornik, Pepa Ivanova, Hector Zarate Rea, Kevin Ovita, Hamilton Mestizo, Kruno Jošt, Maja Kalogera, Adnan Hadzi,Ana Gorría Ferrín, Ivan Arroyo Gonzalez, Andrea Baima, James Stevens, Juan Duarte, Boem Alberto, Marcos Quintana, Oksana Chepelyk, Helena Božič, Tomislav Butkovic, Matic Urbanija, Dan Adlešič, Pije – Dragan Pijetlovic, Mitja Koštomaj, Hana Kovačič, Tina Dolinšek, Jani Pirnat, Robertina Šebjanič, Urs Gaudenz, Patric Kauffman, Vuk Ćosić…