Info & Planning

RE-MAKEUSEMIX and more REs

Media archaeology has been known for its innovative work in excavating repressed, forgotten or past media technologies in order to understand the contemporary technological audiovisual culture in alternative ways. However, we extend media archaeology into an artistic method close to Do-It-Yourself (DIY) culture, circuit bending, hardware hacking and other exercises that are closely related to the political economy of information technology. Media in its various layers embodies memory: not only human memory, but also the memory of things, of objects, of chemicals and of circuits.

A course in physical tinkering, in the context of Rebel Media. We will be investigating Media Archaeological artifacts that have been lost, neglected, or obscured. We will de- and RE-construct technology into critical agents of protest, celebrations (or warnings) of what-could-be-to-come, or simply provide a new way of experiencing the familiar.

Media Archaeology has a rigorous challenge, a contemporary challenge to counterbalance this nostalgic archaeological idea what is archaeology a (code oriented) more critical resistance to the archaeological metaphor becomes almost obligatory.

Students work in groups of 3. A final project prototype and documentation of process and final result are the deliverable.

Planning

WEEK 1 / RE-INTRO

The focus of our attention will be the topic of Rebel Media, in the context of what is referred to as Media Archaeology. We will attempt to understand new and emerging media through close examination of the past, and especially through critical scrutiny of dominant narratives of popular media. In that context we will discuss what we can see as Rebel media, through the appearance and dissemination of rapid and cheap RE-productions, hence copying. Form teams with varied technical and conceptual knowledge and approaches.

WEEK 2 / MAGNETIC

We will focus on the cultural and critical uses of magnetic tape technologies. How obsolete is obsolete media? What is the critical potential of obsolescence? Our main case study will be the walkman. Practical: tinkering with electronics, Arduino knowledge Re-boot

WEEK 3 / THE MP3 FILE

The introduction of the mp3 format is a significant moment in the history of RE-production. The mp3 lies at the center of important debates around intellectual property and file-sharing, but it is also a cultural artifact in its own right. We will be looking into compression and loss as well as secret messaging. Practical: tinkering with file formats via software

WEEK 4 / STORMING

After the short hands-on introductions to the above mentioned media, the teams will create prototypes which question, confuse, adapt, and/or extend an object and the way it is used. The teams can focus on one of the examined objects or choose another media archaeological object. This week we brainstorm and form ideas. Each team will propose 2 project ideas explained with a title and one sentence. In the end one idea will be turned into a prototype that will be shown in the final presentation. These prototypes can be critical agents of protest, celebrations (or warnings) of what-could-be-to-come, or simply provide a new way of experiencing the familiar.

WEEK 5

Hands-on Prototyping

WEEK 6

pRE-pREsentation of each group’s projects, peer feedback and final touches

WEEK 7 /PRESENTATION

Presentation of final projects

REFERENCES:

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