[artinfo] Hacklab: Technology, Creativity, Social Organisation

[stevphen shukaitis]

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS, INTERVENTIONS AND COLLABORATION:
________________________________________________________

Hacklab: Technology, Creativity, Social Organisation
A weekend gathering for collaborative and creative reflection
February 3/4/5 2006
Institute for Advanced Studies
Lancaster University, North West England.
http://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/knowledgelab
http://knowledgelab.pbwiki.com
(knowledgelab.org.uk coming soon)
(see also http://www.hacklab.org.uk)

You are happily invited to the Hacklab, which is a follow-up event to 
(sadly titled?) Making Global Civil Society (the funders liked it) 
that took place in Lancaster, November 4/5/6. It is hosted at and 
with the support of the Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS) at 
Lancaster University. Since the gathering will be defined by those 
who get
involved in preparing it, the lists below are merely suggestions.

The plan is to experiment with formats and settings, looking for 
helpful, creative moments. Suggestions so far include smaller groups, 
with intimate, intense, and longer discussions about a particular 
topic. For instance, 10-12 people in a room for 3-4 hours, discussing 
a human rights article in relation to social movements, a question, 
some concept, whatever - and, for example, write a declaration, 
compile a CD, or?? based on note taking and audio recordings.

The ideal is to go beyond conventions.

To play and to experiment there wil also be themed spaces (hacklab 
setup with alt/DIY media intros/hands-on stuff) - suggest something!

We imagine talks and discussions about things like:

*technology and social organisation, such as novel management and 
organisation within free software projects or hacklabs, as well as 
DIY media

*freedom of information & communication and related social, 
political, or cultural movements

*digital divides and tribal connections

* nanotechnology and genetic modification: resistance and/or democratisation?

* sustainable/renewable/alternative (hippie) technologies

* anarchism, cryptography, privacy and identity in cyberspace

*free hardware?

*the EU Software Patent Directive (swpat.ffii.org) as enclosure

*feminism and information technology

*primitivism (as a technology?)

*organic composition in music and elsewhere?

*psychedelic technologies

Additionally, we hope to create spaces for hands-on workshops, get in 
touch if you have skills to share:

*how to use Free Software for everyday purposes, like emailing 
(Thunderbird, Evolution), web surfing (Firefox), text writing 
(OpenOffice.org) and photo manipulations (GIMP) etc.

*installation of GNU/Linux operating systems (to dual-boot with or to 
replace M$ Windows)

*using the command line interface: the basics

*learning (to write) code: from sys-admin scripts to wherever your 
skills may take you

*system security, privacy, encryption, set up a safe computer network