Research Nights: connecting through seams

In their collaboration connecting through seams, Hackers & Designers and artist and researcher Ren Loren Britton explore ways of working that deviate from the sleek, detached style often associated with digital design. They create spaces for mistakes, collaboration and processes that don’t need to be ‘finished.’

In their joint project, Hackers & Designers and Ren Loren Britton are developing a so-called ‘soft interface’: a cosy place where people can come together, log in and share their thoughts while socialising with past and future visitors. They base this on open-source principles, where knowledge is shared and technology is accessible to everyone. This approach is a response to technological systems that often do not work in the interests of people and communities.

During this Research Night, they will invite people into conversations to discuss how boundaries and 'seams' in technology can also serve as connection points. These can be connections between people, or between people and technology. Together, we will reflect on collaboration, power dynamics and how collective knowledge can be shared.

Using tools such as e-ink readers, we explore different ways of using technology: shifting the focus from ‘use’ to experimentation, imagination and care. This includes exploring alternatives to large tech platforms, such as self-hosted servers.

You can join this event either online or in person. For online participants, automated captions will be available via Zoom. If you are attending in person, please bring your laptop or mobile phone.

connecting through seams was commissioned by the Nieuwe Instituut for the exhibition Dutch More or Less.

Hackers & Designers (H&D)

Hackers & Designers is a collective whose members bring together technology, art, design and education. The group organises learning programmes, builds open-source tools, manages its own technical infrastructure and creates experimental publications. H&D operates on the basis of collaboration and shared ownership.

Ren Loren Britton

Ren Loren Britton is a multidisciplinary artist and designer whose work addresses transfeminism, technology and disability justice. Through critical explorations of accessibility and inequality, they examine how we can interact differently with bodies, technologies and societal systems.

Make your evening complete!

Combine this event with a visit to our exhibitions — admission to the museum is free on Thursday evenings. Fancy a bite to eat? Join us in the Nieuwe Café!