undoing devices

During this collaborative workshop we will open the black box and poke at the mechanisms of one of our closest household technologies.

undoing devices (Workshop)

from 14PM to 18PM on 13.06.26 at

Stroom Den Haag

[REGISTRATION NOTE: There are limited spots available for this gathering. If you are unable to attend, kindly cancel your registration. Someone else will be able to take part then. Thank you for your understanding.]

Our neighbourhoods are filled with ‘smart’ household objects. From smart lamps and doorbells, to televisions, security cameras, speakers and fridges. What does ‘smart’ mean? Where do these objects come from and where do they go? What happens to the data they collect? And how could we imagine these objects differently?

During this collaborative workshop we will open the black box and poke at the mechanisms of one of our closest household technologies. You will get an introduction into a variety of hacking and research skills. You might choose to open up devices to study their components, dive into open-source intelligence skills to find hints about their political, technical, economical, jurisdictional and/or societal impact, or go into the neighbourhood for a mapping exercise. Together we will build a body of knowledge around this object in the form of a zine.

In the second part of the workshop, we will discuss our findings and think of our needs and desires in relation to this object. How do we see the role of this object in our communities? What would we change about it? And how could we re-use this object when its original function is no longer wanted or needed, or when it inevitably turns into e-waste? We will talk, make drawings, play and hack. Our zine will be two-sided, with our findings on one side, and our collective imaginaries on the other.

No prior experience necessary!

About the artist: chris_ty [Christy Westhovens] is an artist and researcher in the field of everyday technology. By investigating, hacking, reusing and personalising existing technological structures, her work raises questions about the relationship between humans and machines, and our dependency and agency in an increasingly digital world. Within a practice that ranges from interactive installations and tools to facilitating collective hacking sessions, the invisible mechanisms and instantiations of power of the devices around us are made visible. She strives for a practice of care, imagination and resistance, where technology is not something that happens to us, but something we shape together.

Access Notes: The space can be accessed with mobility aids. The workshop is in English, and you are welcome to use other languages. Assistants and support persons are welcome. There will be around max. 25 participants in the workshop.

[Note: This workshop is part of the public program Permission to Dream and is under Stroom Den Haag’s Program Line Networks of Embodiment.

This event is presented by iii with financial support from Creative Industries Fund NL and The Municipality of The Hague.]

This workshop is part of the public program Permission to Dream and is under Stroom Den Haag’s Program Line Networks of Embodiment.

This event is presented by iii with financial support from Creative Industries Fund NL and The Municipality of The Hague.