Computing Culture Group

On February 1st, Seamless Computational Couture v2.0 took place in the Boston Museum of Science. Gemma and Ayah were among the 23 participating designers. The MC was once again our very own director.

Ayah showed arabiia, a caricature of media stereotypes typically associated with arab women.


Gemma showed endangered senses, an elephant-inspired costume that investigates the pachyderms’ ability to detect infrasonic and seismic vibrations.

Shifty led a One-Bit Groovebox Workshoppe during January IAP. 10 people
participated from around the Greater Boston area and everyone got it working
at the end of the day!

Photos here and building instructions here.

Gemma has returned from giving a talk at El Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo in Seville situated in a 14th century monastery. The seminar was entitled:
SEMINARIO DE ARTE CONTEMPORÁNEO
EL MUSEO ALTERADO. PRODUCCIÓN, EDUCACIÓN Y TECNOLOGÍAS
The seminar brought together people from international institutions (Banff, FACT, IRCAM) to talk about the future role of technology in contemporary art in Andalucia.

Call for Graduate Applications
Art/Technology/Politics
The Computing Culture Group at the MIT Media Lab is an Art and Technology research group focused on embedding poetic and political considerations in the development of new technologies. Research projects have ranged from technologies to confront a changing U.S. Government (OpenGIA, txtMob) and right wing anti-immigrant fascist groups (Freedom Flies), to complications of gender and control in domestic appliances (Blendie), and techniques for creating electronic instruments in a post-oil apocalypse (Synth From Nothin’). Our mission is to refigure what engineering means, how it happens, and what it produces. Drawing on fields from the humanities, like Science and Technology Studies, we create new technologies that function as instances of material power, but also as exemplars of what future goals engineering should pursue.
Students may be trained in either art or science and/or engineering, but should show crossover. For instance, an art student should be an accomplished programmer, have machining skills, or be able to design and fabricate electronics. An engineering students should have done several art projects, worked with a professional artist, or shown their ability to author radical or unexpected technologies. All prospective applicants should burn with the fiery conviction that there is something deeply wrong with the way technologies fit into our lives.
Applications Due Dec. 15! Click below for more information:

Read more…

A video installation of the Director’s work-in-progress Freedom Flies is currently on show at Le Fresnoy and Compcult is featured in a documentary by Christophe Kihm at the Pompidou.

The Director spent some nice Fall days at Warsaw Electronic Festival, where he thought he was giving a lecture, but really he was just an opening act for ISAN, who actually broke a sweat.

From September 7th to September 14th, Ayah participated in Open Stitch, an artist sweatshop show at location1 gallery in Soho, NY. The show included 15 artists and fashion designers working intensely and in restricted conditions to produce wearable creations with only the tools and materials provided to them. The installation runs from September 7th to September 30th and ends with a fashionshow- performance- party on October 1st at the gallery.

The catalog for the Directors’ 2004 solo show at Location 1 is now out on peace lovin’ Charta Press, distributed by DAP, available near you or on Amazon. Caroline Jones and McKenzie Wark contribute lofty essays. Special thanks to everyone at Location 1 for their hard, hard work.