***WORKSHOP REGISTRATIONS ARE CLOSED***

Artsformation launched this month in cooperation with CATCH, the first online series of workshops on the topic of science fiction. The second session When Things Speak: Giving Voice to Objects is now open for registrations.

When Things Speak: Giving Voice to Objects

Ryo Hanmura’s short story Cardboard Box is told from the perspective of a cardboard box. In the box’s own words, it shares its painful journey from factory, to use, and finally to being discarded. Along the way, we find ourselves empathizing with the box’s character, leading us to question our role as consumers. We might question how we “treat” the objects, products and technologies we encounter everyday. This may lead to other questions about objects or technologies that have (or have been given) character, personality, or even autonomy through voice or other anthropomorphic characteristics. What happens when we treat objects like people, or people like objects? As designers, artists, creators, when is it appropriate to give our creations human characteristics and what are the benefits and risks of doing so?

In this hands-on creative code and speculative design workshop, we will investigate what our world might be like if the objects around us (including products, clothing, etc.) could speak. Participants will learn how to create their own interactive art objects, inventions, and wearables that can speak words, produce melodies, and make other sounds. We will also investigate some of the above questions about creating technologies with “personality.” Students will use the Adafruit Circuit Playground: a microcontroller prototyping board that comes with many sensors and built-in sound capabilities to explore these questions in conjunction with re-imagining the objects around them, sketching new speculative objects, or incorporating technology into their previously constructed works.

Date/Time: 2. March 2021 from 15 CET -18 CET (online event)

Workshop led by Mirabelle Jones.

Registration: Register for the workshop via this link: https://forms.gle/jaxocD9gkQcjAAyK8

Deadline for registration Thursday 25. February. A link for the event will be sent to you the day before the event begins. This workshop requires physical materials (circuit playground kit) that will be donated and mailed to participants prior to the workshop, registration with home or work address is therefore required.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/893589171183516

Artsformation will use this workshop as part of its data collection. This means that a member of our consortium will be doing participant observation during the workshop. We may also approach you to ask if you would be willing to participate in an interview following the workshop. All data collected will be anonymised.

Upon registration to the workshop you will receive detailed information about the research conducted. If you have any immediate questions, please do not hesitate to contact Post Doc Kirsti Reitan Andersen, Copenhagen Business School, on email: kra.msc@cbs.dk

About Mirabelle Jones

Mirabelle Jones is a queer, non-binary creative technologist, interdisciplinary artist, and researcher based in Copenhagen investigating critical, creative practices in technology. Their work explores the immersive storytelling potential of sensors, spatialized sound, LEDs, animatronics, XR, wearables, artificial intelligence and computer vision.

A proponent of STEAM education and interdisciplinary development, they are a frequent speaker on the subject of accessible, ethical, intersectional, and feminist design practices. Their works have most recently been featured at the Museum Meermanno and the Center for Performance Research and appear in several collections including the One National Gay & Lesbian Archives and the Center on Contemporary Art’s historic Hear Our Voice collection.

Their performances and visual works have been heralded by the Huffington Post, ArtNet, Ms. Magazine, Ingeniøren, Bustle, ATTN, Refinery29, Inquisitr, Mic., Sleek Magazine, Feminist Magazine, Deutsche Welle, Google News, Yahoo News, PBS, Roundtable Journal, Tip, Berliner Zeitung and elsewhere. They are a Research Assistant at The University of Copenhagen in the Department of Computer Science (DIKU) within the Human-Centered Computing section. They possess an M.F.A. in Book Art & Creative Writing and are an active book artist, interactive storyteller and analog novelist investigating the contemporary role of the book in our digitally-saturated world.

www.mirabelleJones.com

https://vimeo.com/user23276886

Digital Alchemy is a part of Feral Labs Network and supported by Creative Europe.