Call for Applications: Intensive summer program on Data, Society, and Physical Data Sculptures

GREETINGS FROM SCHOOL OF MACHINES, MAKING & MAKE-BELIEVE!

We are an independent school in Berlin hovering at the intersections of art, technology, design, & human connection. We are trying to be more responsive to the digital/socio-political climate, and design courses that we think are needed in the world.

INTRODUCING DATA AND SOCIETY:

3 JUNE - 28 JUNE 2019
TWO- OR FOUR- WEEKS, FULL-TIME IN BERLIN, GERMANY
UP TO 18 PARTICIPANTS
BASED IN PART AT AWESOME PRODUCTIONS FABLAB

DATA IS EVERYWHERE. From our physical environment to surveillance mechanisms by Facebook and Google, we interact with data increasingly on a daily basis often without knowing it. Large entities such as corporations, governments, and high-end investors leverage it for profit and control. The reality is, data also has physical consequences in the real world, and representing it with materials instead of pixels can create a meaningful real-life experience for ourselves and others.

IN THIS COURSE, YOU WILL LEARN
- Fundamentals of 2D data-visualization using symbols to represent data
- Researching and cleaning publicly-available datasets
- Using scrapers and code to gather data from websites and servers
- Accessing your own data from Facebook, Google, and other companies
- Mapping techniques in public space using GPS and online tools
- DIY science and gathering data from the environment
- Data-publishing and creating simple web-based maps using Leaflet
- Coding and data-mapping using Processing
- Preparing output for laser-cutting and other digital fabrication
- Soldering and working with electronics
- Light fabrication techniques using wood, acrylic and improvised materials
- Coatings, finishes, and framing
- Presentation techniques from hanging on the wall to installations from the ceiling
No previous experience necessary

COURSE OUTLINE
WEEK 1: Introductions, concepts, narratives, play, and critical discourse. Introduction to data.
WEEK 2: Tools and techniques for working with data sets, clean-up, experimental representation of data.
WEEK 3: Making data physical, tools and fabrication techniques.
WEEK 4: Creating and preparing final showpieces for an exhibition.

WHO IS THIS PROGRAM FOR?
This course is designed for people who want to think critically about the world of data around them and to build things based on data in an imaginative way. It aims to engage in creative conversations around mapping and public space, the ownership of data, benevolent hacking, data-scraping, and manipulating materials. We will begin with explorations around data literacy and end with practical building techniques so that you can construct physical data-visualizations.

No previous experience with coding or fabrication is necessary. We expect you to be eager to use tools and work with combining the analog and digital to create physical work that embodies data. People of diverse backgrounds will benefit from this course by learning how to collect and manipulate data digitally and then transforming it into physical installations and objects that can affect others in a distinct way transcends the boundaries of the screen. The techniques that you learn can be applied to both your work and to your creative life.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM: http://schoolofma.org/data-and-society/
APPLY HERE: https://schoolofmachines.agilecrm.com/forms/4604692500447232