[-empyre-] Critical Making in International Networks: Week 1 Guest Kevin Hamilton

Mon Apr 7 12:50:06 EST 2014

Greetings all,

Great to be back on the list - I've remained a reader but less often a
poster of late. Thanks for the invitation!

Though I'm grateful to say that Kevin Franklin and I share the same
institutional home at Illinois, our work on HASTAC is from quite different
positions - he first as an organizer, and me as a participant. The effort
of which I'm a part is more of a bottom-up project, created mostly by
newcomers to the Digital Humanities - people who now benefit from the
great work of Franklin and others on HASTAC over the years.

The piece of this month's conference I'm part of is a workshop, to be held
Sunday morning, on the last day of the event. We're looking for
participants! So read on and join us, or help us start the conversation
here. (The 'us' in this case is about nine students and another seven
faculty, who work together in a new experimental graduate study project
here at Illinois we're calling the Seeing Systems Group.)

Our key question for this workshop is : What do you bring to, or blend
with, the Digital Humanities in order to make it a space for critical,
reflective and transformative work? We're looking for people to post their
answers to this question in anticipation of the workshop, towards building
a list of references as a basis for conversation.

Our full CFP is here: http://seeingsystems.illinois.edu/2014/03/11/hastac/

And the responses submitted so far to this question are here:
http://seeingsystems.illinois.edu/category/hastacpaths/

Many feel that DH is coming to *them*, like an approaching train, a
weather front, or even a colonizing fleet. Our approach seeks to recognize
the nature of this movement as not only disciplinary but spatial, thus
opening up the possibility of explaining its effects through the language
of contact narratives, settlement, and their associated critiques from
postcolonial theory. This seems especially apt in the context of the first
HASTAC conference held in South America.

Additionally, the parts of DH our group has benefitted the most from have
been those that brought along their own critical traditions, their own
archives, the disciplinary approaches they felt most at home in. We're
especially excited about where DH expanded to include feminist critiques
of technology, for example, or historical work that is decidedly
pre-digital.

I can say more as the conversation progresses about what we hope to
produce together at the upcoming workshop. For now though, I'll leave it
there to see what questions this provocation raises for the list.

Thank you!

Kevin Hamilton
Director, Seeing Systems Initiative
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

On 4/5/14 8:47 AM, "Timothy Conway Murray" <tcm1 at cornell.edu> wrote:

>----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
>Hi, everyone.  We're pleased that we also will be joined this week by
>featured guest, Kevin Hamilton.  Many of you will recognize Kevin from his
>previous interventions as an -empyre- featured guest.  We've had the
>pleasure to collaborate with him for many years and frequently find
>ourselves discussing one particularly active month on -empyre- when Kevin
>led our discussion of Critical Spatial Practice. When Kevin came to
>Cornell as a guest of Renate's lab, The Tinker Factory, she heard from the
>police when he equipped students with megaphones to make critical sound
>interventions around the campus!  Welcome back to -empyre-, Kevin.
>
>Kevin Hamilton (@complexfields) is Associate Professor at the University
>of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he holds appointments in the School
>of Art and Design and the program in Media and Cinema Studies. Working
>largely in collaborative and cross-disciplinary settings, Kevin produces
>artworks, archives, and scholarship on such subjects as race and space,
>public memory, history of technology, and state-mediated violence. He is
>currently at work on a history of Lookout Mountain Laboratories, a Cold
>War film production unit operated by the Air Force. Kevin's artwork has
>been featured on Rhizome, Turbulence, and Neural; recent work has also
>included video for the ASPECT DVD series, and a self-produced comic book.
>At Illinois he also serves as Coordinator of Digital Scholarly
>Communication for the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, and
>as Co-Director of the Center for People and Infrastructures.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>On 4/3/14 3:55 PM, "Timothy Conway Murray" <tcm1 at cornell.edu> wrote:
>
>>----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
>>We are delighted to welcome to -empyre- the guests for the opening week
>>of
>>April's discussion of Critical Making in International Networks.  Our
>>guests are leading international figures in networked media, performance,
>>and open hardware.  We are especially happy to welcome Marcus Bastos back
>>to -empyre-; longtime participants of -empyre- recall Marcus' tremendous
>>contributions to the listserv during his many years on the moderating
>>team. Denisa Kera from Singapore will be posting occasionally throughout
>>the month on the maker and hacker scenes in Shenzhen, China, Singapore,
>>and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. So keep your eyes peeled for her posts.  We're
>>also thankful that Diana Taylor is making time to join us.  A few years
>>ago, we were graciously hosted in Chiapas, Mexico, by Diana at the
>>Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, which Diana founded
>>and
>>directs.  We look forward to benefiting from her vast experience in
>>critical making.  And to set the stage of this month's exciting
>>collaboration between -empyre- and HASTAC, we're joined by Kevin Franklin
>>and Daniel Herwitz of the HASTAC Executive Board.  Daniel hosted the 2012
>>annual meeting of HASTAC at the University of Michigan and Kevin has gone
>>an extra mile to organize this year's HASTAC meeting in Peru.
>>
>>Welcome to you all; we're so looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
>>
>>Bios:
>>
>>Marcus Bastos (Brazil), a former member of the -empyre- moderating team,
>>is an artist, curator and researcher on the areas of convergence between
>>audiovisual, design and new media. PhD in Communication and Semiotics at
>>the Pontificial Catholic University of São Paulo, he is author of
>>Recycling Culture (NOEMA Gallery, 2007) and one of the editors of
>>Appopriations of the (Un)common: public and private space in times of
>>mobility (Sergio Motta Institute, 2009). He edited, with Lucas Bambozzi
>>and Rodrigo Minelli, the book Mediation, Technology, Public Space  A
>>Critical Panorama of Art in Mobile Media (Conrad, 2010). He was curator
>>of
>>Noise on Video (Itaú Cultural Institute, 2005), Cellular Geographies
>>(Telefonica Foundation, 2010), installation > video (SESC TV / SESC Arts
>>Show) and VIVO Arte.Mov  International Festival of Art in Mobile
>>Media,(2007-2011). Among his most recent projects are the multimedia
>>opera
>>HO: city lights (ProAC, 2012), the audiovisual composition she, lonely,
>>thinks of that (SESC Arts Circuit, 2010) and Operation´s Field (video
>>essay on the homonymous DVD by Nelson Brissac, JoséResende and Heloísa
>>Maringoni, 2012). He was director of experimental documentaries such as
>>Giuseppe, etc (2011), Free Radicals (2006) and Shapeless Interface
>>(2006).
>>
>>Kevin Franklin (US) is Executive Director for the Institute for Computing
>>in Humanities, Arts and Social Science (I-CHASS); Senior Research
>>Scientist at the
>>National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA); Research
>>Professor
>>Education Policy, Organization and Leadership and Adjunct Associate
>>Professor
>>in African American Studies, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He
>>is a principal co-founder of the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology
>>Alliance
>>and Collaboratory (HASTAC) and founder of the HASSgrid, a distributed
>>Cyberinfrastructure to support humanities, arts and social sciences data
>>preservation and archives. Dr. Franklin is on the Advisory Boards for the
>>Centre for Innovation in Information Visualization and Data-Driven Design
>>(CIVDDD) and the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment
>>(XSEDE). In addition to his United States HASS Cyberinfrastructure work,
>>Kevin leads a number of international research activities including the
>>Organization of American States - Advanced Research and Technology
>>Collaboratory for the Americas (OAS-ARTCA).
>>In 2010 HPCwire named him one of the top 12 people to watch in
>>Supercomputing. 
>>
>>Daniel Herwitz (US) received the Ph.D. In Philosophy from University of
>>Chicago in 1984, and has been teaching at the University of Michigan
>>since
>>2002. A member of the HASTAC Executive Board and former Director of the
>>Institute for the Humanities, University of Michigan, Daniel is the
>>author
>>of The Star as Icon, Key Concepts in Aesthetics, Race and Reconciliation,
>>Making Theory/Constructing Art: On the Authority of the Avant-Garde, and
>>Husain. He has also published Midnight¹s Diaspora: Critical Encounters
>>with Salman Rushdie, a book of essays co-edited with Ashutosh
>>VarshneyAction, Art, History: Critical Engagements with Arthur
>>Danto edited with Michael Kelly, and The Don Giovanni Moment edited with
>>Lydia Goehr. Additional publications include articles on a wide range of
>>topics in philosophy, film studies, visual studies, avant-garde music,
>>literature and architecture. Herwitz won a National Book Award in India
>>for Husain. He was Mellon Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center
>>(1991-2) also courtesy of the ACLS, and Andrew Mellon Visitor Scholar at
>>the University of Cape Town (2010). His forthcoming book, Heritage,
>>Culture and Politics in the Postcolony explores the role of heritage
>>formation in South Africa, India and the United States, treating that
>>particular rewriting of the past as a window into moral, artistic, social
>>and political urgencies (Columbia Press).
>>
>>Denisa Kera (Singapore) http://nus.academia.edu/DenisaKera is a
>>philosopher and a designer, who uses prototypes to research open science
>>and citizen science issues. She writes on how open hardware supports
>>democratization of science, science diplomacy and infrastructure enabling
>>research in the Global South. In her recent projects, she is trying to
>>connect traditional crafts with open hardware and build radiation chimes
>>in the http://www.totematons.orgproject, design microfludic devices for
>>Indonesian wayang theatre, or explore the possibility of citizen science
>>driven open antibiotic research connecting bioprospecting with games
>>http://brmlab.cz/project/biolab/biostrike. She works as an Assistant
>>Professor at the National University of Singapore and Asia Research
>>Institute fellow, where she is bringing together Science Technology
>>Society (STS) studies, Science Communication and Interactive Media
>>Design.
>>She uses design methodologies and prototypes based on open hardware as
>>tools for deliberation and public participation in R&D probing
>>experimental policy. Since 2010 she is following and engaging with
>>alternative R&D places (Hackerspaces, FabLabs) around the world, and
>>especially with the DIYbio movement and various citizen science projects,
>>which offer a model for
>>experimental approach to policy. She has extensive experience as a
>>curator
>>of exhibitions and projects related to art, technology and science (2005
>>-
>>2008),
>>and previous career in internet start-ups and journalism (1998 - 2004).
>>This month she will be posting from the Dangerous prototypes workshop in
>>Shenzhen 
>>http://dangerousprototypes.com/2014/02/06/shenzhen-workshop-april-3-5-201
>>4
>>/
>>, the biggest Maker Fair in Shenzhen http://www.shenzhenmakerfaire.com
>><http://www.shenzhenmakerfaire.com/> and HackteriaLab network for
>>openbiology symposium and workshop on open science of the Global south
>>http://www.hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/HackteriaLab_2014_-_Yogyakarta.
>>Denisa joins us for a conversation on open hardware, global and local
>>hacking, tinkering,
>>making, its genealogy, future and other perspectivesŠ.
>>
>>Diana Taylor (US) is founding director of the Hemispheric Institute of
>>Performance and Politics, funded by the Ford, Mellon, Rockefeller,
>>Rockefeller Brothers and Henry Luce Foundations, and University Professor
>>and Professor of Performance Studies and Spanish at NYU. She is the
>>author
>>of the award-winning Theatre of Crisis: Drama and Politics in Latin
>>America, Disappearing Acts: Spectacles of Gender and Nationalism in
>>Argentina's 'Dirty War',
>>The Archive and the Repertoire: Performing Cultural Memory in the
>>Americas, which won the Outstanding Book from the Association of
>>Theatre in Higher Education, and the Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize for
>>Best Book in Latin American and Hispanic Studies from the Modern Language
>>Association. She has also authored several books in Spanish, including
>>PERFORMANCE, in Editorial ASUNTOS IMPRESOS, (forthcoming in
>>English with Duke U.P.), and Acciones de memoria: Performance, historia,
>>y
>>trauma. Peru: 2012. She has edited over a dozen print books and three
>>digital
>>Books. 
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>>_______________________________________________
>>empyre forum
>>empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
>>http://www.subtle.net/empyre
>
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