Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future (Zastarele tehnologije prihodnosti) was an intensive ten-day workshop and social event, where six selected projects had been co-created by more than 30 international guests at Ljudmila Lab. The selected projects aimed to rethink the qualities of outdated technology and make way for long-term, sustainable usage of technology in our environment for the decades to come.

SELECTED PROJECTS

Domače Volt Orkester

• Project leaders: Matthew Gingold & Ben Olsen (Australia, USA, Austria)
• Collaborators: Ivan Arroyo Gonzalez (ES), Pepa Ivanova (BG/BE), Juan Duarte (MX/FI), Maja Kalogjera (HR), Martina Kalogjera (HR) & Gašper Odar (SI)
• Special thanks: Snaga d. o. o. for allowing us to scavenge the assembly center
• Studiolab

Autonomous Interactive Radio

• Project leaders:Reid Bingham & Sean McIntyre (USA)
• Collaborators: Tomislav Butković (US), Helena Božič (SI), Peter Pavlakis (US), Simon Gmajner (SI), Kruno Jošt (HR) & Andrea Baima (ARG/UK)
• Special thanks: RadioCona: Brane Zorman & Irena Pivka, Radio Študent: Bojan Anđelković, Vuk Ćosić and BiKoFe
• Studiolab

Ophiodea

• Project leader:Laura Gabriela Olalde Verdes (Argentina)
• Collaborators: Hector Zarate Rea (MX/PL), Jani Pirnat (SI) & Pepa Ivanova (BG/BE)
• Special thanks: Artist Damijan Kracina for lending us his sculpture studio at Metelkova and Snaga d. o. o. for allowing us to scavenge the assembly centre; Laurence Bender - programmer - developing the preparation stage for the project.
• Studiolab

TeleVotón

• Project leades:Yasmina Morán Conesa (Spain)
• Collaborators: Jure Repinc (SI), Andrea Baima (UK/AR), Isac Petruzzi (US) & Laia Ros (ES
• Special thanks: Vuk Ćosić – net artist, communicator, Vlado Gruden – IT professional for voting system digitalisation, Simon Ručigaj – IT professional for voting system
• Studiolab

Vincent the Painter

• Project leader:Gonzalo Ramírez Restucci (Chile/Spain)
• Collaborators: Pije – Dragan Pijetlovic (CH), James Stevens (UK), Patric Kaufman (CH), Urs Gaudenz (CH) & Igor Križanovskij (SI)
• Special thanks: Bogoslav Kalaš & Snaga d. o. o. for allowing us to scavenge the assembly center
• Studiolab

Mycophone

• Project leaders: Saša Spačal, Mirjan Švagelj & Anil Podgornik (Slovenia)
• Collaborators: Alberto Boem (IT), Boštjan Bugarič (SI), Matic Urbanija (SI), Neja Repinc (SI), Jure Repinc (SI) & Gašper Odar (SI)
• Special thanks: Polona Tratnik: bio artist and theoretician
• Studiolab

Participants

Chris Sugrue, Bostjan Bugarič, Luka Frelih, Yago Torroja, Ida Hiršenfelder, Matthew Gingold, Ben Olsen, Reid Bingham, Sean McIntyre, Laura Gabriela Olalde Verdes, Yasmina Morán Conesa, Gonzalo Ramírez Restucci, Saša Spačal, Mirjan Švagelj, Anil Podgornik, Pepa Ivanova, Hector Zarate Rea , Kruno Jošt, Maja Kalogera, Adnan Hadzi, Ivan Arroyo Gonzalez, Andrea Baima, James Stevens, Juan Duarte, Alberto Boem, Helena Božič, Tomislav Butkovic, Matic Urbanija , Pije – Dragan Pijetlovic, Mitja Koštomaj, Hana Kovačič, Tina Dolinšek, Jani Pirnat, Robertina Šebjanič, Urs Gaudenz, Patric Kauffman, Vuk Ćosić , Neja Repinc, Jure Repinc, Gašper Odar, ...

About Interactivos?'12 Ljubljana

Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future (Zastarele tehnologije prihodnosti) was an intensive ten-day workshop and social event, where six selected projects had been co-created by more than 30 international guests. The selected projects aimed to rethink the qualities of outdated technology and make way for long-term, sustainable usage of technology in our environment for the decades to come.

Interactivos?'12 Ljubljana enabled participants to build prototypes in the fields of art and technology using existing or outdated technologies in an entirely unexpected way to encourage novel approaches, promote sustainability, and explore possibilities in the far future. The outdated technologies have not been pushed aside and rendered insignificant merely for pragmatic, but also for economic and political reasons. The topic suggests – but is not limited to – dealing with increasing lack of natural resources, and ecological questions in urban environments and overlooked technologies of the past. Projects are also connected to media hacking and subverting the automatism of the behaviour in the society, suggesting new forms of social networking that are not dependent on existing corporative hierarchies.

Alongside artworks, innovative installations, collaborative practices, we also encouraged thinking differently about how we set up products and services for our demands and everyday living. A glimpse into the past made us understand the reasons behind technological development and what role art plays in promoting or challenging the existing modes of behaviour. Is it possible for an artwork to hack the system from within? Is it possible to think outside of our mindframes? To think outside of the binary code? To view the world in nano scale? To explore our perception beyond the virtual and the real? To imagine moving fast without an exhaust engine? To explore how the web should operate? To turn off and tune in?

Photo gallery

• Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana // Intro
• Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana // Day 1 & 2
• Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana // Day 3 & 4
• Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana // Obsolete DJs & VJs of the Future
• Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana // Vitanje Excursion - KSEVT // Part 1 // photos by Robertina Šebjanič
• Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana // Vitanje Excursion - KSEVT // Part 2
• Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana // Day 6 & 7
• Interactivos?'12 Ljubljana // Lightning Talks
• Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana // Day 8
• Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana // Day 9
• Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana // Day 10 // Interšmano party and random
• Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana // Public presentation of prototypes

All photos by Helena Božič.

Programme by day

September 5th 2012, @Ljudmila, from 10am – 1pm
Introduction to Interactivos?'12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future at Ljudmila
Welcoming and presentation of:

• Organisations: Monica Cachafeiro (Medialab-Prado), Robertina Šebjanič (Ljudmila) and Urs Gaudenz and Patric Kaufmann (SGMK),
• Workshop methodology
• Side events by Tina Dolinšek (Ljudmila)
• Introduction of mentors: Chris Sugrue (USA), Yago Torroja (Spain), Luka Frelih (Slovenia) and Ida Hiršenfelder (Slovenia).
• Selected projects and project leaders: Domače Volt Orkester by Matthew Gingold & Ben Olsen (Austria), Autonomous Interactive Radio by Reid Bingham &Sean McIntyre (USA), Ophiodea by Laura Gabriela Olalde Verdes (Argentina), TeleVotón: An automated voting machine by Yasmina Morán Conesa (Spain), Repurposing of abandoned printing devices by Gonzalo Ramírez Restucci (Chile) and Mycophone by Saša Spačal & Mirjan Švagelj & Anil Podgornik (Slovenia)
  

* * *

September 15th 2012, @Ljudmila, from 4 – 8pm
Public presentation of developed prototypes and conclusion of the workshop
Project leaders and collaborators will present projects developed during the ten-day workshop.

* * *

September 5th 2012, @Bi-Ko-Fe, Židovska steza 2, at 9pm
WELCOMING PARTY: MIDWEEK – DJ Borka

* * *

Saturday, September 8, 2012, @Ch0, from 10 pm on
CLUB EVENT: OBSOLETE DJs AND VJs OF THE FUTURE
Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future side "party-on" event and the celebration of the 19th anniversary of AKC Metelkova. Participants of the workshop will replace their hacking skills with DJing, VJing and various AV performances at Channel Zero.
Venue: Channel Zero, AKC Metelkova mesto, Metelkova ulica 4

* * *

September 9th 2012
VITANJE EXCURSION
Visit to the Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies (KSEVT) & guided Tour by Dragan Živadinov and Miha Turšič

The participants and other guests of Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future are cordially invited to join us on field trip to Vitanje, where on the 6th of September 2012 opened a unique Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies [www.ksevt.eu KSEVT]. The new center will be presented by Dragan Živadinov and Miha Turšič, the initiators and funders of KSEVT. They will present the project, its vision and the centre's permanent exhibition. Ksevt’s permanent project is 0.14::VERTIKALIZACIJA::MG The première of the fifty-year-long theatre performance NOORDUNG::1995-2045 took place in 1995. Once every ten years a reprise will be staged on the same day, at the same time and with the same performers. If one of the actors or actresses happens to die in the interval, they will be replaced on stage by an abstract entity, manipulated by a remote control and set up in the equatorial orbit as an art satellite in 2045. In 2011, Milena Grm, the first actress of this fifty year-long performance, passed away.

* * *

September 11th 2012, new location, Kiberpipa/Cyberpipe instead of Sax Pub,!!!!, from 8–10 pm
“LIGHTNING TALKS” – Short presentations
Within the accompanied events, September 11, from 8–10 pm, LIGHTNING TALKS” – Short presentations, will take place at the new location, Kiberpipa/Cyberpipe instead of Sax Pub, due to the anticipated deterioration of the weather. The event is entirely open for the wider public. You are cordially invited to attend all events, admission free.
Ideas - projects - concepts - lifestyles - reflections - obsolete technologies of the future. The participants of Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana and any other interested party who wish to share knowledge, experiences and views, will conduct a series of short 5 minutes presentations i.e. “lightning talks”.

* * *

September 15th 2012, @Cirkulacija 2, at 9 pm
FAREWELL PARTY: INTERŠMANO
Venue: Cirkulacija 2, Rog Factory, Trubarjeva 72 // Joint forces of NanoŠmano - LifeSystem team and Interactivos?’12. Obsolete Technologies of the Future are inviting you to a farewell party at the end of temporary ad hoc laboratory and ten-day workshop.

Participant kit

Interactivos 12 participant kit in PDF form

Call for Collaborators (closed)

Call for collaborations in the advanced workshop Interactivos?'12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future, that takes place in September 5 - 15 in Ljudmila, Ljubljana (Slovenia).

Collaborators will participate in the production of selected projects that will rethink the qualities of outdated technology and making way for a long-term, sustainable usage of technology in our environment in the decades to come.

Deadline: August 31, 2012

Submission through forum here: http://medialab-prado.es/article/interactivos12_ljubljana_call_collaborators

About the workshop

Interactivos?'12 Ljubljana will enable participants to build prototypes in the fields of art and technology using existing or outdated technologies in an entirely unexpected way to encourage novel approaches, promote sustainability, and explore possibilities in the far future. The outdated technologies have not been pushed aside and rendered insignificant merely for pragmatic, but also for economic and political reasons. The topic suggests – but is not limited to – dealing with increasing lack of natural resources, and ecological questions in urban environments and overlooked technologies of the past. Projects are also connected to media hacking and subverting the automatism of the behaviour in the society, suggesting new forms of social networking that are not dependent on existing corporative hierarchies.

Alongside artworks, innovative installations, collaborative practices, we will also encourage thinking differently about how we set up products and services for our demands and everyday living. A glimpse into the past makes us understand the reasons behind technological development and what role art plays in promoting or challenging the existing modes of behaviour. Is it possible for an artwork to hack the system from within? Is it possible to think outside of our mindframes? To think outside of the binary code? To view the world in nano scale? To explore our perception beyond the virtual and the real? To imagine moving fast without an exhaust engine? To explore how the web should operate? To turn off and tune in?

General information

The Interactivos?'12 Ljubljana workshop aims to be a collective platform for research, production, and learning, offering support in developing the projects selected. The projects will be carried out in multidisciplinary groups comprised by the project leaders joined by interested collaborators, with conceptual and technical advice from the advisors. Science Gallery and Medialab Prado will provide materials for the development of selected projects, as far as possible.

During the workshop, various activities will be scheduled such as talks, presentations, seminars or specific mini-workshops. Work days will be adapted to the specific needs of the projects in sympathy with the activities ongoing at Science Gallery as part of HACK THE CITY events.

10:00h - 20:00h: Monday - Saturday

Given that one of the main objectives of the workshop is to foster the development, distribution, and free access to new approaches and new technology tools, participants are encouraged to prepare proper documentation for the developed projects, both during and after the workshop, and to publish the results and source code under licenses that grant access and distribution of the knowledge produced during the workshop.

Interactivos?'12 Ljubljana: Advisors' Approach

Approaches to the workshop Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana. Obsolete Technologies of the Future by the advisors of the workshop: Luka Frelih, Ida Hirsenfelder, Chris Sugrue and Yago Torroja.

Chris Sugrue
"When considering the obsolete, I believe it is worthwhile to question how the latest technological advancements (which change at an almost incomprehensibly fast pace) fall short in some areas that previous ones might not have. An obsolete technology is not necessarily replaced with a better one. As well, many platforms that may be considered outdated or unfashionable in some parts of the world, may be important and thriving in others. Re-thinking, re-inventing or re-using the outdated may have relevancy outside of our own field of view. A project production workshop such as this has the potential to bring together many backgrounds and experience, offer unexpected ideas or alternatives and help us collectively reconsider the past and future. I believe a great asset of working in digital media is its flexibility to merge with other domains, traditions, crafts or philosophies and create new possibilities and works. Through hacking, experimenting with, and creating new uses of technology we create the opportunity to live in the future we want rather than that which is constructed for us. Can we re-invent the past to build our futures?"

Yago Torroja
"I look at my mobile, the one I’ve had for five years, turning it over in my hands. What’s old about it? Yes, it’s obviously beat up on the surface—you can hardly read the keys… (Remember those?... Keys?) But what’s old about it? It’s small, you can make calls on it, the battery lasts for four or five days… Why does it seem so old to us? Are we running away from our own ageing? Maybe we think that if things age faster, we’ll live faster and wrinkle slower? We don’t measure time in seconds or days or months anymore. We use changes now. “I met you seven mobiles ago. Remember? Almost three years ago!” This dynamic of change, of the new, of the essential, this buying novelty to buy ourselves time, has become the leitmotif of most of our technology and economy. Make what’s obsolete useless; make the everyday obsolete; make the new the everyday. Breaking down this unsustainable pattern is a matter of more than just reusing waste, more than using one hand to put together what we break with the other. It is not just a question of reusing, because reusing something means admitting it’s no longer useful. Instead, we need to ask about the end of its usefulness: when does that time come? And propose other models with no place for the concept of waste...Where talking about what is obsolete is no longer common but rather something old-fashioned, out of date, obsolete... “I’m getting my new mobile today. Like the others I’ve had, it’s made of germinable plastic. I’m looking at the one I’ve got in my hands now... I’m fond of it (remember?... it’s been almost three years). I’d like to plant it. What will come up when I water it? I smile as I look around my terrace... the rose bush and bamboo look fantastic! They grew out of the other ones I planted.”

Ida Hiršenfelder
"The collaborative prototyping workshop is one of those unique opportunities for people from different professions to come together and explore the dynamics between the fascination over technology and the disbelieve in the technology as a great contributor to the human civilisation and the development of human mind. The technology we are using is constantly subjected to being deemed as obsolete, henceforth creating a rather unhealthy condition from a psychoanalytical point of view; the discarded and disposed functions like the civilisation's suppressed memory of an experience that might have been pleasant or not, but is nevertheless rejected in the premises of the new discoveries. The old is ridiculed by the next generation as something childish and immature, while it is the very obsolete technology of the past that construct the ways we perceive our own world in the very moment. It is a result of an evolutionary processes that not so much invents the new, but perpetuates the same systems of hierarchy and the power dominated drive that is inherent in the current technology. It would perhaps prove helpful to view the technology not only as a product of physical laws, but inherently a cultural phenomenon. The way to disrupt the existing cultural codes of the technology is not only to give way to the playful and the innovative or to artistic, but also to do away with the utilitarian demand for its usefulness or functionality? The question of possible applications of the results of the prototypes is perhaps not the best one in the sense of cultural critique. The machines that are strictly set to serve a purpose inhibit the invention of alternative energy sources and hinder a more open vision of technology that is not just an accumulation of algorithms but an incredible series of coincidences. The question for experimentation is not only how to artistically beautify errors but to make them an essential part of the system. The purpose is not just to demystify the machines in the do-it-yourself collaborative process and to make a human mind at ease with the machines but also to construct the machines in order to constantly challenge and trigger ways of thinking. To envisage what is going to be the obsolete technology of the future, inevitably sets us on a different and unpredictable path."

OPEN CALL - Interactivos?'12 Ljubljana (closed)

Obsolete Technologies of the Future // Call for Proposals

LJUDMILA = ljubljana digital media lab, in collaboration with Media Lab Prado, Madrid and SGMK, (Swiss Mechatronic Art Society), is seeking proposals for upcoming workshops in Interactivos?'12: Ljubljana in the space of LJUDMILA Media Lab. OBSOLETE TECHNOLOGIES OF THE FUTURE, collaborative prototyping vol. 1

Call Opens: Monday 14 May

Call Closes: Friday 8 June / EXTENDED deadline of open call till 20 June!!!!

Workshop duration: 5–15 September 2012

Calling all hackers, makers, doers, data nerds, hobbyists, artists, scientists, tech geeks, activists, edgy engineers and DIY enthusiasts...

Ljudmila = ljubljana digital media lab seeks proposals for its first ever intensive and mind-blowing workshop on Interactivos?'12: Ljubljana for art & tech & scientists professionals. Ljubljana's edition of the workshop will be dedicated to explorations of Obsolete Technologies of the Future, collaborative prototyping vol. 1, rethinking the qualities of outdated technology and making way for a long-term, sustainable usage of technology in our environment in the decades to come.

Advisors: Chris Sugrue (artist, programmer), Luka Frelih (director of Ljudmila, artist, programmer), Yago Torroja (hardware, electronics), Ida Hiršenfelder (art critic, art consultant)

Obsolete Technologies of the Future

The workshops at Ljudmila will enable participants to build prototypes in the fields of art and technology. We are interested in receiving proposals that explore the potential of technological solutions on the aesthetic or practical level. Having in mind that anyone who aims at being contemporary is already dated, we are especially interested in submissions which make use of existing or outdated technologies in an entirely unexpected way to encourage novel approaches, promote sustainability, and explore possibilities in the far future. The outdated technologies have not been pushed aside and rendered insignificant merely for pragmatic, but also for economic and political reasons. The topic suggests – but is not limited to – dealing with increasing lack of natural resources, and ecological questions in urban environments and overlooked technologies of the past. It could also be connected to media hacking and subverting the automatism of the behaviour in the society, suggesting new forms of social networking that are not dependent on existing corporative hierarchies. Alongside artworks, innovative installations, collaborative practices, we will also encourage thinking differently about how we set up products and services for our demands and everyday living. A glimpse into the past makes us understand the reasons behind technological development and what role art plays in promoting or challenging the existing modes of behaviour. Is it possible for an artwork to hack the system from within? Is it possible to think outside of our mindframes? To think outside of the binary code? To view the world in nano scale? To explore our perception beyond the virtual and the real? To imagine moving fast without an exhaust engine? To explore how the web should operate? To turn off and tune in?

Suggested areas of focus include:

• Projects that suggest different usages of existing technological infrastructures.
• Rethinking outdated technologies and recycling the computer and IT wasteland.
• Projects which allow people to interact with technology to provoke new ways of perceiving the surrounding, the self, the visual, the material, and stimulate aesthetic experience.
• Particular attention will be paid to projects which promote open source communities, collaborative work and collective modes of behaviour.
• Playing with data – submissions for works which connect data forms and physically embody data streams, bridging ‘on’ and ‘off’ line worlds.
• Products and services that provide sustainable solutions for our needs, including the use of open data, data mash ups and remixes.

We are seeking proposals for:

• Installations (interactive, responsive, generative)
• Performances (participatory, gesticular, dance)
• Visualisations (moving images, generative, projections, holograms)
• Free Software (FLOSS) / Open Hardware / Open Design / Services / Start-ups / Apps / Devices

Apply here: http://medialab-prado.es/article/interactivos12_ljubljana_future_obsolete_technologies#form
Please help us to spread the word about this open call and feel free to contact us if you have any questions at interactivos[at]medialab-prado.es or delavnica[at]ljudmila.org.

Submission Guidelines:

From among the submissions received, a maximum of 6 projects will be selected to be produced in a two-week workshop at Ljudmila in September 2012. The chosen projects will be developed with the aid of several advisors in addition to a large group of assistants and collaborators.

The open call is aimed at designers, artists, engineers, coders, sociologists, architects, city planners, teachers, programmers, psychologists, journalists, environmentalists, or any other person interested in the theme of the workshop. Proposals may be presented by individuals or groups. Each participant or team may present as many projects as they wish.

Selected projects must be open to the participation of other interested collaborators who will be able to contribute to the production of the pieces during the development of the workshop.

Therefore, there are two levels of involvement in the workshop:

1 - as a project leader

2 - as a collaborator in any one of the selected projects

Once the projects have been selected, the second step in the process will involve a new call for those people who would like to participate in the production of the projects. The call for collaborators will be open from 9 July 2012 at Medialab-Prado's website (www.medialab-prado.es).

For more information see the general guidelines & terms of production for the selected projects.

Credits

• Organised by: Ljudmila, Ljubljana Digital Media Lab & Media Lab Prado (Madrid) with support of SGMK (Swiss Mechatronic Art Society).
• Mentors: Chris Sugrue (artist, programmer), Luka Frelih (director of Ljudmila, artist, programmer), Yago Torroja (hardware, electronics) & Ida Hiršenfelder (art critic, art consultant)
• Supported by: Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Slovenia, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, The City of Ljubljana, EC Seventh Framework Programme in 2011 & Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council.
• The project was enabled by: Sax Pub Hostel, Radio Študent: RADAR – Open Radio Investigative Platform, Channel Zero AKC Metelkova, Bi-Ko-Fe, META IN BAZILIKA, Printec, KUD France Prešeren Trnovo Hostel & Circulacija 2
• Special thanks to: Museum and galleries of Ljubljana (MGML) – City Gallery, Cyberpipe, Radio Cona – Temporary Project Radio For Contemporary Arts, Dr. Marc Dusseiller

Interactivos?'12 Ljubljana: OBSOLETE TECHNOLOGIES OF THE FUTURE, collaborative prototyping vol. 1 is part of Studiolab, a 3-year Europe-wide initiative that merges the artist's studio with the research lab. Funded by the EC Seventh Framework Programme in 2011, Studiolab is a European network that provides a platform for creative projects that bridge divides between science, art and design. More about at Studiolab project.

Organisation team

• Robertina Šebjanič // chairperson and coordinator of Interactivos in Ljubljana
• Jani Pirnat // coordinator of Interactivos in Ljubljana
• Tina Dolinšek // coordinator of Interactivos in Ljubljana
• Helena Božič // photo documentation and PR of Interactivos in Ljubljana (Ljudmila)
• Marcos García // adviser of Interactivos in Ljubljana (cultural programme coordinator at Medialab-Prado)
• Mónica Cachafeiro // adviser and coordinator of Interactivos in Ljubljana (project developer at Medialab-Prado)
• Daniel Pietrosemoli // adviser of Interactivos in Ljubljana (technical coordinator at Medialab-Prado)
• Dr. Marc R. Dusseiller // adviser of Interactivos in Ljubljana (SGMK)
• Urs Gaudenz // chief technical advisor for all projects at Interactivos (SGMK)
• Patric Kauffman // technical advisor and collaborator, coordination and production of side events (DOCK 18 and SGMK)