!Mediengruppe Bitnik
Tracking, Networks and Data

Electronic Civil Disobedience Workshop
10 and 11 December 2020

Online / Ljubljana

Registration deadline
TUE, 8 December 2020

Language: English
Max. number of participants: 15

In the framework of konS – Platform for Contemporary Investigative Art

With their exploration of logistics infrastructures, !Mediengruppe Bitnik provides insights into systems that usually work invisibly. From the investigation of algorithms that evaluate our social media profiles in their work Flagged for Political Speech to interference with the greatly automated mail system in Decisions Decisions Decisions the artistic duo observes the anatomy of these fully optimized automated systems that assist our daily lives and reveals their gaps and flaws.

Now it’s time for you to join the workshop with !Mediengruppe Bitnik and explore the hidden, unmapped networks of the world around you. Using five mini GPS trackers as tactical tools we will explore the service networks, waste management, transport networks of the city while the position data generated by the trackers will allow us to make visible movements as maps. 

The two-day workshop in the form of a presentation and planning on the first day, and practical work on the second, will take place via Zoom. All participants will be able to follow the movement of devices on the map online for a continuous period of 5 to 10 days. Participants will work in teams of 3 and can either enroll as a group or individually. No special skills are required, however all partakers should have access to an end device and a good internet connection.

SCHEDULE

THU, 10 December 2020 
4:30 pm–6:30 pm
Workshop introduction and planning of the hands-on session and work groups for the next day (online via Zoom)

FRI, 11 December 2020
10 am–12 pm
Pick-up GPS-devices at Aksioma | Project Space (Komenskega 18, LJ). Groups prepare their device for placing and drop them at designated locations within the city. 

4:30 pm–6:30 pm
Online meeting to exchange experiences and share locations of devices (online via Zoom)

THE AUTHORS

!Mediengruppe Bitnik (Carmen Weisskopf and Domagoj Smoljo) live and work in Berlin. Contemporary artists working on and with the internet, their practice expands from the digital to affect physical spaces, often intentionally applying loss of control to challenge established structures and mechanisms. !Mediengruppe Bitnik’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at leading international institutions, most recently at Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris; Haus of Electronic Arts, Basel; and Helmhouse, Zurich. Group exhibitions have included Kunsthaus, Zurich; Łódź Art Center; Fondazione Prada, Milan; Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf; and the Shanghai Minsheng 21st Century Museum. They have received numerous awards, among them, the Swiss Art Award, Migros New Media Jubilee Award and an Honorary Mention Prix Ars Electronica.

RELATED EVENTS

!Mediengruppe Bitnik
Decisions Decisions Decisions
Exhibition
3 – 24 December 2020
Aksioma | Project Space, Ljubljana

3 December – 15 January 2020
Delta Lab, Rijeka (HR)

!Mediengruppe Bitnik
Flagged for Political Speech
Exhibition
6 – 22 January 2021
Aksioma | Project Space, Ljubljana