On Thursday evening, the Hard Pencil collective gave a cardboard hacking workshop at Winter Camp. The workshop did not require any specific skills but everyone could hack at their own level.

All the participants had to form duos and make an avatar. No, not your own well-known online representation but an avatar made out of cardboard and other materials. Hard Pencil had collected an abundant amount of various materials lying in a huge pile on the table. The major challenge was that you had to make the avatar of your partner within 15 minutes. This tight deadline was actually pretty nice because everyone just started grabbing materials and working with it, without thinking too much about the aesthetics.  It also embodies the idea of “to hack” as a clever or quick fix.

After our avatars were finished we sat into a round and dimmed the light. In a short meditative setting with our eyes closed we were asked to imagine our perfect working space. After a few minutes I felt so relaxed that I actually imagined my perfect “working” space as a big bed with fresh white sheets and a nice breeze.

We were asked to find another partner, talk about our perfect working spaces and then build one space would incorporate these ideas. Fortunately my partner James Wallbank had similar ideas and we envisioned a place that was neither inside nor outside. We decided to build a structure out of straws and use semi-transparent plastic to execute our ideas.

In the last part of the workshop all the ideal workspaces were put together to form a small community and all the groups were asked to describe their spaces.

The workshop was a big success and a lot of fun. Thanks Hard Potlood and all the participants!

Click here to view the embedded video.

My day started at 9.30 with wandering around the different networks looking for a nice workshop that would fit me and my interests. But finding a workshop was actually harder than it would seem. Being at Winter Camp one of the last days meant that everybody was tired and needed their sleep. Many groups worked for the entire night and didn’t organize anything for the morning program. After visiting the fourth empty room I decided to wait a while and learn more about the networks in the meantime. The first thing I noticed from reading the booklet is that, even though all the networks are really different, they actually have a lot in common. At this moment it was a mere gut feeling, I had no evidence but I was desperate to find out why felt like this.

10.45, people were finally awake and active. A penetrating smell of fresh made coffee and unwashed bodies contributed to the moldy ambience, it actually smelled like the last day at a music festival. Again I started looking for some action. Most groups were in a heavy discussion about organizing their network. I tried to join them but, even though “Open” is one of the buzzwords at Winter Camp, everybody seemed more occupied by their Macs and their network peers. When I walked into several rooms I felt unwanted, they looked at me like I didn’t belong there (or was that just something I personally experienced?) and I quickly walked away. The first step is the hardest, especially when you try to interfere with such closed networks.

One of the networks, however, made an entirely different impression on me. The people of Free Dimensional, a network that comes with creative solutions for contemporary human right issues, welcomed me the moment I arrived. The tight circle they were in immediately opened up and introduced me as one of the bloggers, I actually felt welcome for the first time that day. At the table was a really mixed group of people: artists, project managers, communication experts and the technological people. The discussion had just started and was mainly about one of the nodes in their network: Res Artis. Res Artis is an organization that supports the needs of residential art centers and programs internationally through dynamic exchange of information and face-to-face meetings. Even though Res Artis was the main subject, the problem that arose was about networks and especially about network language. What language does an artist have to speak to get noticed and does it matter if someone can’t speak English at all? The most relieving answer might have been that art is a language on itself. Sadly everybody agreed that there are a lot of artists that will never be noticed as long as they stay within their own culture and use their own language. This answer might be a little bit disturbing but I was one step closer to my own goal. Every network has a language and everybody has to speak this language. For global networks, like the ones at Winter Camp, this means speaking English.

Ok, so every network uses the English language, that was not the big revelation I hoped for. So after the fD discussion I decided to step back for a while, clear up my mind and come back later when they’d discuss their presentation plans for Saturday. Again I started wandering around and tried to learn more about the other networks, that was easier said than done. Speaking the English language is one thing but understanding other people’s ideas and motivations is another. I found it really hard to get into other subject every time. In the short time I was with them, I grew attached to Free Dimensional but estranged from the other networks, maybe difficult to understand but the truth. Thus, networks are definitely more than speaking the same language only.

At 14.30 I joined the discussion of fD again. But they weren’t actually speaking about the presentation for Saturday as i thought. It was about the so-called problems between the different networks at Winter Camp. They felt like they were being talked into a conflict that didn’t really exist. Yes, there might be a difference between Dyne and fD but only concerning content. They’re both networks that are interested in relations, in bringing people together with the same ideas and believes. Every network is trying to make that happen, so a conflict is not the solution. Also, the clash between ideas creates new opportunities, so it’s not something bad it’s a problem solver actually. I was actually amazed that, from my point of view, the different networks still seemed scattered. Even after being together for more than three days now they still struggled with moving out of their own safe havens. For me this was disturbing, I felt like that the different networks could learn so much from each other but that the imaginative conflict held them back. 

But right after the discussion something weird happened and my mind was set on something completely different. One of the members of fD suffered from food poisoning and I was the one assigned to take care of him and bring him to a medical doctor. Maybe it didn’t have anything to do with networks, but I actually came to an insight. From this moment I think I got to know what a network really means. It’s not about the language, about being open, about the content or about being different. Those are just side aspects which make an individual network stronger. No, it’s about being there for each other, that’s what all the networks have in common. They all help other people to become better at what they do and make a more beautiful world. Surprisingly, something stupid like going to a medical doctor actually made me think of the people behind networks everything became clear. The conflict is indeed non-existent every single network is there to help out others, no matter what ideas or motivations they have. 

Back at Winter Camp, the end of my day there came near. After having a not so delicious meal (I hate pasta I decided to join the Bricolabs viewing. Frekuencia Kolombiana, a documentary about the Columbian hiphop scene, then confirmed my final point. Not only the makers of the film wanted to be there for the oppressed population, to make people aware of their situation. Even the oppressed population in the movie takes care of each other. They’re one big network, no I mean, we are one big network. The documentary was a beautiful metaphor for the end of this day and I no longer felt like a lost soul, I was part of the network.

“A crisis is risky and it can suck the lifeblood out of many.”

Gabriela and Jaromil started the plenary session with the following topics/points of discussion: refuse scarcity, celebrate the labour, publish unfinished and embrace modesty. The overall discussion topic of the plenary session was crisis. During a crisis, a network suffers from anger, distrust, being impatient, (growing) pains etc. It is a struggle which every single network has to deal with. As Gabriela indicated there is a typology of crisis and a typology of solutions but for every network a crisis can potentially be productive; through crisis you continue to grow, it is a mode of production. A good comment was made: ‘denying and hiding a crisis is the worst you can do in a network’. I think we all know that networks often are denying, hiding or even are not aware of their crisis, so there is a call to face it, analyse it, evaluate it and share it with other networks. A network could be preoccupied with maintaining itself and then there is a need to break down the ‘wheel’.

When we have come to the languages of networks “there is a micro-cosmos within Winter Camp.” Clearly there is a certain tension between “the techgroups and the non-techgroups (or the ones who are living in the real world)” (freeDimensional). The impression is that there is an overload of techy-networks at Winter Camp which makes it difficult to find common vision. All different types of networks are having their own language and it is undeniable that the influence of technology is getting more and more important. Networks need technical advice. So invite ‘techy’ networks to come into dialogue in order to benefit from each other, even though they speak another language. Don’t talk from our little boxes. Technology can be of really good use to make changes.

Another issue is that open source networks are often exclusive. They see themselves as open but they are a specialised network and specialisation often implies isolation. So it is for them important to translate their techy-language for other networks to understand. Because “the language of computing is not the language of networks.” The language of networks might be working.

The second part of the screening is a short campaign created by a group of young Brasilians. The campaign is one of the projects of a cultural association Casa das Caldeiras based in Saõ Paulo. The campaign starts with a statement in Portuguese; “rights for true people”. Who are true people and who have the rights? By using avatars or so-called dolls they introduce project. The avatars are placed everywhere in Saõ Paulo; in supermarkets, in someone’s house, during classes and more. The group of young people use the avatars to stand up their rights and they are screaming for attention.  

The third and last part of the screening was an installation of a visit to New Delhi. The installation is meant to be shown at galleries and museums. The New Delhi installation was made by an animal activist Shira Golding.

After all, although freeDimensional seem to be an over-idealistic network with great visions and goals to achieve, their screenings give an impression of real work. Work with concrete projects and missions accomplished. Of course, this objective impression is created by just a small account of their complete work, though their shared community value may be a strong or even their strongest force to produce sustainability for their network.

Overnetworked? Join this anti-RSI happening and put your stress into the cardboard… to create a cardboard paradise and very analogue avatars.

Everyone is welcome!
There is a maximum of 20 participants so please register at the Picnic table at Studio K (see picture below by Hard Pencil).

FILMS

“The Artist, the Cartoonist and the Activist,” 18 min, Chris and Rox Hill
A profile of artist Issa Nyaphaga and how he has worked with and found safe haven through the freeDimensional network. Followed by a Q&A with Issa Nyaphaga

“Direitos Pra Gente De Verdade,” 10 min, Juliano Silva and Renan Sukevicius.
This film starring dolls is part protest and part fantasy. The result of an audiovisual workshop produced by the Alternative Communication Nucleus and CEDECA Interlagos, Direitos Pra Gente De Verdade expresses the vision of two young men from Brazil on freedom and youth rights.
Followed by a Q&A with Joel Borges of Casa das Caldeiras

“Sometimes It’s Hard to Breathe,” 52 min, Video Installation, Shira Golding
An experimental, personal travelogue shot in India that explores space, culture, time and interspecies connections.
Followed by a Q&A with Shira Golding of Shirari Industries

Feel free to bring food, drinks, friends…

See you at 8 tonight!

At first there was just a small number of fanatics but the cinema slowly filled with more people, and right before the main act started there were about 40 people sitting in the cinema waiting for what would be shown next. However, there was no fixed schedule because we had to vote in a ‘new democratic’ way… The instructions: scream as hard as possible when you hear the title of the movie you would like to see. Wow! We had two choices; The oXcars or a screening from Upgrade!. The voting was pretty much settled because a group of 10 people who made The oXcars were in the theatre clearly stating their preference. ‘Now this is a democratic way of voting! This is how it works nowadays.’ That was blasted loudly through the theatre out of the corner of The oXcars’ fans. No doubt it was their moment of fame!

The oXcars is a hilarious parody on the annual big happening in the US. It is a very nice piece of mixed work with good music performances, good sketches, interviews and a lot more. It was a good mixture of entertainment and at the same time bringing a strong political message to the audience. ‘Don’t be afraid to spread those who really create culture!’ To conclude the screening night of Winter Camp 09 I have four Free’s for you:

1. Free Music
2. Free Cinema
3. Free Culture
4. Free Communication

For those who missed the hilarious screenings of tonight, don’t worry! As we are all connected to a network, you will be able to find them everywhere and this is one way.

Big Buck Bunny

Click here to view the embedded video.

The oXcars with English subtitles

Click here to view the embedded video.

Geert Lovink welcomed all 150 participants, and then went into a brief explanation of the funding and planning for Winter Camp over the past year. 115,000€ had been raised of which 25,000€ went to the transportation costs for brining the participants to Amsterdam, 100,000€ was used for the venue and accommodations, and the other 25,000€ was used for miscellaneous functions such as the brochures, supplies etc.

Ned Rossiter, Associate Professor of Network Cultures, followed Lovink with his hope that over the next few days we could attempt to address the important question, “how do we move beyond the current phase of the network condition?” The question of the network vs. the institution has been one of the key motivations for Winter Camp. Rossiter reminded us of how the institutions have been taking advantage of networks and open-source technologies for many years, and wondered why the networks shouldn’t take advantage of what the institutional model may or may not have to offer?

Shortly after Rossiter, each of the 12 groups had a five minute lighting-round introduction, while in the background a PowerPoint shot through the details of each network’s scope, goals, members and financing. The artist collective GOTO10 somewhat timidly filed down to the stage, but soon warmed up as they professed their love for spreading FLOSS to “digital creatives and art geeks” around the world.

Next came DYNE.ORG who relaxed the tone of the evening as they rapidly handed off the mic – each shouting out the first word that came into their head that describes DYNE.ORG. They used words like “video”, “copyleft”, “activism”, “openness” and “whatever”. After all 12 networks had introduced themselves, it was clear that the words activism and openness are what lie at the heart of everyone here at Winter Camp.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Het Harde Potlood (The Hard Pencil) will give an old school cut ‘n paste workshop. We will be turning trash into space and avatars, conjuring up a network of ideal working environments.

Materials: cardboard, plastic, bottle caps, rope, tape, etc. *
Duration: 2 hours
Number of participants: max. 20
* ) all material is available at the spot, but don’t hesitate to bring stuff along.

Het Harde Potlood is an Amsterdam-based artist collective, founded in 2006. The members are: Richtje Reinsma, Roosmarijn Schoonewelle and Heleen Wiemer. We make installations, performances, wall drawings, decors and illustrations. In our collaboration, we explore the way in which we can connect our contrasting ideas and styles. The work process is often visibly part of the final work.