[NextGenderation]
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HACK THE KNOWLEDGE LAB: Technology, Creativity, Social
Organisation
A WEEKEND GATHERING FOR COLLABORATIVE AND CREATIVE
REFLECTION
February 3/4/5, 2006. Institute for Advanced Studies,
Lancaster
University, North West England.
*******************************************************************
Continuing the experimental Knowledge Lab project,
this weekend will be
a conference without presentations or key note
speeches. The aim is to
bring together a variety of people - waged and unwaged
thinkers,
students, activists, hackers - from all over the world
for intense
discussion sessions rather than serial monologues, on
such topics as
* Democratisation of nanotech/biotech/infotech
* Privacy & Surveillance
* Commodification & Art
* Psychedelics and biological "enhancements"
* Military/Defence involvement in technological
development
* Feminism & Technology
* Enclosures & Commons
* Indymedia
* Publishing Politics
and more!
There will also be a HACKLAB running hands-on
workshops on a variety of
Free Software applications (from web browsers, email
and encryption
programs to VJing tools, video editing, and writing
code).
Find out more at
http://www.knowledgelab.org.uk/wiki/SecondKnowledgeLab
Participation is limited to 100 people, so get in
touch NOW if you
would
like to be involved. Children are welcome, but please
let us know ASAP
if you intend to bring a small person!
n.moeller@???
::[[[[ www.knowledgelab.org.uk ]]]]::
and here is the longer version:
CALL FOR INVOLVEMENTS (sorry for x-posting)
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HACK THE KNOWLEDGE LAB: Technology, Creativity, Social
Organisation
A WEEKEND GATHERING FOR COLLABORATIVE AND CREATIVE
REFLECTION
February 3/4/5, 2006. Lancaster University (Institute
for Advanced
Studies), North West England.
*******************************************************************
CONTENTS of this mail:
1. What is the Knowledge Lab?
2. What will this weekend be like?
3. How you can get involved
4. Costs and practicalities
_____________________________
1. WHAT IS THE KNOWLEDGE LAB?
The Knowledge Lab is an attempt to provide a
collective space for
anti-capitalist reflection. It is located at the
margin of the
university, an institution essentially geared towards
the production
of knowledge as a resource for corporate interest and
as justification
for particular constellations of power relations.
The Knowledge Lab is hence also an attempt to claim
back some of the
university's space, resources and know-how from the
military-industrial
complex and make them available for people concerned
about and working
against the status quo of unceasing commodification,
exploitation, war,
and biospherical destruction.
__________________________________
2. WHAT WILL THIS WEEKEND BE LIKE?
This weekend is the second Knowledge Lab event, and
you are happily
invited to get involved. Find the emerging programme
here:
http://www.knowledgelab.org.uk/wiki/Lab2Programme.
The event is also an experiment in format/structure,
and aims to go
beyond the conventional speaker-audience set up. The
weekend will be
divided into FOUR themed STREAMS made up of a series
of extended
discussion sessions or hand-on workshops:
STREAM 1: POLITECHS (democratisation of
technology/politics in
technological civilisation)
STREAM 2: HACKING CONSCIOUSNESS (hearts, minds &
technology)
STREAM 3: PROPERGANDER ((autonomous) media &
communication)
STREAM 4: HACKLAB (techie skill transfer)
All streams share the same lunch and dinner breaks,
but are otherwise
NOT time-bound to one another. There will also be a
1/2 stream (the
KIDZ' STREAM!) taking place in the soft-seated corner
of the foyer.
Please let us know in advance if you're bringing a
small person.
Apart from the hacklab (a series of hands-on
workshops), each stream
consists of a number of facilitated sessions on a
particular subject
(see
http://www.knowledgelab.org.uk/wiki/Lab2Programme
for more info).
Sessions are long-ish discussions (up to 2-3 hours)
around a set of
questions, issues or statements (that will be made
available on the
wiki
in advance). There will be no formal presentations,
but the idea is
that
people with particular experience/knowledge of the
given subject will
aim to ensure vibrancy of discussion and relevance of
information
imparted - without extinguishing other people's points
of views and
contributions!
The idea is for each session to collectively draft
some sort of
"output"
- this could be a simple list of main points
summarising the
discussion,
but could of course be more creative (such as editing
audio recordings
for publication online), and would ideally also
identify further
questions regarding the subject (rather than attempt
to provide
answers)
with a view to encourage further thought and action,
maybe even spawn
writings, research, or other projects. The "output"
will be
"publicised"
on the wiki and ideally on posters or similar during
the course of the
weekend.
Live web-streaming and recording facilities for the
discussions will be
set up. As part of the hacklab we are hoping to
provide a media sharing
server, so bring your hard drives, CDs and DVDs with
documentaries,
music and more to share and take new stuff home with
you to screen or
redistribute.
There will be a plenary/feedback session Sunday
lunchtime to wrap up
the
whole event.
___________________________
3. HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED
Anybody is welcome to attend the weekend, get involved
in the
discussions, and take part in the workshops. HOWEVER,
YOU NEED TO
REGISTER TO ATTEND AS THE EVENT IS LIMITED TO 100
PEOPLE, SO PLEASE GET
IN TOUCH NOW: n.moeller@???.
If you'd like to take a more pro-active role during
the conference, you
might want to ADOPT a session - that is, prepare it in
advance
(suggest questions, main issues, reading material etc
and propose the
length of the session), arrive prepared for discussion
themselves,
attend it, and participate passionately in the debates
and in the
drafting of the "output". For proposed sessions see
http://www.knowledgelab.org.uk/wiki/Lab2Programme.
We also still need people to FACILITATE sessions -
ideally a session
should NOT be adopted and facilitated by the same
person(s).
Facilitators are usually best if experienced in their
task, and will be
called upon to facilitate not only discussion, but
also the drafting of
the "output".
Any which way, please get in touch.
___________________________
4. COSTS AND PRACTICALITIES
Unwaged persons: free
Unfunded students/low-paid persons: donation
Funded students/Lancaster university staff: £20
Academics/waged persons: £65
This contribution is for the whole weekend and
includes Friday and
Saturday dinner, Saturday and Sunday breakfast and
lunch. All food will
be vegan and predominantly organic.
Shared accommodation is available on the floor of the
very spacious and
friendly Quakers' Meeting House, it is free, but
please bring sleeping
bag and mat. Get in touch if you have any special
requirements, and
again, please let us know in advance if you're
bringing a child.
::[[[[
www.knowledgelab.org.uk]]]]::
__________________________________________________
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