We presented the after.video book project during the Besides the Screen / Open Science Conference in Sao Paolo. Adnan Hadzi & Pablo De Soto discussed the Drone Hackademy & Algorythmic Noir, a dystopian “future-opolis.” It became the location for their experimental film noir. Pushing the envelope of cinematic form, the film is edited live in real time by a custom programmed computer they call the “serendipity machine.” It delivers a changing narrative, culled from 3,000 clips, 80 voice-overs and 150 pieces of music, that could run forever and never plays the same way twice. The unexpected juxtapositions create a sense of suspense alluding to a story that the viewer composes. Driven by key words, the work seamlessly comes together as a movie that is not a movie. The film draws on the abstractions and reflections on transcendence of the artist Kasimir Malevich, and the fate of Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin, seen through the lens of science fiction and film noir.

The film follows the observations and surveillance of a geophysicist named Holz (Jeff Wood), stuck in a 1970s-looking metropolis operated by the New Method Oil Well Cementing Company. Voiceovers and dialogues forge the implied narrative—wire-tapped telephone conversations, reel-to-reel tapes, snippets of a job interview between Mr. Holz and his employer and a mysterious woman referred to simply as “Dispatch.” According to the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, whiteonwhite is a fascinating investigation into space and time, utopia and dystopia, fractured narration, train travel and landscapes marked by economic and ecological upheaval.

Our friends Rob, Barbara & Anton performed Cyphersongs @ Piksel15:

CipherSongs: Trustless is the second in a series of performance and installation works reflecting on issues surrounding encrypted network communication technologies. It is a data driven, audio visual installation/performance which responds to real-time data from the Bitmessage service. Bitmessage is a decentralised, peer-to-peer, trustless communications protocol. The service became particularly popular after the 2013 Snowden revelations exposing the widespread collection and analysis of communications metadata. These works respond to the threat to our “right to a private life” posed by the planned amendments in the UK to the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill (aka The Snoopers Charter). This amendment seeks to criminalise the use of encrypted communications in the UK. In this context, CipherSongs functions as the ‘canary in the coal mine’, an early warning system where the disappearance of song indicates a dangerous problem within the system.

This performance is a dialogue between the on-stage performers and the streams of encrypted network data. The data is picked up by performers and improvised into the physical performance space as well as streamed via the TOR hidden service. Alongside the data driven sonic improvisations are woven textual interpretations of both factual and fictional encrypted content.

Rob Canning (Laptop), Antonios Galanopoulos (Laptop), Barbara Kukovec (Voice/Electronics).

IXDM will host a conference on data traces.

Big Data describes a passage into a new era in which the power of data induces a radical transformation of a society whose actions and production of knowledge rely increasingly on the accumulation and evaluation of data. The conference ‘Data Traces. Big Data in the Context of Culture & Society’ draws upon this prospect and delves into critical questions of Big Data in dialogue with international experts, academics and artists. It addresses the paradigm of a data-driven society and reflects life in an increasingly datified world. The conference is organized by the Institute of Experimental Design and Media Cultures at the Academy of Art and Design FHNW and HeK (House of Electronic Arts Basel). The conference is part of the exhibition ‘Poetics and Politics of Data’ at HeK. Further infos can be found on the IXDM website & the HEK website.

Sealed with a Bit @ r15

Short thesis:
Random Darknet Shopping Bots, Mail Art and Surveillance Algorithms: Mediengruppe Bitnik on their latest works, Art and Technology

Description:
!Mediengruppe Bitnik are contemporary artists based in Zurich. In their talk they will give some insights into their latest works around bots. They will retrace their recent explorations into the Darknets – from Memes to Onionland – and talk about anonymity as anti-identity and applying loss of control to challenge established structures and mechanisms.

!Mediengruppe Bitnik has been known for sending a bot called «Random Darknet Shopper» on a three-month shopping spree in the Darknets where it randomly bought items like Ecstasy and had them sent directly to the exhibition space.

In early 2013 they sent a parcel to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy. The parcel contained a camera which broadcast its journey through the postal system live on the internet. They describe «Delivery for Mr. Assange» as a SYSTEM_TEST and a Live Mail Art Piece.

James, Jaromil and Adnan joined a 2-day London FLOSSP2P workshop, gathering FLOSS projects that are building software for peer production and organization, with a focus on distributed platforms. *Scholarships* to attend are offered to grassroots communities. We met with participants of the Off Networks mailinglist.

** Context ** see p2pfoundation blog:

We know that the Internet was originally decentralized, with protocols and services built by hackers. However, with the arrival of the celebrated Web 2.0, centralization and corporations proprietary platforms seem to have taken over. Moreover, this centralized structure is used by governments to increase surveillance (following Snowden’s revelations), to blackout internet whenever it is needed (e.g. Egypt, Syria, or San Francisco’s BART) or to choke annoying activist organizations (such as Wikileaks).

On the other hand, in the last few years we have seen the emergence of Internet-enabled collaborative communities building shared libre/open resources. Commons-based Peer to Peer Production (CBPP) is rapidly growing: not just for software and encyclopedias, but also for information (OpenStreetMap, Wikihow), hardware (FabLabs, Open Source Ecology), accommodation (Couchsurfing) and currency (Bitcoin, Altcoins).

In the last few years, it has become clear to many that it is not enough to develop free/libre/open source (FLOSS) alternatives, but we also need to re-decentralize the Internet. Many initiatives are being undertaken under this premise (e.g. Ethereum, Diaspora, OwnCloud, MediaGoblin, Sandstorm). These new software tools may also be useful to boost CBPP communities further. In this workshop, we will gather those working around the decentralized FLOSS that could help CBPP/P2P communities. Hackers, academics, activists and interested stakeholders are welcome.

Henry Warwick DATAFIELD2
A Temporary Autonomous Field Off the Internet

DATAFIELD is an ongoing artwork based in common computer technology operating as a Temporary Autonomous Field off the Internet. While DATAFIELD(1) was based on a mounted WIFI router, DATAFIELD2 and DATAFIELD3 – hosted at the foyer of transmediale 2015 – are units that can be moved and can be hidden.

DATAFIELD2 is a Network Attached Storage Unit that takes the theme of common ordinary household information appliances to the next level. Its low cost consumer unit is a significant part of the aesthetic and political choices surrounding the project – anyone can buy one of these devices, fill it with data and leave it in a public place. It is easy to programme and to access files, a common browser can be used. DATAFIELD2 of course has some limitations, in terms of bandwidth but at the same time it offers some freedoms. As it is battery-operated, it has the advantage that it can be moved constantly; it is nearly impossible to find or stop. DATAFIELD was and is *not* connected to the Internet – this is a strictly offline operation, a voluntary *post-Internet community*.

DATAFIELD
Henry Warwick (School of Media, Ryerson University)

DATAFIELD is a work in technology. It is similar to the PirateBox concept by David Darts, but differs in important ways, as this is not a box of piracy. This is a field of sharing. This installation, as an electromagnetic field, operates as a field of possibilities. It invites, indeed, requires participation to exist – otherwise, it’s just another electromagnetic field. To participate, the user must have a device that can access a WIFI router and mount a drive. How to locate the open WIFI connection DATAFIELD and access to the DATAFIELD drive will be provided with explicit instructions in the Conference space. If for some reason the WIFI stops working, Ethernet cables will be provided, as DATAFIELD is *not* connected to the internet. Within DATAFIELD, you can share files with others. The more people share, the more they gain from involving themselves with this piece and with others. While DATAFIELD responds to enthusiasm, as greater involvement creates a richer dataset, the WIFI router has a limit of ten users at a time. Operating as a Temporary Autonomous Field, this window will only be open the duration of this exhibit. Again, the DATAFIELD router has *no* access to the internet — this is a strictly offline operation, a voluntary *post-internet community*. This is for you, here, now. Remember, sharing is caring.

During Transmediale 2015, reSync will promote collaborative synchronisation services and introduce a growing P2P exchange network of free media resources, synchronised between those in London [own], Athens [awmn] and Berlin [freifunk], that sidestep the rising sense of network surveillance and preserve privacy whilst continuing to enjoy free media exchange in public and over free information infrastructures wherever they flourish.

Join us in the lobby area of Haus der Kulturen der Welt on Friday 30th January to make sync code badges and configure your media files, messages and phone things to reSync @ Capture All.

Pick up a flyer sheet and claim a reSync ‘key’, print posters and press your own badges. Each badge features the unique QRcode to promote media from your smart phones, tablets and pc’s using Bit Torrent Sync app. Anyone then scanning the code or exchanging the key will be able to receive new images texts and sounds as you add them during Transmediale and therafter.

See the howto for more details.

Each reSync is then automatically relayed across our international network nodes using Syncthing (floss) then available on open wireless networks in Athens, London, Lueneburg and Berlin (so far!)

see this reSync All video for some instructions on the process…(ish)

This follows on from ‘reStreet’ workshops in Athens 2014 and will run parallel to the “Enclosed Athens Disclosed”/”Glossary  of Subsumption – Projecting a Collective Collation” sessions.

It is no secret that ‘pirate’ sites are amongst the most popular in the world. There are already huge numbers (hundred of millions) of P2P users, and the number continues to grow despite technical and legislative attempts to slow or censor P2P technologies. Media industries are quite unwilling to accept the inevitability of filesharing as a significant, if not the most significant, global media distribution system. The continued belief that intellectual property protection, Digital Rights Management, regulation of ISPs etc. will solve the ‘filesharing problem’ prevents tinkering in this area is being overturned.

Many thanks Rob Canning for the Imagemagic qrcode compositing!

ReSync are pleased to be joining the Goethe Institut Athen for a cluster of 4 workshops around the topic of the city and autonomous networks this November, 6th – 9th called “New Babylon Revisited”

Friday 7th and Saturday 8th November; The reStreet workshop @ Space Under will focus on AWMN and it’s leading role as infrastructure pioneer, techniques to help advance use of the network and promoting the access and synchronisation points we discover around the city – with maps, printed material and social mediation.

We will touch on aspects of open infrastructure and software philosophy as well as explore secure methods for file sharing and data exchange which promote the wireless network and acknowledge the the scope for services as well as introduce some of our own.

Sunday 9th November is the the final event during which we will walk/drift from place to place and re-discover our street-sync signalling and signage, play with the network and discuss the experience of New Babylon.

Welcome to the reSync workshop at the Lunatic annual arts and music festival in Lüneburg Germany 6th and 7th June 2014. from 12:00 till 20:00 each day.

Please register to make your custom reSync badges to promote your media shares over the Freifunk open wireless network and contribute to a festival mashup of image sound and video.

• Install BTsync to your Smart phone, Tablet or PC
• Create a reSync folder for your favorite texts, images or movies
• Scan your dedicated reSync code and add media to your reSync folder.
• select automatic sync
• make and wear your badges.

Visit us and find out more in the Spielwiese area on (artist fair on campus). see the map