fabric | rblg

Note: As part of my teaching at ECAL / University of Art and Design Lausanne (HES-SO), I've had the opportunity to dig into the history of the relationship between art and science (ongoing process, especially regarding a material history of the same period). Or rather the links between creative processes (in art, architecture and design) and the information sciences (the computer especially, or the "Universal Machine" as formulated by A.Turing, as a more evocative name, hence the title of the graphs below and of this post).

I also had the occasion, through my practice at fabric | ch, and before that as an assistant at EPFL and then as a professor at ECAL, to experience first hand some of these massive transformations in society and culture.

Thus, for my theory courses, I've sought to assemble "maps" of sorts that help me understand, visualize and explain the fluxes and timelines of interactions between people, artifacts and disciplines. These maps are by no means perfect... nor do they pretend to be. They remain a bit hazy (by intention, as well as constraints of sizes) and could be indefinitely "unfolded" and completed, according to various interests and points of view, beyond mine. I edit them regularly as a matter of fact.

However, in the absence of a good written, visual and/or sensitive history of these techno-cultural phenomena taken as a whole, these maps remain a good approximation tool to apprehend the flows and exchanges that unite or divide them, to start build a personal knowledge about them and eventually dig deeper...

This is the main reason why, despite their obvious fuzziness - or perhaps because of it - I share them on this blog (fabric | rblg), in an informal way. It's so that other artists/designers/researchers/teachers/students/... can start building on them, show different fluxes, develop before and after or, more interestingly, branching out from them (if so, I'd be interested in sharing new developments on this site. Feel free to contact me to do so, for suggestions or comments as well btw).

...

Its also worth noting that the maps are structured horizontally on a linear timeline (late 18th century towards mid 21st, mainly the industrial period), and vertically approximately around disciplines (bottom would be related to engineering, middle to art and design, and top towards humanities, social events or movements).

This linear timeline could certainly be questioned, to paraphrase writer B. Latour, what about a spiral timeline for instance? One that would still show a past and a future, but also historical proximities of topics between them, connecting in its circular developments past centuries and topics with our contemporaneity? But for now and while aknowledging it is limitations, I stick to the linear simplicity...

Countless narratives can then be built as emergent proprieties of the graphs (and I emphasize, not as their origin).

...

The choice of topics (code, scores-instructions, countercultural, network related, interaction) are for now related to the matters of my teaching but are likely to expand. Possibly toward an underlying layer that would show the material conditions that supported the whole process and also made it possible.

In any case, this could be a good starting point for some summer readings (or a new "Where's Wallie" kind of game...)! 

Via fabric | ch

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By Patrick Keller

Rem.: By clicking on the thumbnails below you'll get access to HD versions.

"Universal Machine", main map (late 18th to mid 21st centuries):

Flows in the map > "Code":

Flows in the map > "Scores, Partitions, ...":

 Flows in the map > "Countercultural, Subcultural, ...":

Flows in the map >  "Network Related":

Flows in the map > "Interaction":

...

To be continued (& completed) ...

Note: Patrick Keller (fabric | ch) was in discussion with curator Sabine Himmelsbach, from Haus der elektronischen Künste in Basel (CH), about their new acquisition for the collection of the Museum: Satellite Daylight 47°33'N.

The piece will be displayed permanently in the public space of the HeK. At least until breakdown... But interestingly, it is also part of a whole program of digital conservation at HeK that should prevent its technological collapse, for which we had to follow a tight protocol of documentation and provide the source code pf the work.

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fabric | ch, Satellite Daylight, 47°33‘N, 2020, Vue de l'installation durant «Shaping the Invisible World», 2021, HeK. Photo.: P. Keller.

Shooting set in preparation ...

Followed by our discussion with Sabine Himmelsbach ... (with a lot of reverb in the staircase!)

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Via Haus der elektronischen Künste (blog)

Patrick Keller of fabric | ch, a studio for architecture, interaction and research in Lausanne, provides thrilling insight about the new work installed in the staircase of HeK.

Patrick Keller of fabric | ch, a studio for architecture, interaction and research in Lausanne, provides information about the new work in an interview. The installation  Satellite Daylight, 47°33’N, commissioned for the HeK collection, simulates the light registered by an imaginary meteorological satellite orbiting the earth at the latitude of Basel at a speed of 7541m/s.

Note:  the discussion about "Data Materialization" between Nathalie Kane (V&A Museum, London) and Patrick Keller (fabric | ch, ECAL / University of Art and Design Lausanne (HES-SO)), on the occasion of the ECAL Research Day, has been published on the dedicated website, along with other interesting talks.

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Via ECAL

Research Day 2019 Natalie D. Kane from ECAL on Vimeo.

Note: I had the great pleasure to be in discussion with Prof. Fabio Gramazio (ETHZ) during the Research in Art & Design Day that took place at ECAL last October. The session was moderated by Vera Sacchetti.

I know Fabio since we were both assistants, him in Zürich (ETHZ), and me in Lausanne (EPFL). We did collaborate on projects at that time for CAAD-ETHZ (directed by Prof. Gerhard Schmitt at that time), and I know also all the art work Fabio did in the context of the fanous Swiss collective etoy. We didn't had time to talk about it unfortunately, even so it was planned...

The recording of our discussion about academic research in architecture and design, its specificities in the case of Fabio, and their relation to practice in architecture and design, is now accessible on the Vimeo account of the School.

Via ECAL

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ECAL Research Day 2017: Fabio Gramazio – co-founder, Gramazio + Kohler Architects, Zurich from ECAL on Vimeo.

Research Through Art and Design: Materials and Forms

Fabio Gramazio –  co-founder, Gramazio + Kohler Architects, Zurich
in conversation with Patrick Keller – professor, ECAL

10+10 Research in Art & Design at ECAL

On the occasion of the 10 years since the moving of ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne to its current premises in Renens and marking the 10th anniversary of the foundation of EPFL+ECAL Lab, ECAL hosted a symposium on Research in Art and Design, featuring artists, designers and scholars in these fields from all over the world, in conversation with ECAL faculty members.

ecal.ch

Note: I'll be pleased to be in Paris next Friday and Saturday (02-03.12) at the Centre Culturel Suisse and in the company of an excellent line up (!Mediengruppe Bitnik, Nicolas Nova, Yves Citton, Tobias Revell & Nathalie Kane, Rybn, Joël Vacheron and many others) for the conference and event "Bot Like Me" curated by Sophie Lamparter and Luc Meier.

I'll present with Nicolas Nova the almost final state of our joint research project Inhabiting & Interfacing the Cloud(s).

Via Centre Culturel Suisse

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Du vendredi 2 au samedi 3 décembre 2016

 

Bot Like Me
interventions en anglais

 

A l’occasion de l’exposition de !MedienGruppe Bitnik, et avec la complicité du duo d’artistes zurichois, Sophie Lamparter (directrice associée de swissnex San Francisco) et Luc Meier (directeur des contenus de l’EPFL ArtLab, Lausanne) ont concocté pour le CCS un événement de deux jours composé de conférences, tables rondes et concerts, réunissant scientifiques, artistes, écrivains, journalistes et musiciens pour examiner les dynamiques tourmentées des liens homme-machine. Conçues comme une plateforme d’échange à configuration souple, ces soirées interrogeront nos rapports complexes, à la fois familiers et malaisés, avec les bots qui se multiplient dans nos environnements ultra-connectés.

 

 

Vendredi 2 décembre / dès 19h30

 

conférence, 19h30-21h : Bot Like Me kick-off

avec Rolf Pfeifer (AI Lab de l’Université de Zurich / Osaka University), Carmen Weisskopf et Domagoj Smoljo ( !Mediengruppe Bitnik). Modération : Luc Meier et Sophie Lamparter

 

performance musicale live, 21h30 : Not Waving

 

 

Samedi 3 décembre / dès 14h30

 

tables rondes

 

-14h30-16h : Data Manifestos

avec Hannes Grassegger (auteur de Das Kapital bin ich), Hannes Gassert (Open Knowledge Network) et le collectif RYBN. Modération : Sophie Lamparter et Luc Meier

 

-16h30-18h : Cloud Labor, Petty Bot Jobs

avec Nicolas Nova (HEAD-Genève, Near Future Laboratory), Yves Citton (Université de Grenoble) et Patrick Keller (ECAL, fabric | ch). Modération : Marie Lechner

 

-18h30-20h : Botocene & Algoghosts

avec Tobias Revell et Natalie Kane (Haunted Machines), Gwenola Wagon et Jeff Guess (artistes). Modération : Joël Vacheron et Nicolas Nova

 

concert 21h : performance live de Low Jack et carte blanche au label Antinote

Note: j'aurai le plaisir d'être en entretien --en français-- ce vendredi 26.02 à 20h avec le journaliste Frédéric Pfyffer, de la Radio Télévision Suisse Romande, dans le cadre du programme Histoire Vivante qui traite cette semaine du sujet des "Big Data".

Cet entretien, qui a été enregistré en fin de semaine passée, nous verra évoquer la façon dont les artistes ou designers abordent aujourd'hui --mais aussi un peu hier-- cette question des données. En contrepoint ou complément peut-être des approches scientifiques. Pour ma part, aussi bien dans le contexte de ma pratique indépendante (fabric | ch où de nombreux projets réalisés ou en développement s'appuient sur des données) qu'académique (projet de recherche interdisciplinaire en cours autour des "nuages"... entre autres).

À noter encore qu'au terme de la semaine d'émissions thématiques sera diffusé sur la TSR (dimanche 28.02) le documentaire Citizenfour, qui relate toute l'aventure d'Edward Snowden et du journaliste Glenn Greenwald.

Ces cinq émissions seront également disponibles en mode podcast à la même adresse, suite à la diffusion de cette semaine.

Via RTS

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Une semaine d’Histoire Vivante consacrée à l’histoire de la recherche scientifique à la lumière de l’émergence de l’internet et des big data.

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Dimanche 28 février 2016, vous pouvez découvrir sur RTS Deux: CitizenFour, un documentaire de Laura Poitras (Allemagne-USA/2014):

"Citizenfour est le pseudonyme utilisé par Edward Snowden pour contacter la réalisatrice de ce documentaire lorsqu'il décide de révéler les méthodes de surveillance de la NSA. Accompagnée d'un journaliste d'investigation, elle le rejoint dans une chambre d'hôtel à Hong Kong. La suite est un huis-clos digne des meilleurs thrillers."

Note: I'll move this afternoon to Grandhotel Giessbach (sounds like a Wes Anderson movie) to present later tonight the temporary results of the research I'm jointly leading with Nicolas Nova for ECAL & HEAD - Genève, in partnership with EPFL-ECAL Lab & EPFL: Inhabiting and Interfacing the Cloud(s). Looking forward to meet the Swiss design research community (mainly) at the hotel...

Via iiclouds.org

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Christophe Guignard and myself will have the pleasure to present the temporary results of the design research Inhabiting & Interfacing the Cloud(s) next Thursday (28.01.2016) at the Swiss Design Network conference.

The conference will happen at Grandhotel Giessbach over the lake Brienz, where we'll focus on the research process fully articulated around the practice of design (with the participation of students in the case of I&IC) and the process of project.

This will apparently happen between "dinner" and "bar", as we'll present a "Fireside Talk" at 9pm. Can't wait to do and see that...

The full program and proceedings (pdf) of the conference can be accessed HERE.

As for previous events, we'll try to make a short "follow up" on this documentary blog after the event.

Note: a book as a follow up of the exhibition for which fabric | ch designed the scenography last May at the Haus der elektronische Künste in Basel (project White Oblique, downloadable pdf on our website). I was implicated in a double way in the exhibition due to the fact that the content of the design research I'm jointly leading with Nicolas Nova for ECAL and HEAD, Inhabiting and Interfacing the Cloud(s), was also exhibited. I have the pleasure to publish a text in the book about the state and objectives of the ongoing research as well. 

Via iiclouds.org

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Note: we’re pleased to see that the publication related to the exhibition and symposium Poetics & Politics of Data, curated by Sabine Himmelsbach at the H3K in Basel, has been released later this summer. The publication, with the same title as the exhibition, was first distributed in the context of the conference Data Traces. Big Data in the Context of Culture and Society that also took place at H3K on the 3rd andf 4th of July. 

The book contains texts by Nicolas Nova (Me, My cloud and I) and myself (Inhabiting and Interfacing the Cloud(s). An ongoing Design Research), but also and mainly contributions by speakers of the conference (which include the american theorician Lev Manovitch, curator Sabine Himmelsbach and Prof. researcher from HGK Basel Claudia Mareis) and exhibiting artists (Moniker, Aram Bartholl, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Jennifer Lyn Morone, etc.)

The publication serves both as the catalogue of the exhibition and the conference proceedings. Due to its close relation to our subject of research (the book speaks about data, we’re interested in the infrastructure –both physical and digital– that host them), we’re integrating the book to our list of relevant book. The article A short history of Clouds, by Orit Halpern is obviously of direct signifiance to our work.

It can be ordered directly from H3K website:

Poetics and Politics of Data, 265 pp, ed. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel, 2015 (29.- chf)

Note: we didn't found enough time last December to document an interview of fabric | ch that was publish in the French design magazine Étapes. So let's do it in early 2015... The magazine itself has been recently revamped under the direction of a new editorial board. It is now a quite exciting magazine, interested in transverval approaches to design questions, including interaction design, architecture, etc. even so its main and historical focus remains graphic design.

The interview that took place between Christophe Guignard (fabric | ch) and Isabelle Moisy (editor in chief, Étapes) concerns the specific approach to architectural design that fabric | ch has adopted through times. This approach has taken into account since our foundation (1997) the networked and digital natures of contemporary space and territories (landscapes) combined with the physical one. This last point was particularly evident in the fact that since the start, our group was composed of architects and computer scientists. Our work has of course evolved since 1997, but this "coded/data dimension" of space has obviously gained importance in our work and in general since then, it has also proved itslelf to become a major element in the conceptualization of spaces in our still early century.

By fabric | ch

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From the "Édito":

"(...). En l'absence d'horizon précis, les supports de communication se superposent, et les designers débordent sans complexe des pratiques restrictives auxquelles ils ont été formés. Les qualificatifs se multiplient. Designer pluriel, transdiciplinaire. (...)". Isabelle Moisy

Paranoid Shelter (2012) on the left, used as a "theatrical/architectural device" during Eric Sadin's Globale Surveillance theatrical.

Gradientizer (2013) on the right. A competition project realized in collaboration with spanish architects Amid.cero9.

A recent project, Deterritorialized Living (2013) an almost geo-engineered troposhere delivered in the form of data flows. Installed here during Pau's Festival Accè(s) (cur. Erwan Chardronnet).

Note: a few of our recent works and exhibitions are included in this promising young publication related to architectural thinking, Desierto, edited by Paper - Architectural Histamine in Madrid. At the editorial team invitation, I had the occasion to write a paper about Deterritorialized Living and one of its physical installation last year in Pau (France), during Pau Acces(s). We also took the occasion of the publication to give a glimpse of a related research project called Algorithmic Atomized Functioning.

By fabric | ch

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From the editorial team:

"The temperature of the invisible and the desacralization of the air. 28° Celsius is the temperature at which protection becomes superfluous. It is also the temperature at which swimming pools are acclimatised.

Within the limits of the this hygrothermal comfort zone, we do not require the intervention of our body's thermoregulatory mechanisms nor that of any external artificial thermal controls in order to feel pleasantly comfortable while carrying out a sedentary activity without clothing.

28° Celsius is thus the temperature at which clothing can disappear, just as architecture could."

Authors are Gabriel Ruiz-Larrea, Sean Lally, Philippe Rahm, Nerea Calvillo, myself, Helen Mallinson, Antonio Cobo, José Vella Castillo and Pauly Garcia-Masedo.

Editorial by gabriel Ruiz-Larrea (editor in chief). Editorial team composed of Natalia David, Nuria Úrculo, María Buey, Daniel Lacasta Fitzsimmons.

Inhabiting Deterritorialization, by Patrick Keller, with images of Deterritorialized Living website, Deterritorialized Daylight installation (Pau, France) and Algorithmic Atomized Functioning.

Desierto #3 and past issues can be ordered online on Paper bookstore.