POETIC DECONSTRUCTION OF THE INTERFACE

POETIC DECONSTRUCTION OF THE INTERFACE // 3 WKSP ON CRITICAL INTERFACE POLITICS
HANGAR [BARCELONA] // FEBRUARY - MARCH 2016

POETIC DECONSTRUCTION OF THE INTERFACE lead by artist Joana Moll, seeks to critically reveal, analyze and connect the complex network of agents that converge on the configuration of the Interface. This workshop has been organized by HANGAR as a pre-event to The Interface Politics Conference 2016. During a 3 weekend-long workshop we have revealed, deconstructed and re-articulated the material and immaterial elements that construct the Interface in order to reflect on its role and influence within the social, political, economic, cultural and emotional spheres of the networked society. Therefore, the main goal of this workshop is to stimulate and re-appropriate subjectivity, an essential process in the generation of critical thought about the true nature of technology, and in the imagination of alternative techno-paradigms which may coherently respond to our environmental and human conditions.

This event is part of the European Consortium IMAGIT and fits in with the research and actions developed at the Interface Manifesto.

THE WORKSHOP IS DIVIDED INTO THREE INTERCONNECTED SUB-WORKSHOPS
// #1 REVEAL // #2 DECONSTRUCT // #3 RE-ARTICULATE //

#1 REVEAL [ the physical layer of the Interface ]

MAIN TOPICS COVERED IN THIS WORKSHOP: #Internet Physicality; #Geopolitics of the Internet; #Internet Backbone Providers (NSP); #Internet Service Providers (ISP); #Communication technologies & CO2 emissions; #Online Tracking; #Data Brokers; #Cookies; #Data Privacy #TOR

During a 12h WKSP, divided into two sessions, we created a map where we captured some of the "invisible" events that happen when we access any website from our browser. This map mainly included the physical journey of the information through land and submarine cables, the different stakeholders (companies and countries) who have access to our data (ISP, Backbone providers, Third party trackers, Cookies, and so on) and its impact on the environment (CO2 emissions).

Special thanks to Edigol for the map.

#2 DECONSTRUCT [ code, language, algorithms, cognition & governance ]

MAIN TOPICS COVERED IN THIS WORKSHOP: #Code; #Language; #Poetry; #Art; #Algorithms; #Algorithmic Politics; #Social Engineering; #Esoteric Programming Languages; #HTML; #CSS; #Javascript

In this 12h session, we analyzed and discussed the effects of code on the intimate and social bodies, minds and languages, and the influence that such colonization has on the social, cultural, economic and environmental spheres of the networked society. In order to do so, we analyzed, performed and embodied some methods, based on algorithms used by Facebook and Google, to influence social behaviour and redefine structures of power. In parallel, we experimented with basic website design languages such as HTML, CSS and Javascript that allowed us to carry out simple semantic hacks on some of the most visited sites on the net.

_Explaining the logic followed by PageRank, an algorithm used by Google Search to rank websites in their search engine results.

_Performing PageRank physically.

_Interface hack 1

_Interface hack 2 Interactive version

_Interface hack 3

_Interface hack 4

_Interface hack 5

_Interface hack 6

_Interface hack 7

_Interface hack 8

_Interface hack 9

#3 RE-ARTICULATE [ interface design & ideology ]

MAIN TOPICS COVERED IN THIS WORKSHOP: #Interface Governance; #Critical Engineering; #Quantification; #Lists; #Databases; #Front End; #Back End; #UX Design #Corporate Design; #Community Design; #Hacktivism

In this 12h weekend WKSP, we analyzed the methods, processes and structures by which unquantifiable information such as language, human communication and cognition become quantified and commodified. We discussed the role that User Interface design has in this process, and we developed and tested experimental methodologies that helped us to reflect on our individual and collective needs, interests and values, and articulate them within the Interface design.