FoAM - workshop

Radio Mycelium

maja — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:59:24 +0000

Start: 2011-12-08 10:00 Europe/Brussels

End: 2011-12-09 17:00 Europe/Brussels

Radio Mycelium tutorial includes the construction of a series of experimental situations examining a new networked imaginary, the single organism of the fungal mycelium, in relation to pathogenic, electromagnetic communications.

"A mycelial network has no organs to move the world, no hands; but higher animals with manipulative abilities can become partners with the star knowledge within me and if they act in good faith, return both themselves and their humble mushroom teacher to the million worlds all citizens of our starswarm are heir to." -Terence McKenna. The Mushroom Speaks

The mycelium, a fungal network of thread-like cells, represents a truly underground communications network, spreading out over vast areas of earth substrate, acting with ecosystem intelligence as an interface across across symbiotic networks such as plant and tree roots.

PARN's Radio Mycelium tutorial aims to actively examine the cross-spore-germination between two parallel wide area networks; between radio-based communication technologies and the single organism network of the mycelium. Fungal transceivers sprouting mycelial antennas form an imaginary underground network. Diversity of human networks is mapped across fungal diversity in the urban environment. The influence of electromagnetic carrier wave on the mycelial network is to be examined.

The well-documented transformative potential of the mycelium (for example, decomposing pollutants) is invoked to remediate an increasingly pathogenic electromagnetic networked culture.

A series of experimental situations will be established and studied by participants, who will also learn how to construct simple measurement devices, and culture shiitake, pink oyster and Enokitake mushrooms, amongst other mycelium (simple moulds). A short field trip will find and map winter mushroomings of electromagnetic fungi in Brussels.

The workshop is facilitated by Martin Howse: http://www.1010.co.uk/org/

This tutorial is a part of PARN: http://x4.fo.am/parn

Supported by the Flemish Authorities and Culture 2007 - 2013 Programme of the European Commission.

Rainforest Etiquette

theun — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 20:45:25 +0000

Start: 2011-10-16 00:00 GMT+2

FoAM is organising and hosting a lecture by Suprabha Seshan. She is the spokesperson of the Gurukula Botanic Sanctuary in Kerala India. At the rainforest sanctuary local tribal women are trained to become parataxonomists and ecosystem gardeners. Through their work over 20 years Suprabha and the team have seen human pressure, demands and damage on the rainforest increase. She will speak on several topics including the failure of environmental education. The forest needs a particular type of support if it is to survive at all. This lecture series is an attempt to bring this type of support to a general and expert audience. The lecture in Amsterdam is followed by a workshop that translates Suprabha’s knowledge to a European context; can we start ecosystem gardening in the city?

more details: http://shibumifriends.nl
for the 16 oct workshop please register: shibumifriends@gmail.com

Dates for the full series:

01 oct 2011 Brockwood Park Educational Centre, UK
03 oct 2011 Department of Philosophy, University of East Anglia
04 oct 2011 CEEC Seminars, Dept of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
05 oct 2011 Forderkreis, Zurich
12 oct 2011 Public Lecture, University of Lugano
16 oct 2011 Studio Maria Blaisse, Amsterdam including FoAM workshop
17 oct 2011 Gaia 1 Wageningen University
18 oct 2011 Hogeschool van Hall Larenstein, Velp
27 oct 2011 University of Kansas, Lawrence, Public Lecture Centre for Global Studies
28 oct 2011 Resilience Lecture, organized by The Land Institute, Salina Kansas
07 nov 2011 Oakgrove School, Ojai California
17 nov 2011 Public (invited) lecture, Yewfield, The Lake District, UK
20 nov 2011 Musical Event with KT Tunstall
22 nov 2011 London School of Economics

London dates are approximate. There may be one of two additional talks.

Saints & Venerative Places Workshop

maja — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:28:51 +0000

Start: 2011-09-09 00:00 GMT+2

End: 2011-09-16 00:00 GMT+2

THE MAKING AND REMAKING OF SAINTS AND VENERATIVE PLACES
A Resilients' workshop on Otok Rab, Croatia
by Pollinators (Performing Pictures, nadine, FoAM AMS)

The Pollinators are a part of a growing network of cultural practitioners, with their core in the Resilients project. 'Resilients' are people of all ages preparing for uncertain futures, by experimenting with resilient forms living & working as a form of artistic practice.

In order to prepare for their 2012 green-powered pilgrimage tour, the Pollinators are gathering for the MAKING AND REMAKING OF SAINTS AND VENERATIVE PLACES workshop on Rab. The workshop includes a public program, and we invite students, cultural workers and the interested public to take part in the open program.

KINETIC CHAPEL NO. 1
During the weeklong workshop, we are building a kinetic chapel – a chapel featuring an animated saint. The chapel will probably be the first of its kind running on solar-energy. The animation is a specially developed stop-motion technique using sequences of film negatives exposed through a large-format pinhole camera.
Anyone interested in taking part in the chapel building workshop is welcome to join in between 10 am and 2 pm during the period of 10-15 September. (Palit, iznad skladišta Rab-komerc). The workshop is held in Croatian and English.

INAUGURATION AND OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE KINETIC CHAPEL
Palit, Thursday 15th of September at 18.00 (iznad skladišta Rab-komerc)

KAMPOR – a commemorative place

Kampor, Monday 12th of September 16.00

Ivo Barić, historian, professor and author on several books about the history of Rab, will make a guided tour and lecture on the Italian concentration camp on Rab. The camp was established in July 1942 and it soon became known for its appalling conditions, which caused the deaths of numerous inmates. The tour is held in Croatian with English translation.

FILM SCREENING

Kino Rab, Saturday 10th of September 16.00-18.00

What is a map? What is a journey? What is a sacred place? What is a pilgrim?
These are some of the initial questions the Pollinators are asking while preparing their 2012 green-powered bike odyssé through Europe. In a 2 hour long open film program we seek inspiration in relation to these questions.

The Pollinators workshop is initiated by Performing Pictures,
with the kind support of Stockholms Stads Kulturförvaltning,
The Swedish Arts Grants Committee and the EU Culture
Programme 2007-2013 (Resilients Project).

http://www.performingpictures.se
http://x4.fo.am/resilients
http://lib.fo.am/resilients/the_pollinators
http://lib.fo.am/resilients/saints_and_venerative_places_workshop

Alternate Reality Games: tutorial

maja — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:52:30 +0000

Start: 2011-10-04 10:00 Europe/Brussels

End: 2011-10-05 18:00 Europe/Brussels

FoAM in Brussels hosts a two-day tutorial on creating Alternate Reality Games, facilitated by Adrian Hon & Matt Wieteska of Six to Start.

Where: FoAM, Koolmijnenkaai 34, B-1080 Brussels, Belgium
When: 4th and 5th October 2011, 10:00 - 18:00
Costs: 30 EUR per person (contribution for 2 meals and materials)

As places are limited, if you'd like to participate please send a short bio and your motivation to info@fo.am by the 28th September 2011.

||||||||||||| About the tutorial:

This ARG tutorial explores the nuts and bolts of designing and running an Alternate Reality Game, with a specific focus on storytelling and real world interaction. The tutorial provides case studies of previous ARGs (including those Six to Start worked on) and includes exercises on developing story worlds, collaborative storytelling, and community formation.

"An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game

||||||||||||| About the facilitators:

Six to Start is an award-winning online games company, specialising in games that cross the boundary between the real world and the virtual world. They've worked with clients including Disney, Channel 4, Penguin Books, Warner Music, the BBC, and the National Maritime Museum to design, build and run online experiences.

Their games and experiences focus on play, storytelling, and social interaction. Six to Start believes that by combining them, they can create experiences that are more memorable, more powerful, and more accessible than anything that’s come before.

http://www.sixtostart.com/

This tutorial is part of the European project PARN:
http://x4.fo.am/parn

With the support of the Culture Programme (2007 - 2013) of the European Union and the Flemish Authorities

Splinterfields: Mathematickal Arts

maja — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:59:43 +0000

Start: 2011-07-23 10:00 GMT+2

End: 2011-07-25 19:00 GMT+2

What: Mathematics, Textiles & Computer Programming workshop
When: 23rd - 25th of July 2011
Where: FoAM, Koolmijnenkaai 30-34, 1080 Brussels, Belgium

Mathematician & machine artist Tim Boykett (Time's Up, AT) and textile designer & educator Carole Collet (Central Saint Martin's, UK) will lead a 3 day workshop bringing together The Arts of Mathematics, Textiles and Computer Programming.

Mathematickal Arts workshop investigates the tangible, abstract and conceptual threads binding materials and machines in a series of practical and theoretical experiments. Participants will use knots, weaving, sorting algorithms, notation and geometry to explore unfamiliar territories of mathematics or crafts using familiar practices of artistic and technological experimentation.

"To me the simple act of tying a knot is an adventure in unlimited space. A bit of string affords the dimensional latitude that is unique among the entities [...] another dimension is added which provides an opportunity that is limited only by the scope of our own imagery and the length of a ropemakers coil."
--Clifford W Ashley, The Book of Knots.

In progress: http://lib.fo.am/mathematickal_arts_2011

This workshop is a part of Resilients (http://x4.fo.am/resilients) and Splinterfields (http://x4.fo.am/splinterfields)

With the support of the Culture Programme (2007 - 2013) of the European Union and the Flemish Authorities.

TpED Worklab at DMY Festival

christina — Mon, 30 May 2011 21:32:26 +0000

Start: 2011-06-02 14:30 Europe/Berlin

End: 2011-06-03 19:00 Europe/Berlin

A co-creation worklab with research based experimentations on the relation between light, food, body and electric energy. Fusing cooking- and solar technology and designs, the participants can improvise and play with edible materials to create ‘e-tapas’ of different aesthetics, smells and tastes. To be ta(e)sted on the heliotropic tongue for the tickle. Lead by Bartaku / FoAM.

TpED #5 was part of FoAM's groWorld, presented at Pixelache Helsinki. At DMY the TpED-worklab is part of 'Makerlab Finland'.

The TpED-worklabs are a next step in Bartaku's ongoing research PhoEf: The Undisclosed Poésis of the Photovoltaic Effect',

urls
DMY Design Festival: http://dmy-berlin.com
Pixelache: http://www.pixelache.ac/helsinki http://www.facebook.com/event.phpeid=121098707971283
groWorld at Pixelache 2011: http://www.flickr.com/photos/foam/sets/72157626278056452
TpED set on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoef/sets/72157625533367951/
PhoEF: http://libarynth.org/luminous/phoef

Sound and Taste Workshop

christina — Thu, 05 May 2011 15:24:42 +0000

Start: 2011-04-18 00:00 Europe/Brussels

End: 2011-04-20 00:00 Europe/Brussels

The workshop organized by Filemon at the youth center " A place to live" in Laeken and guided by Bram (Aifoon) and Rasa (FoAM)
was introducing different tastes and sounds by association methods.
The children involved created visual expressions of different edible ingredients and sounds that surround us. They correlated tastes and sounds in order to create an imaginary edible neighborhood.

The 7 young participants kids started their first session blind folded, smelling and tasting different vegetable extracts and ingredients.
While tasting a number of questions where asked: what color do you imagine, what memories come to you, what shape and texture do you see, etc...

Still blindfolded, the children were drawing what they imagined on the table cloth using the ingredients and extracts and going by color and intensity of 5 tastes (sour, bitter, sweet,salty, umami).
Later, the children started to experiment with extracts on a piece of paper. Honey, cinnamon powder, red cabbage juice, paprika - landed on the paper creating a number of wonderfully bizarre drawings!
Then, some scented oils were prepared using mushrooms, beetroot, carrots, lavender.

The second session was guided by sound experts. The children where introduced to the basic techniques of listening, finding the sound, record, place it on the computer etc. They were also asked to match the drawings they had made to one of their sound recordings.

The third session was about edible “building materials”:
waffles, Chinese crackers, corn puffs, seeds, flowers, honey, wasabi paste, condensed milk, coconut oil and many others. The task was to build your imaginary house! Strange and beautiful buildings were erected. Some kids did not stop after one building, but kept on building until their stack of waffles was gone...

When everyone was satisfied with their results, they were invited to tell us a story about the inhabitants of the house, which country it is in, who are the neighbors. So we learned that there is a duck called Paprika who lives in the des(s)ert of Africa, or a group of students occupies a house with a wild swimming pool.

For the last session, the children split in two groups -
one went looking for sounds, that could fit well with the created houses. After recording on the streets around the youth center what they found interesting, they composed some very beautiful soundtracks.
The second group was working party treats for an imaginary street feast.

According to the food pairing principles, components were chosen to add to make chocolate. All the ingredients had to be prepared, chocolate melted, assembled together, pored into forms, cooled down.

Then it was time for the small exhibition - We hung the drawings on the walls of the terrace, the houses where displayed on the tables, the sound system installed. After a few words of reflection, we all could enjoy sweets, smelly oils , self made breads and a few compositions for the ears.

Special thanks to children for enthusiasm and energy,Aifoon for expertise and calmness,Coralie and Jura for the assistance, “A place to live” for a warm welcome, Pieter for transport, Lina and Christina for sharing ideas, Maki for introducing a wonderful world of smells!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/foam/5669776138/in/set-72157626607731984/
http://www.aifoon.org/projecten.php?id=84
http://www.filemon.be/2011/04/taste-sound-workshop/

LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Facilitators Training

christina — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:25:05 +0000

Start: 2011-06-13 00:00 Europe/Brussels

End: 2011-06-16 00:00 Europe/Brussels

FoAM hosts a workshop to become a facilitator in the The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method.

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is an amazing and very powerful way for co-creation, proto-typing and unlocking the full potential of any organisation. It helps diverse groups of people engage in creative way with and develop innovative solutions to complex issues.

In collaboration with Per Kristiansen, one of the original developers of LEGO SERIOUS PLAY, we are offering a facilitator training in Brussels in two open programs, both lasting two days: Stage 1 and Stage 2.

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is rigorous method informed by systems thinking, strategy and organisational development. It is a facilitated process which is truly participant-centred, experiential, embodied and which to our experience works across all cultures

The facilitator training is aimed at people with experience in design, creativity, facilitation and/or coaching. It could be, in-house learning and development specialists, HR staff, team leaders, innovation experts as well as for professional facilitators and consultants who want to use it in their practice.

For more information check on www.natural-innovation.net
or contact Per at
per.kristiansen@trivium.dk
or by phone +45 27 11 18 12

Production Landscapes; ‘Grow your own’

lina — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:42:32 +0000

Start: 2011-04-12 15:00 GMT-1

End: 2011-04-12 20:00 GMT-1

Production Landscapes; ‘Grow your own’

We have a myriad of environmental challenges facing us, especially in regards to food production, and its relationship to the city. If we start to see food as a language, and as a form of communication, could this be an initial step towards creating resilient cities. Our food systems are shaped by culture, climate, geography, our human interactions, life quality, and pleasure. Food is thus a measure of: Sustainability, Life quality, State of the ecosystem and Cultural identity.

On the 12th of April, FoAM Brussels and FoAM Nordica, together with students from Landscape architecture department at Alnarp, the Swedish university of agricultural sciences, joined for 5 hours to brainstorm, investigate and look at the different creative methodologies for strengthening our relationship with what we eat, and how we grow food in the cities. The aim of the workshop was:
1.To develop a food mandala inspired by permaculture plant guilds. A mapping of the seasons in order to communicate to a wider urban audience what one can grow and when.
2.To develop a serious of do-it-yourself (DIY) indoor farming prototypes.

Through hands-on suggestions and creative alternatives, we tried to explore the relationship to the way food arrives on our plates daily. Making the concept accessible, desirable, fun, educative, and worthwhile to plant where one lives. And begin to understand the discourse around what the main challenges are presently, and in the future, on how we feed our cities.

Workshop leaders: Anna Maria Orru,
Johan Zetterquist (FoAM Nordica) and
Lina Kusaite (FoAM, Brussels)

images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/foam/sets/72157626377573941/

Collaborative Cooking

lina — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 13:48:05 +0000

Start: 2010-11-24 18:45 Europe/Brussels

This experimental workshop will be about food, using team cooking as a way of building and improving the team dynamic.

Cooking together as a group is a great medium for team building and bonding, showing how co-operation and teamwork make for a more motivated, more efficient and high-performing team.
Find out more about yourself and others in this unique one-off foodie workshop that is designed to get your taste buds working and increase your appreciation of others' tastes, desires and needs using food as the medium.

Lina Kusaite and Andy Whittle

Collaborative Cooking is one of the workshops organized by Imagination Club:
http://www.imaginationclub.org/brussels/event20101124.php

Splinterfields: Electromagnetickal Arts

christina — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:05:32 +0000

Start: 2010-12-10 15:05 Europe/Brussels

End: 2010-12-12 19:00 Europe/Brussels

Interference-free Foraging Mobility in Brussels
on Electromagnetism, Psychogeophysics and Urban Beekeeping

Electromagnetic fields can have adverse effects on living organisms - honeybees are especially sensitive.

Although urban environments provide beneficial habitats for bee colonies, the electromagnetic field concentrations can disturb the bees' orientation and communication capabilities. To assist city bees with this issue, participants can work on an interference free foraging map.

Detectors for both high and low electromagnetic frequencies can steer through gradients of signal intensity. Detailed contour maps can be constructed using DIY equipment during city walks, visualizing the situation across diverse city locales. Simple experiments provide insights into complex wave interactions; offering a view of "spectral ecologies" and their relation to visible architecture and habitats.

Participants get an intro to the social behavior of honeybees, and their communication, hive structures and materials used in beekeeping, as well as work on construction plans and new designs for DIY tools for electromagnetic field visualizations during expeditions to the city of Brussels.

Get inspired for a new series of Brussels postcards and an interference free foraging map for Brussels honeybees.

Aims of the workshop: understanding electromagnetic waves and gaining a feel for their complex interactions in the city and their impact on living systems. Exploring the possibility of making the "invisible" fields and their subtle changes over time and space both visible and audible. Exploration of electromagnetic fields in Brussels. Basic understanding of honeybees and working with beekeeping materials.

Martin Howse and Christina Stadlbauer
Friday, 10th of December, 15:00-19:00
Saturday, 11th of December, 10:00-19:00
Sunday, 12th of December, 10:00-19:00
max 12 participants

Images from the workshop:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/foam/sets/72157625582022890/with/5254352478...

Splinterfields : re/touches

maja — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:03:11 +0000

Start: 2010-12-17 14:00 Europe/Brussels

End: 2010-12-19 00:00 Europe/Brussels

workshop organised by Constant

In the weekend of the 17th-19th of December we will look at the act of repairing. We focus on textile and clothing, looking how something is woven, stitched together, consisting of threads and layers, and how these structures break, wear and tear with a body inside.

The Friday afternoon from 14 to 17h Abla who works as a volunteer in the Vaartkapoen repair and retouche atelier (http://www.vaartkapoen.be/socecnaai.htm) will show us the work they do. She will also show a technique for repairing.

In the weekend we will alternate looking at this wear and tear, share stories, exhibit images... If you want to enroll and for more details on this programme
please contact: wendy [attt] constantvzw.org

Repairing requires an understanding of the item you want to work on. How far would you go in repairing coveted item of clothing? What parts of clothes are fragile? Where does an item of clothing wear and tear? what are fragile points? What is the relationship with your body and your activity?

Repairing prolongs the life of a manufactured item, something not really stimulated in these times of fast consumption. This workshop is meant to let us learn repairing techniques from each other coming together is a way of transmitting knowledge. Techniques which were previously more taught in a family context, because clothes were rare thus making them precious because. We would like to talk about this subject and work together. Bring your favourite reparations How did you learn to repair? Do you have favourite methods? Did you learn specific techniques for particular items of clothing?

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipe...

images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/foam/sets/72157625897643550/

— -

Splinter Fields is an initiative of Brussels based organizations active within the fields of technological and media arts (Constant, FoAM, nadine and OKNO) to foster collaborative, agile and flexible learning. The programme of workshops, study-groups and field-tests is open to artists, designers, technologists and other generalists curious to explore tools and mindware for experiments in contemporary culture and daily life.

Designing Robotic Artefacts

maja — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 13:47:31 +0000

Start: 2010-10-16 09:00 GMT-1

http://www.yourhost.is/en/nordichi-2010/w02-designing-robotic-artefacts....

Nik Gaffney talks about FoAM's views on animism & materialism in robotic design, in a workshop hosted by LIREC partner SICS.

The workshop aims to shed an empirically grounded light on some of the myths about designing user centred robotic systems. For example, a robotic system modelled after a human is not necessarily a human-centred design, and an autonomous robot is not necessarily the best system from a user-centred perspective. Killing myths will also include ethical concerns, such as ethics based on user centred design versus the Asimov ethic rules developed in fiction. (...)

http://www.yourhost.is/en/nordichi-2010/w02-designing-robotic-artefacts....

By design for design

maja — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:33:00 +0000

Start: 2010-09-23 09:00 Europe/Brussels

End: 2010-09-23 21:00 Europe/Brussels

Rasa Alksnyte is one of the participants at the Design for Design event at Toegepast: Fit to boost.

images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/foam/sets/72157625132513974/

ASEM on Sustainable Creative Cities

maja — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:26:50 +0000

Start: 2010-10-02 09:00 Europe/Brussels

End: 2010-10-03 20:00 Europe/Brussels

Christina Stadlbauer participates in Sustainable Creative Cities, a workshop on the role of the arts in globalised urban context.

"Invited experts will address the roles of artists and creative workers in the evolution of globalised cities across Asia and Europe, assessing how an “artistic mode of knowing” can contribute to a transition from creative cities to sustainable creative cities. The aim is to facilitate the emergence of local urban processes of social change in partnerships between artists, cultural practitioners and communities, as opposed to top-down urban planning."

http://culture360.org/asef-news/connecting-civil-societies-of-asia-and-e...