To book your place in workshops and events please use the general booking form for the festival.
Workshop 1: Networkshop
Schedule: Monday 25 – Friday 29 June, from 10am to 16pm (5 days)
Teachers: Julian Oliver and Danja Vasiliev
Group: 10-15 people
Participation: Free
Required skills: Agility
Required materials: Laptop with ethernet port
Location: CTVR Dunlop Oriel House, Trinity College Dublin
Ask anyone how the postal system works and they would give a vaguely correct description. Few however would come close to describing how email, let alone a computer network itself, actually functions. With this lack of knowledge comes a risk; we lack the practical understanding to effectively read the infrastructural and political implications of our increased dependency on this technology.
In this intensive workshop Oliver and Vasiliev will teach low level networking for wireline and wireless networks using only command line tools. In doing so, students will learn both how to manipulate computer networks and how they manipulate us. No prior knowledge of computer networking is required. A small scale model of the Internet will be created in class for the purposes of study with which we will interact with another self-built local network. By learning about routing, addressing, core protocols, network analysis, network packet capture and dissection, students will become dexterous and empowered users of both fixed and wireless networks.
In the second phase of the workshop students will learn to read network topologies as political control structures, seeing how corporations and governments shape and control the way we use computer networks. Students will learn to study these power structures by tracing the flow of packets as they pass over land and sea. Macro-economic and geostrategic speculations will be made. Oliver and Vasiliev will provide all students with a LiveUSB operating system complete with tools familiar to both the hacker and network engineer alike. Complete documentation will be provided. Participating in this workshop requires no prior knowledge of computing or computer networking.
For further information and to book a place on the Networkshop please use the bookings page.
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Workshop 2: E-waste Workshop
Schedule: Friday 29 and Saturday 30 of June, from 10am – 4pm (2 days)
Teachers: Benjamin Gaulon and Lourens Rozema
Group: Max 10 people
Participation: free
Required Skills: No previous background in programming or electronics required
Required Materials: Bring your own laptop + some e-waste (old printer, scanner, old home phone, electronic toy, obsolete audio / video equipment…)
Location: Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin
During openhere the e-waste workshop will focus on hacking and interconnecting obsolete devices by repurposing cheap WiFi routers. Our workshops offer participants a chance to become familiar with basic hardware and software design, while at the same time gaining hands-on experience making an interactive art project. The workshops are open to participants of different backgrounds, and no programming or electronic skills are required. The idea is to start from scratch and create a complete project by the end of the workshop, including concept, design, electronics / interfacing, and functional programming.
Deconstructing readily-available, cheap electronic devices into interactive tools is more than a lot of fun; the process offers the same visible, hands-on learning and understanding acquired through dissection. By re-purposing second-hand hardware or cheap toys, a commercial, mass-produced product is transformed into a unique device, with potential for new and original means of expression or communication. The boundaries of a device are set by the manufacturer (planned obsolescence); those limits can be redefined by such creative recycling.
We live in a disposable society. This is most prevalent in large parts of the telecommunications industry. Mobile phones, communication devices, game consoles and PCs have short lifespans. Consumers expect ever-greater functionality from the next generation of each device. Moore’s Law dictates that the complexity of computer chips doubles every 18 months. This causes a rapid decrease in the value of existing electronics. Thus, the dark side of technological progress is the production of endless amounts of electronic waste: e-waste. Although the economic value of obsolete electronics approaches zero, the electronic components themselves can still be useful in other contexts. Hence we need to seek ideas and inspiration for how we can rethink technology and, in particular, communications and ICTs, from sources that are outside traditional engineering domains.
For further information and to book a place on the E-Waste Workshop please use the bookings page.
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