Travels to the 5th decennial Aarhus conference 2015 + The Future of Making

Aarhus 2015 – Critical Alternatives

W12: The Future of Making: Where Industrial and Personal Fabrication Meet

Organizers: Verena Fuchsberger, Martin Murer, Manfred Tscheligi, Silvia Lindtner, Andreas Reiter, Shaowen Bardzell, Jeffrey Bardzell, Pernille Bjørn

This one-day workshop seeks to reflect on the notion of fabrication in both personal and industrial contexts. Although these contexts are very distinct in their economical and political vision, they share important characteristics (e.g., users interacting with specific fabrication equipment and tools). The workshop topic spans from personal fabrication to (automated) production, from applied to theoretical considerations, from user requirements to design as a crafting practice. We will address changes in production that affect humans, e.g., from mass production to Do-It-Yourself (DIY) production, in order to discuss findings and lessons learned for individual and collective production workplaces of the future. We aim to explore the intersections between different dimensions and processes of production ranging all the way from hobbyist to professional making. Furthermore, the workshop will critically reflect on current developments and their consequences on personal, societal, and economical levels including questions of the reorganization of work and labor, innovation cultures, and politics of participation.

We invite scholars and practitioners, who have experience with and interest in the workshop topic, to submit a position paper (up to 4 pages in the ACM Extended Abstract format), or a video contribution (max. 5 minutes). Furthermore, we would like you to consider what artifacts characterize your work in the field of industrial and/or personal fabrication, which you can bring along to the workshop. For instance, you could bring an object resulting from a maker, hacker, or DIY project, factory-made goods, etc.

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Mad props to the conference organizers for working with local farmer and Chef Nick Who brought and amazing lunch, including a salad made with potatoes he pulled out of the ground that morning, meats from animals born and lovingly raised on his farm, and a ridiculously delicious mustard sauce from his garden.
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And an image gallery from my travels