The Dark Side of Making - Reflecting on Promises, Practices and Problems of the Last 25 Years

Daniel Cermak; Laura Beloff; Julian  Priest; Walter  Langelaar; Steve Gray

The Dark Side of Making - Reflecting on Promises, Practices and Problems of the Last 25 Years

Daniel Cermak, Laura Beloff, Julian Priest, Walter Langelaar, Steve Gray

Research output: Conference Article in Proceeding or Book/Report chapter › Article in proceedings › Research › peer-review

Abstract

The discussion of our panel of the Dark Side of Making takes up specifically the perspectives of software- and biohacking, do-it-yourself (DIY) practices, education, and open networks. Members of the panel represent a range of perspectives from an interna-tional group of academics, artists, and makers, including the local South African maker scene. The recent years have seen a growing interest and increase of practices that embrace a DIY attitude and Maker Culture. But there are also controversies attached to these practices that question their legitimacy, sustainability, and inten-tions: How is it better to build your own electronic device instead of buying a mass-produced one? Does it really make sense to self-build the automated watering, light and temperature control system for your house plants? And why do we all repeat the same experiments in a DIY biolab, e.g. the creation of transgenic fluo-rescent e-coli bacteria, which will be killed after we have seen it glow under a fluorescent lamp? These and other questions refer-ence a possibility that there exists a dark side to these practices; but what and where is it?

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 24th International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA)
Number of pages	4
Place of Publication	Durban South Africa
Publisher	Durban University of technology (DUT)
Publication date	22 Jun 2018
Pages	414-417
ISBN (Electronic)	978-0-620-80332-8
Publication status	Published - 22 Jun 2018
Event	The 24th International Symposium on Electronic Art - Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa Duration: 22 Jun 2018 → 1 Jul 2018 http://www.isea-international.org/isea2018/

Conference

Conference	The 24th International Symposium on Electronic Art
Location	Durban University of Technology
Country/Territory	South Africa
City	Durban
Period	22/06/2018 → 01/07/2018
Internet address	http://www.isea-international.org/isea2018/

Keywords

Biohacking
creative practices
critical perspectives
digital media
DIY
Making
education
hacking
open culture
open net-works

Access to Document

ISEA-proceedings_finalFinal published version, 18.9 MB

Cite this

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title = "The Dark Side of Making - Reflecting on Promises, Practices and Problems of the Last 25 Years",

abstract = "The discussion of our panel of the Dark Side of Making takes up specifically the perspectives of software- and biohacking, do-it-yourself (DIY) practices, education, and open networks. Members of the panel represent a range of perspectives from an interna-tional group of academics, artists, and makers, including the local South African maker scene. The recent years have seen a growing interest and increase of practices that embrace a DIY attitude and Maker Culture. But there are also controversies attached to these practices that question their legitimacy, sustainability, and inten-tions: How is it better to build your own electronic device instead of buying a mass-produced one? Does it really make sense to self-build the automated watering, light and temperature control system for your house plants? And why do we all repeat the same experiments in a DIY biolab, e.g. the creation of transgenic fluo-rescent e-coli bacteria, which will be killed after we have seen it glow under a fluorescent lamp? These and other questions refer-ence a possibility that there exists a dark side to these practices; but what and where is it?",

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author = "Daniel Cermak and Laura Beloff and Julian Priest and Walter Langelaar and Steve Gray",

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booktitle = "Proceedings of the 24th International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA)",

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Cermak, D, Beloff, L, Priest, J, Langelaar, W & Gray, S 2018, The Dark Side of Making - Reflecting on Promises, Practices and Problems of the Last 25 Years. in Proceedings of the 24th International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA). Durban University of technology (DUT), Durban South Africa, pp. 414-417, The 24th International Symposium on Electronic Art , Durban, South Africa, 22/06/2018.

The Dark Side of Making - Reflecting on Promises, Practices and Problems of the Last 25 Years. / Cermak, Daniel; Beloff, Laura; Priest, Julian et al.
Proceedings of the 24th International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA). Durban South Africa: Durban University of technology (DUT), 2018. p. 414-417.

Research output: Conference Article in Proceeding or Book/Report chapter › Article in proceedings › Research › peer-review

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ER -

The Dark Side of Making - Reflecting on Promises, Practices and Problems of the Last 25 Years

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

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Cite this