<nettime-ann> Technology / Affect / Space #2: Designing Affect Space , H

Technology / Affect / Space #2: Designing Affect Space

Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, Friday May 20, start: 13.30

A public discussion and research meeting about the affective geographies of urban space and affective data in the city.

A new pattern of mobilisation in urban space has been revealed through the recurrent spectacles of massive gatherings, appearing in public space as suddenly as they dissolve: Affectively highly charged mobilisations via the Internet spill over into public space. Then, because this public space is awash with mobile media and wireless networks, the "action in the street" immediately feeds back again into the media network, and small incidents can swiftly transform into massive events.

Open! the online platform for art, culture and the public domain has launched a public research trajectory into the dynamics of this recurrent pattern, following up on the essay Affect Space written for Open! by media theorist and researcher Eric Kluitenberg (2015). Three public discussions and research meeting have been convened with our partners the MIT ACT (Art, Culture, Technology) program in Cambridge (Mass.), LAPS Research Institute in Art and Public Space in Amsterdam, and Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam to explore these dynamics. In parallel to these public meetings a series of six commissioned essays will be published on the Open! platform in the coming months.

In this meeting we will explore the role of affective exchanges in urban public spaces and the ways in which mobile and wireless technologies reinforce and amplify these exchanges. Next we will examine the ways in which ‘affective data’ are extracted from the urban environment, as evidenced in for instance the City Pulse research project of Atos and the Living Laboratory pilot project currently undertaken by the city of Eindhoven, to monitor the leisure district Stratumseind in real-time, while simultaneously analysing social media feeds to detect ‘mood-changes’.

The overall aim is to question what the role of (spatial) design disciplines can be in these complex and highly volatile spaces, which are both massive and ephemeral at the same time.

Talks and presentations by:

Rodrigo Delso Gutiérrez (architect and researcher, Madrid), Michael Buser (Geographer, University of the West of England), Linnet Taylor (researcher, University of Amsterdam), Albert Seubers (Director Global Strategy IT in Cities, Atos), Marcel Schouwenaar (The Incredible Machine / Internet of Things Design Manifesto, Rotterdam), Michiel de Lange (researcher Utrecht University), Martijn de Waal (researcher University of Amsterdam), and Eric Kluitenberg (moderator).

Further information:

Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam

http://hetnieuweinstituut.nl/en

Open!, Platform for Art, Culture & the Public Domain

www.onlineopen.org

LAPS - Rietveld Academy:

http://laps-rietveld.nl/?lang=en_us

Links:

Affect Space essay:

www.onlineopen.org/affect-space

Rodrigo Delso Gutiérrez

www.connectingcities.net/project/open-urban-television-out