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| {{>https://www.flickr.com/photos/tpspix/14334967213}} \\ | ====FoAM Newsletter - Summer 2014==== |
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| * condense, reduce and cohere FIXME | http://www.flickr.com/photos/foam/14717256365/ |
| * links to http://fo.am/blog/ FIXME | |
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| <h3>Intro (???)</h3> | |
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| <p>The earth’s unstoppable orbit around the sun, combined with the obliquity of the ecliptic, are two astronomical facts that we at FoAM Brussels find impossible to ignore. It is due to their combined effects that we now experience “summer” in the northern hemisphere, and we very much hope you agree that this is an excellent excuse to bring you our latest, summer newsletter. In the following digital pages we’d like to share some updates about our intensive explorations of futures and interstitial cultures, our cultivation of the edges between food and the environment, and everything that’s been happening on the home front as we continue to develop our unique hosting culture. We invite you kick back with your beverage of choice and enjoy this update – irrespective of the precession of the equinoxes or nutation of the earth’s axis.</p> | <p>The earth’s unstoppable orbit around the sun, combined with the obliquity of the ecliptic, are two astronomical facts that we at FoAM Brussels find impossible to ignore. It is due to their combined effects that we now experience “summer” in the northern hemisphere, and we very much hope you agree that this is an excellent excuse to bring you our latest, summer newsletter. In the following digital pages we’d like to share some updates about our intensive explorations of futures and interstitial cultures, our cultivation of the edges between food and the environment, and everything that’s been happening on the home front as we continue to develop our unique hosting culture. We invite you kick back with your beverage of choice and enjoy this update – irrespective of the precession of the equinoxes or nutation of the earth’s axis.</p> |
| <p><i>Terwijl de FoAM-studio in Brussel onder (naar Belgische normen) hittegolftemperaturen zijn zomerreces ingaat, leek het ons een goed moment om een overzicht te maken van onze activiteiten gedurende het laatste half jaar. Naar goede gewoonte zijn dat er nogal wat geweest. We hebben ze onder vier hoofdingen geplaatst, zo’n beetje onze belangrijke huidige actie- en denkterreinen. In het Nederlands heten ze iets als: toekomsten, culturen in de tussenruimte, eetbaar groen, de kunst van gasten te ontvangen. In het Engels klinkt dat allemaal een stuk beter.</i></p> | <p><i>Terwijl de FoAM-studio in Brussel onder (naar Belgische normen) hittegolftemperaturen zijn zomerreces ingaat, leek het ons een goed moment om een overzicht te maken van onze activiteiten gedurende het laatste half jaar. Naar goede gewoonte zijn dat er nogal wat geweest. We hebben ze onder vier hoofdingen geplaatst, zo’n beetje onze belangrijke huidige actie- en denkterreinen. In het Nederlands heten ze iets als: toekomsten, culturen in de tussenruimte, eetbaar groen, de kunst van gasten te ontvangen. In het Engels klinkt dat allemaal een stuk beter.</i></p> |
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| <h3>Futures</h3> | |
| | <h3>Experimental futures</h3> |
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| <p><i>Onze interesse voor toekomstmogelijkheden vindt haar oorsprong in vroeger werk waarin de notie van ‚onzekerheid’ al voorop stond. Het deed ons beseffen dat met onzekerheid kunnen omgaan een zekere gevoeligheid vergt, een waarin je helemaal in het heden leeft maar met oog voor wat aan de horizon verschijnt, en het vermogen om je daaraan aan te passen. We gingen ons een laboratorium voor speculatieve cultuur noemen. Sinds begin 2014 zijn toekomsten een centraal aandachtspunt van onze activiteiten in Brussel geworden. We deden aan literatuuronderzoek, spraken met bekende futurologen, hielden verschillende workshops en evenementen, schreven in groep in vier dagen een boek, bereiden een gids voor toekomstreizigers voor en zijn uitgenodigd door Z33 om in de herfst mee te werken aan een toekomstlab. </i></p> | <p><i>Onze interesse voor toekomstmogelijkheden vindt haar oorsprong in vroeger werk waarin de notie van ‚onzekerheid’ al voorop stond. Het deed ons beseffen dat met onzekerheid kunnen omgaan een zekere gevoeligheid vergt, een waarin je helemaal in het heden leeft maar met oog voor wat aan de horizon verschijnt, en het vermogen om je daaraan aan te passen. We gingen ons een laboratorium voor speculatieve cultuur noemen. Sinds begin 2014 zijn toekomsten een centraal aandachtspunt van onze activiteiten in Brussel geworden. We deden aan literatuuronderzoek, spraken met bekende futurologen, hielden verschillende workshops en evenementen, schreven in groep in vier dagen een boek, bereiden een gids voor toekomstreizigers voor en zijn uitgenodigd door Z33 om in de herfst mee te werken aan een toekomstlab. </i></p> |
| <p>In our guise as a speculative culture laboratory we've been circling around the field of futures for several years now, but it was only from the beginning of 2014 that it became a central focus for FoAM in Brussels. Our interest in futures has been steadily growing through earlier works (such as <a href="http://lib.fo.am/resilients">Resilients</a> or <a href="http://lib.fo.am/luminous/start">Luminous Green</a>) that explored what it might mean to live with uncertainty – be it environmental, economic or cultural. We believe that dealing with uncertainty requires a particular kind of sensibility – one in which we live firmly in the present while remaining fully aware of what emerges on the horizon, and adapting accordingly. In our current project, <a href="http://fo.am/future-fabulators/">Future Fabulators</a>, we investigate how to “extend” the present, embracing an awareness of emerging futures. We are less interested in predictions and more in uncovering situations, assumptions and behaviours that might help us live with uncertainty.</p> | <p>In our guise as a speculative culture laboratory we've been circling around the field of futures for several years now, but it was only from the beginning of 2014 that it became a central focus for FoAM in Brussels. Our interest in futures has been steadily growing through earlier works (such as <a href="http://lib.fo.am/resilients">Resilients</a> or <a href="http://lib.fo.am/luminous/start">Luminous Green</a>) that explored what it might mean to live with uncertainty – be it environmental, economic or cultural. We believe that dealing with uncertainty requires a particular kind of sensibility – one in which we live firmly in the present while remaining fully aware of what emerges on the horizon, and adapting accordingly. In our current project, <a href="http://fo.am/future-fabulators/">Future Fabulators</a>, we investigate how to “extend” the present, embracing an awareness of emerging futures. We are less interested in predictions and more in uncovering situations, assumptions and behaviours that might help us live with uncertainty.</p> |
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| <p>Attempting to grasp the field(s) variously known as futures studies, strategic foresight, or futurology, and our own place on its fringes, early this year we embarked on a research expedition through the depths and breadth of foresight and experiential futures. We realised that the field is vast and fragmented, so we gleaned information from a wide range of sources including the military, industrial and design contexts, but also from critical studies and action research. Conversations with several futures mavericks such as <a href="http://futuryst.blogspot.be/">Stuart Candy</a>, <a href="http://changeist.com/bio/">Scott Smith</a> and <a href="http://justinpickard.net/">Justin Pickard</a> greatly helped us in finding our way through this tangled field. The results of our work are all publicly accessible on the <a href="http://lib.fo.am/future_fabulators/background">Future Fabulators wiki</a>. They have been the basis and inspiration for a range of workshops and events that we worked on in the spring, including the <a href="http://fo.am/data-ecologies-experience/">Data Ecologies</a> seminar in Austria, an “edible futures” <a href="http://lib.fo.am/future_fabulators/food_futures">Open Sauces dinner</a> at a science festival in Scotland, our contributions to the <a href="http://xcoax.org/">xCoAx</a> conference in Portugal and the <a href="http://fo.am/adhocracy/">Adhocracy residency</a> in Australia.</p> | <p>Attempting to comprehend the field(s) variously known as futures studies, strategic foresight, or futurology, and our place on its fringes, we embarked on a research expedition into the depths of foresight and experiential futures early this year. Realising just how vast and fragmented the field is, we gleaned information from a wide range of sources including the military, commercial and design contexts, along with digressions into critical studies and action research. Conversations with some maverick futurists, including <a href="http://futuryst.blogspot.com/">Stuart Candy</a>, <a href="http://changeist.com/bio/">Scott Smith</a> and <a href="http://justinpickard.net/">Justin Pickard</a> greatly helped us in finding our way through this tangled field. The results of our work are publicly accessible on the <a href="http://lib.fo.am/future_fabulators/background">Future Fabulators wiki</a> and have formed the basis and inspiration for a range of workshops and events during the spring, including the <a href="http://fo.am/data-ecologies-experience/">Data Ecologies</a> seminar in Austria, an “edible futures” <a href="http://lib.fo.am/future_fabulators/food_futures">Open Sauces dinner</a> at a science festival in Scotland, our contributions to the <a href="http://xcoax.org/">xCoAx</a> conference in Portugal and the <a href="http://fo.am/adhocracy/">Adhocracy residency</a> in Australia.</p> |
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| <p>We poured some of our background research into “Futurish”, a book that we began developing in a four-day <a href="http://fo.am/blog/2014/06/11/attersee-booksprint/Booksprint">Booksprint</a> with <a href="http://timesup.org/">Time's Up</a> and other Future Fabulators. We are currently discussing the evolution of this book, so updates here are likely (in one of the many possible futures before us). The more pragmatic elements of our futures research – techniques and processes to make futures less expert-driven and more tangible and experiential – will end up in the “Futurist Fieldguide”, a manual of sorts for people without a “futurological” background who are keen to get their hands dirty with futures. We will be developing the fieldguide in public during the <a href="http://www.z33.be/en/projects/future-fictions">Future Fictions</a> exhibition at <a href="http://www.z33.be">Z33</a> in Hasselt, Belgium. The curator Karen Verschoren has invited FoAM to co-create a Futures Lab, where we will be spending much of our autumn. Stay tuned for this one, as we expect it to be excellent.</p> | <p>We poured some of our background research into “Futurish”, a book that we began developing in a four-day <a href="http://fo.am/blog/2014/06/11/attersee-booksprint/Booksprint">Booksprint</a> with <a href="http://timesup.org/">Time's Up</a> and other Future Fabulators. We are currently discussing the evolution of this book, so updates here are likely (in one of the many possible futures before us). The more pragmatic elements of our futures research – techniques and processes to make futures less expert-driven and more tangible and experiential – will end up in the “Futurist Fieldguide”, a manual of sorts for people without a “futurological” background who are keen to get their hands dirty with futures. We will be developing the fieldguide in public during the <a href="http://www.z33.be/en/projects/future-fictions">Future Fictions</a> exhibition at <a href="http://www.z33.be">Z33</a> in Hasselt, Belgium. The curator Karen Verschoren has invited FoAM to co-create a Futures Lab, where we will be spending much of our autumn.</p> |
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| <p>Read more about our work with futures <a href="https://fo.am/blog/2014/07/22/futures/">here…</a></p> | <p>Read more about our work with futures <a href="https://fo.am/blog/2014/07/22/futures/">here…</a></p> |
| <p><i>Van in den beginne heeft FoAM zich opgehouden in de tussenruimtes van disciplines en culturen - tussen kunst, wetenschap en technologie in, maar gaandeweg ook met andere onverwachte allianties. We bleven ook dit jaar een veelgevraagde partner als het gaat om de verkenning van zulke tussengebieden, bv. door een onderzoeksinstelling die zich afvraagt waarom onderzoeksinstellingen überhaupt bestaan en, nog in Portugal, op een conferentie waar de vraag werd gesteld wat ‚de derde cultuur’ precies betekent. Van die ‚derde cultuur’ is FoAM Kernow op verschillende manieren het levende voorbeeld. Ook onze residenten zijn typisch mensen die zich in zo’n tussenruimte ophouden. </i></p> | <p><i>Van in den beginne heeft FoAM zich opgehouden in de tussenruimtes van disciplines en culturen - tussen kunst, wetenschap en technologie in, maar gaandeweg ook met andere onverwachte allianties. We bleven ook dit jaar een veelgevraagde partner als het gaat om de verkenning van zulke tussengebieden, bv. door een onderzoeksinstelling die zich afvraagt waarom onderzoeksinstellingen überhaupt bestaan en, nog in Portugal, op een conferentie waar de vraag werd gesteld wat ‚de derde cultuur’ precies betekent. Van die ‚derde cultuur’ is FoAM Kernow op verschillende manieren het levende voorbeeld. Ook onze residenten zijn typisch mensen die zich in zo’n tussenruimte ophouden. </i></p> |
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| <p>From its early beginnings as a cultural department in scientific research institute <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlab">Starlab</a>, FoAM has positioned itself as a refuge for edge-dwellers, people living and working at the interstices between disciplines and cultures. The edges between art, culture, science and technology continue to be our main focus, although we remain curious about any unexpected alliances. Our long and visceral experience at the interstices has come to the fore on several occasions this year. In our collaboration with the Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute (<a href="http://www.m-iti.org/">M-ITI</a>) we explored a fundamental question for any university: “Why should research institutes exist?” We guided the M-ITI team in distilling their research core, with the outcome that they now see their purpose as fostering transformative experiences through the fusion of creativity and technology. Quite in line with FoAM’s mission, but in an academic context. We’re curious to see how this new direction for M-ITI evolves, and wish them all the best!</p> | <p>From its early beginnings as a cultural department in scientific research institute, FoAM has positioned itself as a refuge for edge-dwellers, people living and working at the interstices between disciplines and cultures. The edges between art, culture, science and technology continue to be our main focus, although we remain curious about any unexpected alliances. Our long and visceral experience at the interstices has come to the fore on several occasions this year. In our collaboration with the Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute (<a href="http://www.m-iti.org/">M-ITI</a>) we explored a fundamental question for any university: “Why should research institutes exist?” We guided the M-ITI team in distilling their research core, with the outcome that they now see their purpose as fostering transformative experiences through the fusion of creativity and technology. Quite in line with FoAM’s mission, but in an academic context. We’re curious to see how this new direction for M-ITI evolves, and wish them all the best!</p> |
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| <p>A few months later in Porto (this time on mainland Portugal) we explored another interstitial topic – the elusive “Third Culture”. In a <a href="http://lib.fo.am/future_fabulators/xcoax_workshop">scenario workshop</a> and pre-enactment at the xCoAx conference we hosted a group of artists, designers, theorists and technologists while asking ourselves, “What does the Third Culture look like?” The resulting speculation provoked considerable intrigue, personal insights, bemusement, and several interesting conversations, and we hope some of this energy will continue to resonate with participants long after our departure.</p> | <p>A few months later in Porto (this time on mainland Portugal) we explored another interstitial topic – the elusive “Third Culture”. In a <a href="http://lib.fo.am/future_fabulators/xcoax_workshop">scenario workshop</a> and pre-enactment at the xCoAx conference we hosted a group of artists, designers, theorists and technologists while asking ourselves, “What does the Third Culture look like?” The resulting speculation provoked considerable intrigue, personal insights, bemusement, and several interesting conversations, and we hope some of this energy will continue to resonate with participants long after our departure.</p> |
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| <p>Across l'Arc Manche the newly incorporated <a href="http://fo.am/kernow/">FoAM Kernow</a> is a living example of an interstitial or Third Culture. Dave Griffiths & Co have a whole series of citizen science projects on the boil. From instilling algorithmic literacy in schoolchildren in <a href="http://fo.am/code-club/">Code Club</a> to designing a flurry of science-based games like <a href="http://fo.am/project-nightjar/">Easter Robot Nightjar</a> and <a href="http://fo.am/blog/2014/06/04/bumper-crop/">Bumper Crop</a>, Dave is putting his creative and programming skills to a good use in a range of contexts and cultures, from the UK to India. He recently also co-authored with Till Bovermann the article “Computation as Material in Live Coding,” published in the spring issue of MIT’s <i>Computer Music Journal.</i> When working with academic partners, writing papers is an important part of the job. While acknowledging that papers are valuable contributions to knowledge, we were at the same time enthused to read Amber Griffiths's recent <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/jun/16/diy-labs-exciting-alternative-university-science-research">article in The Guardian</a>, a plea for breaking down boundaries between disciplines and a call for non-academic, practice-based research labs.</p> | <p>Across l'Arc Manche the newly incorporated <a href="http://fo.am/kernow/">FoAM Kernow</a> is a living example of an interstitial or Third Culture lab where they have a whole series of citizen science projects on the boil. From developing algorithmic literacy in schoolchildren in <a href="http://fo.am/code-club/">Code Club</a> to designing a flurry of science-based games like <a href="http://fo.am/project-nightjar/">Easter Robot Nightjar</a> and <a href="http://fo.am/blog/2014/06/04/bumper-crop/">Bumper Crop</a>, Dave Griffiths is putting his creative and programming skills to use in a range of contexts and cultures, from the UK to India. He recently also co-authored with Till Bovermann the article “Computation as Material in Live Coding,” published in the spring issue of MIT’s <i>Computer Music Journal</i> and following up several longstanding interests in the areas of live coding, algorithmic composition, and genetic programming. While acknowledging that academic papers are valuable contributions to knowledge, we were at the same time enthused to read Amber Griffiths's recent <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/jun/16/diy-labs-exciting-alternative-university-science-research">article in The Guardian</a>, a plea for breaking down boundaries between disciplines and a call for non-academic, practice-based research labs.</p> |
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| <p>At FoAM we have more than a decade of experience in such boundary-crossing, hands-on exploration, and if there are any bibliometrics refugees out there looking for a home, feel free to contact us. In fact, we have one such “refugee” from the mainstream biotechnological research currently in transience at FoAM in Brussels. <a href="http://fo.am/macrotransiency-michka-melo/">Michka Mélo</a> is spending a year at FoAM reconfiguring his life and conducting a range of experiments at the interstices of bioengineering and gardening. At the other end of the bioengineering spectrum, we recently hosted speculative designer <a href="http://fringejoyride.com/2014/04/23/bioluddites-with-foam/">Lisa Ma</a>, whom we assisted in her creation of a speculative movement she calls the <a href="http://lib.fo.am/bioluddite_charter">Bioluddites</a>…</p> | <p>At FoAM we have more than a decade of experience in such boundary-crossing, hands-on exploration, and if there are any bibliometrics refugees out there looking for a home, feel free to contact us. In fact, we have one such “refugee” from the mainstream biotechnological research currently in transience at FoAM in Brussels. <a href="http://fo.am/macrotransiency-michka-melo/">Michka Mélo</a> is spending a year at FoAM reconfiguring his life and conducting a range of experiments at the interstices of bioengineering and gardening. At the other end of the bioengineering spectrum, we recently hosted speculative designer <a href="http://fringejoyride.com/2014/04/23/bioluddites-with-foam/">Lisa Ma</a>, whom we assisted in her creation of a speculative movement she calls the <a href="http://lib.fo.am/bioluddite_charter">Bioluddites</a>…</p> |
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| <p>To read more about FoAM’s interstitial expeditions, click <a href="https://fo.am/blog/2014/07/22/interstitial-cultures/">here…</a></p> | <p>Read more about FoAM’s interstitial expeditions <a href="https://fo.am/blog/2014/07/22/interstitial-cultures/">here…</a></p> |
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| <h3>Edible Green Commons</h3> | <h3>Foodscapes, today and tomorrow</h3> |
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| <p><i>Voedsel, gezondheid en milieu gaan ons nauw aan het hart. Ook op dat vlak werkten we verschillende activiteiten uit, zoals een Open Sauces-avond over voedsel en welzijn vanuit systemisch oogpunt en het perspectief van het milieu. Met Kunst in de Keuken kregen we een kleine vijftig kinderen over de vloer, met wie we samen kookten en filosofeerden over eten. In dezelfde geest zet Theun Karelse van FoAM Amsterdam proefstations op en is Anna Maria Orru van FoAM Nordica actief op het terrein van </i>urban farming.</p> | <p><i>Voedsel, gezondheid en milieu gaan ons nauw aan het hart. Ook op dat vlak werkten we verschillende activiteiten uit, zoals een Open Sauces-avond over voedsel en welzijn vanuit systemisch oogpunt en het perspectief van het milieu. Met Kunst in de Keuken kregen we een kleine vijftig kinderen over de vloer, met wie we samen kookten en filosofeerden over eten. In dezelfde geest zet Theun Karelse van FoAM Amsterdam proefstations op en is Anna Maria Orru van FoAM Nordica actief op het terrein van </i>urban farming.</p> |
nik