JOUR FIXE with Mirko Tobias Schaefer and Mattias Tarasiewics

A lively discussion concerning research methods is currently unfolding within the arts as well as in the humanities. While this discussion revolves around the controversial term ‘artistic research’ in the arts, the debate in the humanities is revolving around research practices labelled as ‘digital humanities’. Novel research practices in the humanities are largely informed by computer-aided methods and the inclusion of accessible data through open data, digitized archives, online repositories and Application Programming Interfaces.

The Artistic Technology Research LAB cooperates with diverse international researchers, artists, festivals and institutions, to stress the critical discourse in (and about) new media, technology and their intersections to society. In our presentation we will show examples from our practice, as well as from practitioners and cooperation partners of the wider network of Artistic Technology Research. Drawing from these examples we will argue why interdisciplinary cooperation between different domains (academic-, maker- and other research cultures) are fruitful and promise not only valuable research results and the development of research tools, but also provide ground for societal critique.

 

Mirko Tobias Schaefer is Assistant Professor for New Media & Digital Culture at the University of Utrecht and Research Fellow at Vienna University of Applied Arts. He studied theatre, film and media studies and communication studies at Vienna University and digital culture at Utrecht University. He obtained a PhD from Utrecht University in 2008. His research interest revolves around the socio-political impact of media technology. His publications cover user participation in cultural production, hacking communities, politics of software design and communication in social media.

Matthias Tarasiewicz co-founded the group 5uper.net and the CODED CULTURES initiative (media arts festival and research platform). Being active as a digital bricoleur / coder, researcher and technology theorist since the last millennium, he is developing experimental media prototypes and creating projects on the intersections of media, arts, technology and science. He is project leader of the ‘Artistic Technology Research LAB’ at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria. Recent projects include the cryptocurrency Bitcoin (‘BitCoinCloud’), DIY-video (Artistic Bokeh Initiative) among mapping research methods of artistic production cultures.

Twitter: @mtschaefer, @parasew, @atechres, @artisticbokeh