3(1) 2017: Making and Hacking

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Identity Crisis in the Pearl River Data. A Conversation with the Hong Kong Hackerspace Community
Poon, Michelle; Klein, Wilhelm E.J. (2017) , S. 159-184
This paper is a conversation-based reflection on hacker-, maker- and DIY-culture. It focuses on the unique cultural and socio-economic setting of Hong Kong, using Dim Sum Labs, its first hacker/makerspace as its primary subject of investigation. To provide context, we begin with an outline of the cultural, economic and physical challenges presented by Hong Kong. We then proceed to present and relay conversation pieces from interviews with members and non-members of Dim Sum Labs, who speak about their respective perspectives on notions of “hacking,” “making” and “DIY-culture.” Finally, we provide some reflections on our own experiences as members of the hacker/maker/DIY-culture and past directors of Dim Sum Labs.
Making with China. Craft-Based Participatory Research Methods for Investigating Shenzhen‘s Maker Movement
Marshall, Justin; Rossi, Catherina (2017) , S. 127-138
In January 2015, Li Keqiang visited Chaihuo makerspace in Shenzhen, the Chinese city that is the world’s electronics manufacturing capital. The visit expressed the significance of China’s fledgling but fast-growing maker movement: while its first makerspace was set only up in 2010, in 2016 there are over a hundred, and Keqiang’s visit is part of a bigger governmental push on makerspaces, positioned as sites of creative and technology-led innovation key to the country’s economic growth. Amidst growing research into the social, politicoeconomic and cultural significances of makerspaces in the UK and Europe, the specificity of China’s maker movement remains underresearched. Yet understanding the on-the-ground lived experience, rather than the promotional rhetoric, of China’s maker movement is crucial to its future: while lots of makerspaces are opening, many lack makers, and there are fears that China’s maker movement is an artificially fuelled bubble about to burst. Contemporaneously, the future of other types of making in China, such as its craft traditions, urban manufacturing networks, and shanzhai production, is being threatened by an assemblage of fiscal and state forces. Investigating China’s maker movement was the focus of two British-based and British-funded network, research and knowledge exchange projects in which the authors participated during 2015 and 2016: Living Research: Making in China and China’s Creative Communities: Making Value and the Value(s) of Making. This paper considers their research methodologies and initial findings. Specifically, it focuses on the craft-based participatory methodology developed in China’s Creative Communities, as seen in a “Digital Craft” workshop. Informed by social anthropology, its empirical, immersive and inclusive approach gave a voice to makers themselves. While still in a developmental stage, we believe this “craft anthropology” approach has value for future research into the maker movement in China and in other cultures and contexts.
Urban Hacking and Its „Media Origins“
Krewani, Angela (2017) , S. 139-146
This essay traces the genealogy of urban and mobile media hacking. It is argued that the forerunners of urban hacking were artists active within the Fluxus scene and Viennes Actionism. Their artistic practices can be seen as precursors for more recent interventions in public and particular urban spaces which have been described as “urban hacking.” These developments appear genealogically and are also related to a turn towards individual media production: the introduction of the Portapak video camera brought about grassroots media activism and influenced the institutionalisation of public television.

Browsing 3(1) 2017: Making and Hacking by Subject "ddc:305"

Results Per Page

Sort Options