Grundlagen des technologischen Gestaltens
Patrícia Reis
Institute of Fine Arts and Media Art, Digital Arts
2026S, artistic Seminar (SEK), 2.0 ECTS, 2.0 semester hours, course number S05801
Description
Hacking is in nowadays a common practice among post-internet artists. By subverting the system, reverse engineering, hacking the world, defending access and openismus, we employ a top-down methodology using deconstruction as a method to “make” art.
Acknowledging Vilém Flusser's (1986) challenge of opening the “black box” we question what is behind the tech industries, unravel its toxic commodity chains at the same time, challenging the potentialities of the apparatus with the awareness of the impact of technology in the current neo-liberal market.
Instead of consuming commodities off the shelf, we recycle materials, instead of accepting the toxic afterlife of the dysfunctional devices, we analyse the genesis and the establishment of control over distributed, development and production and introduction of (new) technologies, to demystify the actants that benefit from their application and licensing, those who profit from opacity and the designed obsolescence.
Built upon the belief that art practice can be a critical impetus for social change, hacking strategies and methods are in this lecture understood as potential tools for emancipation and question the current consumer capitalist culture. Electronic Tinkering is an invitation for those that are interested in intersecting their view points with other politics of perception contributing for a critical thought towards the necessity of demythifying and demystifying the apparatus.
Drawn on the context of the lecture the students will learn the basics of electronics and programming in order to develop interactive art projects with microcontrollers — Arduino, Teensy 3.1 and/or LilyPad. The program will focus on tangible HCI interfaces, using nonconformist materials (such as clay, plants, fruits, e-waste) to build hardware.
The students will be encouraged to create their own art projects inspired by DIY and open source communities
Examination Modalities
Regular attendance, active participation and commitment in applying the contents of the lecture in an art prototype is a prerequisite for obtaining a mark. Examination: 80% attendance; 20% practical experiments/ prototype
Key Words
hacking, postcolonial, activism, feminist hacking, interactive art, media art, electronic media
Dates
Wed, 11 March 2026, 10:00–14:30 Seminar Room 31
Wed, 18 March 2026, 10:00–12:00 Seminar Room 30
Wed, 25 March 2026, 10:00–12:00 Seminar Room 30
Wed, 15 April 2026, 10:00–14:30 Seminar Room 30
Wed, 22 April 2026, 10:00–12:00 Seminar Room 31
Wed, 29 April 2026, 10:00–14:30 Seminar Room 30
Wed, 06 May 2026, 10:00–12:00 Seminar Room 30 (examination)
Course Enrolment
From 02 February 2026, 09:00 to 17 April 2026, 09:01
Via online registration
Curriculum Allocation
TransArts - Transdisciplinary Arts (Bachelor): Artistic and art technology foundations: Artistic and art technology foundations 180/002.01
Media Arts: Specialisation in Transmedia Arts (1. Section): Künstlerische Methodik und Technologie: Grundlagen des technologischen Gestaltens I - II 566/102.01
Media Arts: Specialisation in Digital Arts (1. Section): Künstlerische Methodik und Technologie: Grundlagen des technologischen Gestaltens I - II 567/102.01
Co-registration: not possible
Attending individual courses: not possible