Inhabiting the deep technological spheres of everyday life
International interdisciplinary academic conference
In the framework of the 13th International Festival for New Media Culture "Art+Communication"
November 4 – 5, 2011, in Riga, Latvia
Location: Riga, RIXC Media Space, 11. novembra krastmala 35 (entrance from Minsterejas street).
Time: November 4 – 5, 10.00 – 17.00
International interdisciplinary academic conference "Techno-Ecologies. Inhabiting the deep technological spheres of everyday life" will gather together artists, theorists, designers, environmental scientists, technologists, responsible entrepreneurs, activists and other lateral thinkers, who are engaged with the issues of social and ecological sustainability, and are interested in deeper understanding of technology.
Technology can no longer be understood as an alterity (otherness) that stands in opposition to biological and social relationships. Going about our regular practices of everyday living we inhabit complex technological spheres of life that require a different, a more 'ecological' understanding of our relationship to technology.
Beyond questions of finite resources and obvious forms of pollution and environmental degradation, attempts to develop sustainable relationships with technology and our living environment should take into account far more complex layerings of the way we inhabit our current technological ecologies.
The aim of the conference is collaboratively to develop such a deeply informed ethical and philosophical perspective, which is indispensable, if we hope to find less hazardous routes into the future.
"Techno-ecologies" concept for the festival and conference is developed by Eric Kluitenberg. Full concept please read here.
2-day conference consists of 6 thematic sections:
Day 1. Friday, November 4 (10.00 – 17.00): 1. Technology and Nature; 2. Technology and Society; 3. Technology and Environment.
Day 1. Saturday, November 5 (10.00 – 17.00): 4. Technology and People; 5. Technology, Art and Ecology; 6. Technology and Open Systems.
Accreditation: No accreditation fee. For accreditation in conference please contact Agnese Baranova
agnese {at} rixc.lv, or at registration desk (during the days of the conferennce).
Conference organisers: The Center for New Media Culture RIXC and Art Research Lab (MPLab) of Liepaja University.
Publication: Acoustic Space (No 11): Techno-Ecologies" telpa (Nr. 11): Tehno-ekoloģijas
Conference papers and articles on "Techno-Ecologies" theme will be published in the next Acoustic Space issue (No 11), which is international peer-reviewed journal for research on art, science, technology and society.
Deadline for submitting papers will be January 31, 2012.
Length of texts: between 2500 and 8000 words (i.e. 20 000 – 45 000 characters). Submitted texts should include: 1) short abstract (ca. 250 words, i.e. 1500 characters), 2) 5 – 6 keywords, and 3) short bio of the author (ca. 100 words, i.e. 800 characters). References should be either in APA or Harvard style. Language for submissions: English (all texts will be translated into Latvian as well).