Digital Detox

Photo: "The Glass Room" by Tactical Tech

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Reinforcing the Forum’s potential to critically reflect on our life with technology, MUTEK will launch a new public education and exhibition project, Digital Detox, with the support from the City of Montréal and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Looking at essential issues like digital well-being, data collection, and ecological impacts of technologies, one of the program’s focal points will be delivered by the German collective Tactical Tech — presented in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut. The Forum program will include a keynote by Safa Ghnaim on how to gain control over your online presence as well as two online workshops: both by Muhammad Radwan, one will be on the topic of Living with Algorithms, whereas the other will reflect with participants on realistic expectations for the technologies they use, and introduce them to alternative apps.

And shout-out to all Montréalers: a couple of free, limited-capacity workshops, in which artist Josée Brouillard mediates the Tactical Tech knowledge, will take place physically at the Goethe-Institut:

Information… It’s Complicated on August 27 (registration)
Keep Calm and Spot the Design Tricks on September 4 (registration)

Two further essential activities are presented at the online Forum in collaboration with Gray Area: one workshop on Meme Tactics—delivered by the team of China Residencies—will share strategies to harness the humorous power of memes for movements, and another workshop offered by Qianqian Ye and Xiaowei Wang will allow participants to experiment with creating new words, phrases, and vocabularies using the Algorithmic Censorship Toolkit by Future of Memory.

Katja Melzer ^CA/QC — Goethe-Institut Montréal Josué Chávez ^HN/US — University of Pennsylvania Kira Simon-Kennedy^US — China Residencies Muhammad Radwan ^DE — Tactical Tech Mikail Wright-Kwon ^US Muhammad Radwan ^DE — Tactical Tech Qianqian Ye ^CN/US — Processing Foundation Safa Ghnaim ^US/DE — Tactical Tech Xiaowei Wang ^US — Logic Magazine

Buy one of our three Forum Passport available to join the discussions and expand your connections thanks to the virtual market.

Explore the complete selection of MUTEK Forum speakers

Dive into the other fields of expertise covered:

As part of the special Digital Detox project, MUTEK and the Goethe-Institut will present The Glass Room, a public education and exhibition project by Berlin collective Tactical Tech.

WORKSHOP "Information… it’s Complicated" by Tactical Tech
Date: August 27 from 3-4 pm
Location: Goethe-Institut Montréal
Number of participants: 15
Workshop leader: Josée Brouillard
Prerequisites: No experience required
Note: Please arrive 15 minutes in advance
Cost: Free

Registration

This workshop defines what is meant by "misinformation" and "disinformation. and explores how the world of information is slippery and complicated. Participants learn fundamental investigation skills to help them to verify information and become more information savvy.

WORKSHOP "Keep Calm and Spot the Design Tricks" by Tactical Tech
Date: September 4 from 3-4 pm
Location: Goethe-Institut Montréal
Number of participants: 15
Workshop leader: Josée Brouillard
Prerequisites: No experience required
Note: Please arrive 15 minutes in advance
Cost: Free

Registration

This workshop explores the world of persuasive design and design tricks, which are design decisions on websites, apps, and in advertisements that provoke us emotionally and persuade us to click, share, and buy. By becoming aware of our physical and emotional responses to stressful stimuli and the persuasive designs of tech which are rooted in basic psychology, this workshop helps participants keep calm and spot the design tricks.

About MUTEK Forum

In parallel to the Festival, the MUTEK Forum is back for its seventh edition from Tuesday, August 24 to Thursday, September 2 on our virtual platform. This market for ideas aims to bring together artists and companies in digital creativity and electronic music, with the goal of exploring the latest artistic practices while stimulating reflection on the ethical and political issues related to technology and the digital world. Artificial intelligence, extended reality (XR), immersive creation and crypto art are among the many themes that will be explored by more than 100 local and international speakers through 60 activities.

For a second consecutive year, the Forum will also feature a virtual market that facilitates networking by showcasing Québec, Canadian and international artists to buyers from around the world. More than 750 participants, including over 200 distributors, representing 400 different organizations and companies from over 50 countries, will gather on the online platform to attend conferences, panels and workshops, and to develop artistic connections and business opportunities.