The Small Society Lab was back for its third year in June 2013, led by DCA and University of Dundee and exploring the future of a small society. The Lab kicked off with the usual eclectic mix of talks and events – from funghi, to origami, to games design to exploring the connections between India’s design culture and Dundee’s own.
The Small Society Lab is a series of inspiring public talks, presentations and workshops exploring the impact art, design and technology will have on the communities of the future.
Small Society Lab 2013 Programme:
The Adventure Playground Society
Sunday 9th June 2-5pm Free
A special open session of the DCA Code Club. For this session we will introducing young people of all ages to the free coding programme Scratch and learning to build game environments on the £20 Raspberry Pie computer. Drop in and hang out with some of Dundee’s computer experts and find out whether coding is for you.
Children must be accompanied by an adult. Pie provided.
VRC Centrespace
The Eye Can Draw Society
Tues 11th June 12-2pm Free
For the past year Robert Jackson of the DCA Print Studio has been working with artists Jackie Smith and Dawson Murray, developing technologies for artists with disabilities to draw using their eyes. For this session Robert will introduce the tools and technologies he is using and invite visitors to create drawings using just their eyes.
VRC Centrespace
The Fungal Society
Thurs 13th June 12-2pm Free
Dr Patrick Hickey is a mycologist and artist, working to explore the special properties of funghi. Drawing on the particular characteristics of different species, how they network and establish diverse communities, this session will enable an insight into this strange glowing world.
VRC Centrespace
The Analogue Society
Tues 18th June 12-2pm Free
There is one thing that connects the three panelists for this lunchtime conversation; they all love paper. Paper is a medium that we use everyday in many different ways, the guests for this event all use paper in very different ways. This panel will discuss paper from the artists, designers, technologists, authors and historians point of view and should spark some interesting discussions. The panel will be followed by a fun workshop run by the panelists exploring conductive inks and origami. All are welcome to come along and make some cool stuff.
Host: Mike Shorter is a Paper Electronics researcher who is currently in the middle of a PhD at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. Over the last few years he has been exploring what it would mean if this ubiquitous medium were to become interactive.
Guests: Ian Sansom is an author and paper historian whose latest book Paper; An Elegy discusses the story of this massively important medium. No one knows more about the importance of papers role in society than Ian.
Yvette Hawkins is a talented paper artist, whose work explores modular origami, folding, paper sculptures and drawing with thread. Yvette is at one with paper playing and exploring not just what is on the paper buts papers materiality itself. She is also the lead artist on Book Apothecary: The Travelling Museum of Artist Books.
Matt Johnson is a founder of the amazing company Bare Conductive. Bare Conductive sell and develop both conductive inks as well as fun kits to use the ink with. This ink allows anyone to turn a piece of normal paper into a working circuit board. They are big on open source and community as a way of developing their product. Matt is a bit of a designer and a bit of an engineer and most comfortable being split between the two. At Bare Conductive, Matt likes to split his time between talking to people about the products and sitting at the bench playing with a pot of Bare Paint and a pile of electronic hardware.
The Classroom Society
Weds 19th June 2-5pm Free – advance booking essential
The city as a campus. A special open workshop exploring the ways in which we can actively employ the cultural richness of the city to support the education of our young people.
Michael Wood – Director of Education Dundee City Council, Sarah Derrick Head of Community & Education at DCA and Jemima Levick, Dundee Rep Theatre.
VRC Centrespace
The Play Society
Thurs 20th June 12-2pm Free
Over the past year DCA have been working with games design companies in Scotland to explore how the techniques and methods employed by games designers can be used to support engagement in cultural and creative spaces. Come along to this lunchtime session to hear about this project and see demos of the projects. With Colin Anderson from Denki (TBC) and Yann Seznec from Lucky Frame
VRC
The Grassroots Innovation Society
Tues 25th June 12-2pm
India and Dundee Plains Of Grassroots Design
Praveen Nahar and Jon Rogers will discuss the design cultures of India and the importance of designing in response to the values and voices of people who live in our communities. What methods can we use to connect better to the people we are designing for and how can we apply these in contexts of rural and urban India and UK?
Praveen is an Associate Senior Faculty in Industrial Design and chairs the Design Consultancy Services at NID.
Jon is the director of the Product Research Studio at the University of Dundee and visiting lecturer at NID.
DCA Meeting Room
The Test Tube Society
Weds 26th June 2 -5pm
The Small Society Lab is developing into a key forum for exploring ideas about art, technology and community. It has ambitions to support the development of the city as an environment for reflexive research, working with communities and institutions in the city to vision our future. Join for this afternoon workshop to hear from researchers who are studying the art and culture in and of Dundee and to share ideas about the next steps for the Small Society Lab itself.
Format: Half-day workshop event focusing on the development of the SSL.
With researchers and partners from Creative Scotland, NESTA, Dundee City Council and other local institutions.
DCA Meeting Room
Small Society Lab 2013
When: 9 – 26th June 2013
Where: Dundee Contemporary Arts
Visit: www.dca.org.uk
