Workshop Statement

“Lab@Lab: media lab networks disrupting the politics and economics of digital cultures” is a full-day unconference event around the theme of networking between media labs. Inspired by the experience of the organizers of LabàLab, a series of networking events between Quebec-based media labs, Lab@Lab will be an opportunity for representatives of North American media labs, artists, theorists, cultural workers, curators, and researchers to develop common tactics of solidarity, exchange, mutual aid, and networked collaboration in a context of increasing political austerity and economic uncertainty. Adopting the unconference format, organisers and participants will establish the groundwork for a North America wide network of media labs: a vibrant ecology of artist-run centres, university labs, hackerspaces, fablabs, artist collectives, and more. Through a horizontal, transversal approach, inevitably, a diversity of voices will emerge. Together, by sharing our common experiences and practices, we can take a collective, unified stand against the market economy logic driving contemporary digital cultural production and dissemination. Duration: Whole Day.  labalab.ca/HomePage

• Eliane Ellbogen, Artistic Director, Eastern Bloc, Montreal, Canada. Eliane Ellbogen is the co-founder and artistic director of Eastern Bloc, an exhibition and production centre for the digital arts established in 2007. She completed her studies in Art History at McGill University and has since focused her curatorial practice in the fields of networked and systems-based practices. She collaborates locally and internationally on the organization of the annual Sight & Sound digital arts festival and curates the monthly event series Data : Salon.  easternbloc.ca
• Alexandre Quessy, Source Libre / Conseil québécois des arts médiatiques CQAM. New Media Art Consultant, Montréal (Québec) Canada. Alexandre Quessy is a Montreal-based artist and software developer. He is much involved in creating and teaching free software for arts. He is the main author of the Toonloop live animation software, and one of the authors of MapMap, a free video mapping tool. His interests range from web to interactive video, including show control and audio spatialization. Alexandre is a member of Perte de Signal, Eastern Bloc and Conseil québécois des arts médiatiques. Alexandre co-facilitate the LabàLab events organized by the CQAM. Source Libre is a consultancy agency in software development for new media. Since 2003, SL provides consulting services in design and software engineering to deliver rich user experiences. Located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, we are at the forefront of digital arts including video, audio, Web and tangible interaction with electronics. We strive to share our passion by contributing to free software, providing training and doing technical writing as well. Our clients include independent artists in digital arts, and also small and medium businesses with communications needs, as well as event producers wishing to support personalized experiences to their visitors.  alexandre.quessy.net
• Anne Goldenberg, CQAM, Femhack, Canada
• Isabelle L’Italien, CQAM, Canada