Low-Tech Chronicles: Hello!

EPHEMERAL
ENCODINGS

Topic description:

How can sound contribute to restoring our relationship with the material world of computation now that (operational) sounds are disappearing?

The publication consists of 2 readers and an audio cassette. The first part is a collection of stories and anecdotes by 18 contributors. For this part,each contributor was invited to share a vivid memory or almost-forgotten experience on how sound connected them to the material world of computation and digital networking. To enrich their stories, each contributor provided a piece of audio and an (modulated) image with their text. The second part is a thesis that discusses the topic of the (disappearing) sound of computer activity more in-depth. The issue explores the theme by experimenting with the material properties of the contents itself.

contributors

Aymeric Mansoux, Claire Kwong, Dennis de Bel, Sarah Grant, Dustin Long, Florian Cramer, Goto 80, Danny Wolfers, Hans Kulk, joak, Raquel Meyers, Tijs Ham, UTZ, Zach Mandeville, Olli Aarni, Patrick Lichty, Mariëtte Groot, Sebastian Tomczak and Mark van den Heuvel.

🯁🯂🯃 Read more about this issue

'"`-._,--._,-'"`-._,-'"`-._,-`-._,-'"`-._,-'"`-._,-Here's is an obsolete technology... How can we utilize it?'"`-._,--._,-'"`-._,-'"`-._,-`-._,-'"`-._,-'"`-._,-'"

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║▓▒░░ GUESTBOOK ░░▒▓║
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ABOUT

Technologies constantly evolve over time. No matter how intensely used or widely adopted, eventually they will always get caught up by their own successors to be replaced with newer versions of itself. As a result devices, systems, tools, and techniques have an inescapable short lifespan. They will always be discarded before reaching their full potential even though they belong to the same lineage. Behind a high-tech, there is always a low-tech. Just because something has been categorized as 'obsolete' by market-driven developments doesn't mean it has lost its relevance.

Most of today's technologies seem highly mysterious and forbiddingly complex to many. Even magical as their inner workings are increasingly skilfully hidden. However, there is nothing magical about constantly building on existing technology to initiate new usage and paradigms. What appears like magic is in fact alienation as we keep on getting further away from a more relatable underlying apparatus. Working with older technology brings us back closer to its understanding and its basic principles. When its magic disappears, its potential for appropriation increases.

By deconstructing apparently obsolete techniques and embedding them into modern contexts, their potential can be further amplified. Here is where LOW-TECH CHRONICLES situates itself. The goal is not only to keep such techniques alive, but to provide an insight in how things can be done differently which contributes to how we critically engage with technology.

Over the years, 'low-tech' itself has become an unstable definition. In the context of this series, low-tech is the counterpart to the high-tech; the paradigm of always looking forward to the next big thing.

Concretely, the series intend to focus on 80s and 90s computer technology and consumer electronics. We are particularly fond of music production done with old sound chips, software art on flexi-disks, data sonification and modulation done for obscure purposes, dot matrix printing orchestras, endlessly dissecting obsolete media formats, communicating via unstable telecommunications system, glorious ASCII-art, etc. We also may have lost ourselves in the media archeologies of Telematic Art, Mail art, DIY-publishing, Bulletin Boards, zine culture, Aspen Magazine, sneaker-nets, diskmags, etc.

Film still from 'THE FUTURE IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE', a film by Mika Taanila about Erkki Kurenniemi (2012)

   ____   ___  ___  , __        ____    __   _            , _ 
  (|   \ / (_)/ (_)/|/  \      (|   \  /\_\/(_|   |   |_//|/ \ 
   |    |\__  \__   |___/       |    ||    |  |   |   |   |   |
  _|    |/    /     |    ----- _|    ||    |  |   |   |   |   | 
 (/\___/ \___/\___/ |         (/\___/  \__/    \_/ \_/    |   |_/

   _    __   _              _________  ___  ,     
\_|_)  /\_\/(_|   |   |_/  (_) | / (_)/ (_)/|   | 
  |   |    |  |   |   |        | \__ |      |___| 
 _|   |    |  |   |   |----- _ | /   |      |   |\
(/\___/\__/    \_/ \_/      (_/  \___/\___/ |   |/

WHERE AM I--------------------------------------------------------

house@neko:~

You are currently visiting the Raspberry Pi in my house. It functions as a webserver and can only be accesed when it's powered. Imagine the sound of the fan while you make yourself at home. (Please don't break anything.)

FONTS-------------------------------------------------------------

Unscii by Viznut
Terminal by Raphaël Bastide & Jérémy Landes
Anthony by Sun Young Oh
Courier Prime

WORKSHOP FORMAT---------------------------------------------------

Added soon !

INDEX> What can I find here?-------------------------------------

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  _______  __ ______________  _|__| ______  _  __
 /  __\  \/ // __ \_  __ \  \/ /  |/ __ \ \/ \/ /
(  /_/ )   /\  ___/|  | \/\   /|  \  ___/\     /
 \____/ \_/  \___  >__|    \_/ |__|\___  >\/\_/ 
                 \/                    \/

house@neko:~ $/HOME/
   │
   ├─ Issues
   │ └─ #1)Ephemeral∿Encodings
   │   ├─Add story
   │   └─Modulate image
   │
   ├─ ABOUT
   ├─ guestbook
   └─ contact

CONTACT

Info, question, inquiries, etc:
vandenheuvelmark (at) gmail (dot) com

LOW-TECH CHRONICLES

is an

mental publication series that focuses on

-activating so-called

ete tech

logies.

Each issue embeds possibly for

media standards and

ques into today's

media environments so as to collec

think their

and new potential.

While there is a pressure to constantly adopt

, fast, and

-

-the-art high-tech

, this series proposes

tead to engage with

er, more unstable and forgot

low_tech

natives.

Over the years, 'low-tech' itself has become an unstable definition. In the context of this series, low-tech is the counterpart to the high-tech; the paradigm of always looking forward to the next big thing.