[Themaintainers] Talk: Laewoo Kang "Improvisation and Creative Repair" (Maintenance and Philosophy SIG: Thursday 11th April 1800-1915 UTC+1)

[mark young]

Dear all,


Hope this email finds everyone well. We’d like to announce the next session
of the Maintenance and Philosophy of Technology SIG on Thursday 11th April
(1800-1915 UTC+1). In this session, we’re very excited to welcome Laewoo
Kang who’ll be discussing the creativity of repair practices in computing
and improvisational music while drawing on his own artistic practices
repairing broken and obsolete technologies. If you'd like a link for the
talk, send me an email at mark at markthomasyoung.net


Best,

Mark


*Improvisation and Creative Repair for Computing Inquiry*


Laewoo Kang (independent researcher)


Thursday 11th April 2024 (1800-1915 UTC+1)


*Abstract*: In this talk, I will explain how improvisation and creative
repair practices can serve as useful modes of learning and making in
computing and the broader STEM fields. Drawing from a series of
ethnographic studies on improvisational musicians and creative repair
artists, this presentation first identifies five key features of
improvisation: reflexivity, transgression, tension, listening, and
interdependence. Then, based on three pedagogical cases at Cornell
University, it outlines three learning conditions—socio-material
evaluations, multi-sensory practices, and the creation of safe spaces for
error—that support improvisational and nonlinear learners in computing and
STEM education. Building upon these insights, my talk suggests an
inquiry/research framework called “techno-aesthetic practice,” which seeks
to cultivate mediated creativity through the situated negotiation of
engineering, art, and humanistic inquiries. Finally, the presentation
addresses the question: “Why is it important for computing and STEM
practitioners living in the early 21st century to adapt improvisation and
creative repair practices as models of learning, teaching, and research?”
This talk also showcases a series of collaborative artworks produced
through such improvisational and creative repair practices on broken and
obsolete technologies, including Scale (2014), Echo (2016), Three
Philosophers (2020), and Undercurrent (ongoing). These artworks can be
found on my website (https://www.leokang.com).

(In order to avoid confusion regarding the timing of the talks - the
following table clarifies when the talks begin in different locations. Please
note that due to daylight savings these times may be one hour different
from the last session depending on your location)

Amsterdam 7:00pm
London 6:00pm
Toronto (New York) 1:00pm
San Francisco 10:00am

*Remaining Schedule for 2024*
May 9th 2024                 Lara Houston (Anglia Ruskin University)
“Planetary Computing and Repair"

June 13th 2024              Reka Gal (University of Toronto)
“SpaceX’s Starbase, or Breaking Things on the Rio Grande and Beyond”

August 8th 2024            Mark Thomas Young (University of Bergen)
“How the Golden Gate Bridge got its Nets: Maintenance and the Politics of
Artifacts

September 12th 2024     Yuriko Saito (Rhode Island School of Design)
“The Aesthetics of Care: Practice in Everyday Life”

Mark Thomas Young
Associate Professor
University of Bergen
https://univie.academia.edu/MarkThomasYoung
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