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Radical Networks 2019 Proposal

Replace sample info between [brackets] with your own!

Format: [Artwork]
Name: [Jonathan Hanahan]
Pronouns: [ ]
Location: [St. Louis, MO]
Email: [jonathan@hanahan.works]
Twitter: [@jnthnhnhn]
Repo: [https://github.com/hanahanj]
Url(s): [https://hanahan.works]
Consent to being photographed?: [Yes]
Consent to being on the livestream?: [Yes]

Speaker Bio and Profile Picture

[Jonathan Hanahan is a designer and educator whose speculative practice explores the cultural and social ramifications of experiences which transcend physical and digital occupations and the role technology plays in shaping, mediating, and disrupting our everyday realities. He develops Thick Interfaces—tools, devices, software, artifacts, websites, videos, etc. which agitate the digital facade and reveal the physical reality and complexity which exist underneath the thin veneer of our devices.]

[My work oscillates between art, architecture, and design. As an academic and educator, my home base is interaction design but I often extend outwards towards other practices and disciplines. I approach design education as a space to encourage critical perspectives and practices with new technologies. This is particularly important for aspiring UX/UI and product designers. I aspire that my work and teaching encourages audiences, students, and designers to constantly re-evaluate their subconscious subscriptions and uses of familiar technologies, striving for new ways to use the overlooked but also establishing skeptical practices of new mediums and technologies. ]

[Link to bio picture, https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XzHe1scW7wPIlhuBvxGl8TgSdrSqFjOY]

Note: Format for bio picture should be PNG/JPG/GIF, 256x256px.

Description

[I would like to show a series of sculptures, websites, renderings, and other works I have completed recently which constitute a series titled 'Thick Interfaces.' As in my bio, these are works which augment or alter familiar experiences in digital technologies as a means to peak under the cover of digital devices towards the reality of their networked implications. Most recently, two solo exhibitions have explored methods of representing digital systems as physical material. Nesting Dolls (2017) reveals a series of websites constructed by recursively nesting simple elements inside of each other, resulting in complex physical forms. The second work, The 45th City (2018) uses similar processes to explore the network of fake and imposter websites hiding at the periphery of the internet and infiltrating social media platforms with malicious content. The work investigates ways of representing and occupying online news platforms in real space through the physicalization of its original source code. This work suggests the underlying website architecture as settings of re-framing the way we experience and inhabit digital information. Using readily available online tools, a series of sculptures and digital representations correspond to parallel various reliable and fabricated news sources, establishing a speculative dialogue where both real and fake environments collide.

I believe both of these works, among other video and website projects I have done, would seamlessly fit into the theme of Radical Networks. They instigate conversation and are a catalyst for why works which reveal the complexities of these everyday networks in provocative and tangible ways are so important; not only those that design them but also the general public, who often revel in the 'magic' of technology with little connection to the ramifications that exist just under the surface.]

Note: Panels should follow a moderator / discussion format, with possible participation from the audience.

Artwork installation requirements (if applicable)

[ 4 pedestals/tables for sculptures, power, projector/screens (3-5).]

Artworks must be installed on Friday October 18th, 2019.

Note: We are not responsible for damages done to your work! (Although we will take every precaution we can to safely handle your work.)

Additional Info / Links / References

[ Documentation of above-described works: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10F0ExZ-d-W1HF4RKX-91VEwbs02q0GKx35iinn8aMQI/edit?usp=sharing ]