I made this play for you; it’s a question to keep us alive together. Is all intimacy about bodies? What happens when our bodies distance intimacy from us?
I made this play for you. It is a question, for us to hold together.</p>
Backplaces is a web-based play. A short anthology of poems and stories about vulnerability, intimacy, and the internet. It explores the internet as a place for holding big feelings and intimacy when it is unbearable. As a homage to those who have been vulnerable with me, I created "backplaces". They are tender online spaces for relief and acknowledgement of societal pain.
<p>Is all intimacy about bodies? What is it about our bodies that makes
Some of these stories may evoke memories of pain. As you sit in the audience, know I am with you. If it feels overwhelming, you can step out, take a break, or leave. This isn't choreographed, and I care for you.
intimacy? What happens when our bodies distance intimacy from us? This
I hope you see what I saw in these stories. Sweet dreams now, and I'll talk to you soon.
small anthology of poems and short stories lives with these
<br><br>
questions—about having a body without intimacy and intimacy without a
love, Ada
body. This project is also a homage to everyone who has come before and
alongside me, sharing their vulnerability and emotions on the Internet.
I called the places where these things happen backplaces. They are
small, tender online rooms where people experiencing societally
uncomfortable pain can find relief, ease, and transcendence.<br/>
</p>
<p>I made three backplaces for you to see, click, and feel: Solar
Sibling, Hermit Fantasy, and Cake Intimacies. Each of these is the
result of its own unique performance or project. Some of the stories I
will share carry memories of pain—both physical and emotional. As you
sit in the audience, know I am with you, holding your hand through each
scene. If the performance feels overwhelming at any point, you have my
full permission to step out, take a break, or leave. This is not
choreographed, and I care deeply for you.<br/>
</p>
</p>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="index.png"
<imgsrc="index.png"class="half-image"
alt="This is the Index, the stage of my play. Each felted item is an act." />
alt="This is the Index, the stage of my play. Each felted item is an act." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">This is the Index, the stage of my play.
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">This is the Index, the stage of my play.
Each felted item is an act.</figcaption>
Each felted item is an act.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<p> This is the first act of this play, Solar Sibling. It reimagines user comments from TikTok videos about sibling relationships. To do this, I have taken the feelings behind the comments, found where they met my own, and used our shared words to write poems. Solar Sibling celebrates the vulnerabilities nurtured in online communities and invites you to share anonymously on the complexities of sibling relationships. Once you have whispered your sibling feelings to me, they will stay with me and I will never use nor share them. <br/>
<p>Solar Sibling is an online performance of shared loss about leaving
and siblings. This project used comments people left on TikTok poetry. I
extracted the emotions from these comments, mixed them with my own, and
crafted them into poems. It is an ongoing performance, ending only when
your feelings are secretly whispered to me. When you do, by typing into
the comment box, your feelings are sent to me and the first act closes
as the sun rises.<br/>
</p>
</p>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="solar1.png"
<imgsrc="solar1.png"
@ -65,30 +81,42 @@ alt="The fillable comment where you can whisper your feelings to me." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The fillable comment where you can
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The fillable comment where you can
whisper your feelings to me.</figcaption>
whisper your feelings to me.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<p>Hermit Fantasy is a short story about a bot and a hermit. It started when I conducted a survey about receiving emotional support on the internet. This is an imagined response to an email I received. The story explores the loneliness of both being online and offline. As an act, it's a series of letters, click by click.
<p>Hermit Fantasy is a short story about a bot who wants to be a hermit.
<br/>
Inspired by an email response from a survey I conducted about receiving
emotional support on the Internet, this story explores the contradiction
of being online while wanting to disconnect. As an act it’s a series of
letters, click by click.<br/>
</p>
</p>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="hermit1.png"alt="The first letter."/>
<imgsrc="hermit1.png"alt="The first letter."/>
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The first letter.</figcaption>
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The first letter.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="hermit2.png"alt="The last letter." />
<imgsrc="hermit2.png"class="image-80"alt="The second letter." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The last letter.</figcaption>
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The second letter.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<p>Cake Intimacies is a performance that took a year to bring together. It is a small selection of stories people told me that I held to memory and rewrote here. The stories come from two performances I hosted.
<p>Cake Intimacies is a performance that took a year to bring together.
<br>
It is a small selection of stories people told me and I held to memory
In the first, I asked participants to eat cake, sitting facing or away from each other, and share stories about cake and the internet. I hosted the second performance at the Art Meets Radical Openness Festival. There I predicted participants' future internet lives using felted archetypes. In return, I received stories about feeling strong emotions on the internet.<br/>
and rewrote here. The stories come from two performances I hosted.
First, I asked participants to eat cake, sitting facing or away from
each other and sharing their stories about cake and the Internet. The
second performance was hosted at the Art Meets Radical Openness
Festival, as part of the Turning of the Internet workshop. For this
performance, I predicted participants’ future lives on the Internet
using felted archetypes and received stories from their Internet past in
return. Now the stories are here, each of them a cake with a filling
that tells a story, merging the bodily with the digital and making a
mess of it all.<br/>
</p>
</p>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="cake1.png"
<imgsrc="cake1.png"
alt="The first story and its memory illustrations." />
alt="The first two stories and their memory illustrations." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The first two stories and their memory
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The first two stories and their memory
illustrations.</figcaption>
illustrations.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="cake2.png"
<imgsrc="cake2.png"class="full-image"
alt="Another story on a phone." />
alt="The second stories in the way they were meant to be experienced." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The second stories in the way they were
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The second stories in the way they were
meant to be experienced.</figcaption>
meant to be experienced.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
@ -104,10 +132,10 @@ story in. A great big mess of transcendence into the digital, of
intimacy and of bodies. The way it always is. Thankfully.<br/>
intimacy and of bodies. The way it always is. Thankfully.<br/>
</p>
</p>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="biscuit.png"
<imgsrc="biscuit.png"class="image-95"
alt="Accept My Cookies, biscuits for the performance." />
alt="Accept My Cookies, biscuits for the performance." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">An early prototype of Accept My Cookies, biscuits for
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Accept My Cookies, biscuits for the
@ -16,31 +16,28 @@ Is all intimacy about bodies? What is it about our bodies that makes intimacy? W
I made three backplaces for you to see, click, and feel: Solar Sibling, Hermit Fantasy, and Cake Intimacies. Each of these is the result of its own unique performance or project. Some of the stories I will share carry memories of pain---both physical and emotional. As you sit in the audience, know I am with you, holding your hand through each scene. If the performance feels overwhelming at any point, you have my full permission to step out, take a break, or leave. This is not choreographed, and I care deeply for you.\
I made three backplaces for you to see, click, and feel: Solar Sibling, Hermit Fantasy, and Cake Intimacies. Each of these is the result of its own unique performance or project. Some of the stories I will share carry memories of pain---both physical and emotional. As you sit in the audience, know I am with you, holding your hand through each scene. If the performance feels overwhelming at any point, you have my full permission to step out, take a break, or leave. This is not choreographed, and I care deeply for you.\
{.half-image}
{.half-image}
Solar Sibling is an online performance of shared loss about leaving and siblings. This project used comments people left on TikTok poetry. I extracted the emotions from these comments, mixed them with my own, and crafted them into poems. It is an ongoing performance, ending only when your feelings are secretly whispered to me. When you do, by typing into the comment box, your feelings are sent to me and the first act closes as the sun rises.\
Solar Sibling is an online performance of shared loss about leaving and siblings. This project used comments people left on TikTok poetry. I extracted the emotions from these comments, mixed them with my own, and crafted them into poems. It is an ongoing performance, ending only when your feelings are secretly whispered to me. When you do, by typing into the comment box, your feelings are sent to me and the first act closes as the sun rises.\
Hermit Fantasy is a short story about a bot who wants to be a hermit. Inspired by an email response from a survey I conducted about receiving emotional support on the Internet, this story explores the contradiction of being online while wanting to disconnect. As an act it's a series of letters, click by click.\
Hermit Fantasy is a short story about a bot who wants to be a hermit. Inspired by an email response from a survey I conducted about receiving emotional support on the Internet, this story explores the contradiction of being online while wanting to disconnect. As an act it's a series of letters, click by click.\
{.image-80}
{.image-80}
Cake Intimacies is a performance that took a year to bring together. It is a small selection of stories people told me and I held to memory and rewrote here. The stories come from two performances I hosted. First, I asked participants to eat cake, sitting facing or away from each other and sharing their stories about cake and the Internet. The second performance was hosted at the Art Meets Radical Openness Festival, as part of the Turning of the Internet workshop. For this performance, I predicted participants' future lives on the Internet using felted archetypes and received stories from their Internet past in return.
Cake Intimacies is a performance that took a year to bring together. It is a small selection of stories people told me and I held to memory and rewrote here. The stories come from two performances I hosted. First, I asked participants to eat cake, sitting facing or away from each other and sharing their stories about cake and the Internet. The second performance was hosted at the Art Meets Radical Openness Festival, as part of the Turning of the Internet workshop. For this performance, I predicted participants' future lives on the Internet using felted archetypes and received stories from their Internet past in return.
Now the stories are here, each of them a cake with a filling that tells a story, merging the bodily with the digital and making a mess of it all.\
Now the stories are here, each of them a cake with a filling that tells a story, merging the bodily with the digital and making a mess of it all.\
{.full-image}
{.image-80}
The play ends as all plays do. The curtains close, the website stays but the stories will never sound the same. For the final act, I give you the stories. It's one last game, one last joke to ask my question again. Digital intimacies about the digital, our bodies and the cakes we eat. For the last act, I ask you to eat digital stories. To eat a comment, to eat a digital intimacy. Sharing an act of physical intimacy with yourself and with me, by eating sweets together. Sweets about digital intimacies that never had a body.
The play ends as all plays do. The curtains close, the website stays but the stories will never sound the same. For the final act, I give you the stories. It's one last game, one last joke to ask my question again. Digital intimacies about the digital, our bodies and the cakes we eat. For the last act, I ask you to eat digital stories. To eat a comment, to eat a digital intimacy. Sharing an act of physical intimacy with yourself and with me, by eating sweets together. Sweets about digital intimacies that never had a body.
There is no moral, no bow to wrap the story in. A great big mess of transcendence into the digital, of intimacy and of bodies. The way it always is. Thankfully.\
There is no moral, no bow to wrap the story in. A great big mess of transcendence into the digital, of intimacy and of bodies. The way it always is. Thankfully.\
{.image-95}
{.image-95}
You open the page, and you are asked to write the characters you see
You open the page, and you are asked to write the characters you see
in a captcha. E5qr7.
in a captcha. \
eSq9p.
E5qr7.\
8oc8y.
eSq9p.\
Fuck.
8oc8y.\
You try not to panic, but you know you have been detected.
Fuck.\
You try not to panic, but you know you have been detected.\
You pack up your things: the pie I made you, a love letter, two
hands made out of felt, a star, a door, a stuffed animal; and
You pack up your things: the pie I made you, a love letter, a hand made out of felt, a star, a door, a stuffed animal; and
you leave again.</div>
you leave again.</div>
<divclass="bibliography">
## THANK YOU
Special thanks to Marloes de Valk, Michael Murtaugh, Manetta Berends, Joseph Knierzinger and Leslie Robbins.\
Extra thank you to Chae and Kamo from XPUB3 for the food and moral support in this trying time and to my other xpubini for being great and eating my snacks and gossiping.\
But most of all I'd like to thank the people in the online communities I've met and loved, you were of course who this thesis was about. Thank you for saving me, I will always remember you.\
## references
## references
Adler, P.A. and Adler, P. (2008) ‘The Cyber Worlds of
Adler, P.A. and Adler, P. (2008) ‘The Cyber Worlds of
self-injurers: Deviant communities, relationships, and
self-injurers: Deviant communities, relationships, and
selves’, Symbolic Interaction, 31(1), pp. 33–56.
selves’, Symbolic Interaction, 31(1), pp. 33–56.
@ -1004,7 +1007,8 @@ century’, Posthumanism, pp. 69–84. doi:10.1007/978-
<p>I perceive the document as a unit and as the fundamental symbolic
<p>I perceive the document as a unit and as the fundamental symbolic
interface of the bureaucratic network. The transformation of the materiality of a document into a scenario to be enacted collectively in public aims to examine these artefacts and highlight the shrouded performative elements of these processes.</p>
interface of the bureaucratic network. The transformation of the
materiality of a document into a scenario to be enacted collectively in
public aims to examine these artifacts and highlight the shrouded
performative elements of these processes.</p>
<p>I see the collective readings of these scenarios as a way of instant
<p>I see the collective readings of these scenarios as a way of instant
publishing and as a communal tool for inspecting bureaucratic bordering
publishing and as a communal tool of inspecting bureaucratic bordering
infrastructures. How can these re-enactments be situated in different
infrastructures. How can these re-enactments be situated in different
institutional contexts and examine their structures? I organized a
institutional contexts and examine their structures? I organized a
series of performative readings of my own bureaucratic literature in
series of performative readings of my own bureaucratic literature in
different spaces and contexts, pubic and semi-public WDKA, the Art Meets
different spaces and contexts, pubic and semi-public WDKA, Art Meets
Radical Openness Festival in Linz, the City Hall of Rotterdam where I
Radical Openness Festival in Linz, the City Hall of Rotterdam where I
invited people to perform the play together, like a tiny theatre.</p>
invited people to perform the play together, like a tiny theater.</p>
{.half-image}
{.half-image}
This project appeared as a need to explore potential bureaucratic dramaturgies within the educational institution I was part as a student. I was curious about educational bureaucratic mechanisms being driven by smaller-scale paperwork struggles and peers’ narratives, stories and experiences. However, unexpected emergencies - due to my eviction on the 31st of January 2024 - placed centrally my personal struggles unfolded in parallel with the making period. I ended up conducting accidentally auto-ethnography as the project was dynamically being reshaped due to the material constraints of the bureaucratic timeline.
This project appeared as a need to explore potential bureaucratic dramaturgies within the educational institution I was part as a student. I was curious about educational bureaucratic mechanisms being driven by smaller-scale paperwork struggles and peers’ narratives, stories and experiences. However, unexpected emergencies - due to my eviction on the 31st of January 2024 - placed centrally my personal struggles unfolded in parallel with the making period. I ended up conducting accidentally auto-ethnography as the project was dynamically being reshaped due to the material constraints of the bureaucratic timeline.
@ -16,11 +19,9 @@ Talking Documents are performative bureaucratic text inspections that intend to
Central element of this project is a seven-act scenario that construct my personal paperwork story, unraveling the actual struggles of my communication with the government. The body of the text of the “theatrical” script is sourced from the original documents, email threads as well as recordings of the conversations with the municipality of Rotterdam I documented and archived throughout this period. I preserved the sequence of the given sentences and by discarding the graphic design of the initial forms, I structured and repurposed the text into a playable scenario.
Central element of this project is a seven-act scenario that construct my personal paperwork story, unraveling the actual struggles of my communication with the government. The body of the text of the “theatrical” script is sourced from the original documents, email threads as well as recordings of the conversations with the municipality of Rotterdam I documented and archived throughout this period. I preserved the sequence of the given sentences and by discarding the graphic design of the initial forms, I structured and repurposed the text into a playable scenario.
{.full-image}
{.full-image}
{.full-image}
{.full-image}
{.full-image}
{.full-image}
{.full-image}
{.full-image}
I perceive the document as a unit and as the fundamental symbolic interface of the bureaucratic network. The transformation of the materiality of a document into a scenario to be enacted collectively in public aims to examine these artifacts and highlight the shrouded performative elements of these processes.
I perceive the document as a unit and as the fundamental symbolic interface of the bureaucratic network. The transformation of the materiality of a document into a scenario to be enacted collectively in public aims to examine these artifacts and highlight the shrouded performative elements of these processes.
@ -28,19 +29,24 @@ I perceive the document as a unit and as the fundamental symbolic interface of t
I see the collective readings of these scenarios as a way of instant publishing and as a communal tool of inspecting bureaucratic bordering infrastructures. How can these re-enactments be situated in different institutional contexts and examine their structures?
I see the collective readings of these scenarios as a way of instant publishing and as a communal tool of inspecting bureaucratic bordering infrastructures. How can these re-enactments be situated in different institutional contexts and examine their structures?
I organized a series of performative readings of my own bureaucratic literature in different spaces and contexts, pubic and semi-public WDKA, Art Meets Radical Openness Festival in Linz, the City Hall of Rotterdam where I invited people to perform the play together, like a tiny theater.
I organized a series of performative readings of my own bureaucratic literature in different spaces and contexts, pubic and semi-public WDKA, Art Meets Radical Openness Festival in Linz, the City Hall of Rotterdam where I invited people to perform the play together, like a tiny theater.
{.image-80}
---
{.half-image}
{.half-image}
{.image-80}
---
The marginal voices of potential applicants are embodying and enacting a role. “The speech does not only describe but brings things into existence”(Austin, 1975). My intention was to stretch the limits of dramaturgical speech through vocalizing a document and turn individual administrative cases into public ones. How do the inscribed words in the documents are not descriptive but on the contrary “are instrumentalized in getting things done”(Butler,1997). Words as active agents. Bodies as low-tech “human microphones”. A group of people performs the bureaucratic scenario in chorus, out loud, in the corridor of the school’s building, in the main hall, at the square right across, outside of the municipality building.
The marginal voices of potential applicants are embodying and enacting a role. “The speech does not only describe but brings things into existence”(Austin, 1975). My intention was to stretch the limits of dramaturgical speech through vocalizing a document and turn individual administrative cases into public ones. How do the inscribed words in the documents are not descriptive but on the contrary “are instrumentalized in getting things done”(Butler,1997). Words as active agents. Bodies as low-tech “human microphones”. A group of people performs the bureaucratic scenario in chorus, out loud, in the corridor of the school’s building, in the main hall, at the square right across, outside of the municipality building.
I documented and recorded these public acts and I re-created the collectively voiced scenario. This audio piece is a constellation of different recordings and soundscapes of these public moments, a vocal archive, published in the graduation exhibition of XPUB in 2024.
I documented and recorded these public acts and I re-created the collectively voiced scenario. This audio piece is a constellation of different recordings and soundscapes of these public moments, a vocal archive, published in the graduation exhibition of XPUB in 2024.
---
{.full-image}
{.full-image}
<p>This chapter is mainly a constellation of some prototypes I created
<p>This chapter is mainly a constellation of some prototypes I created
@ -673,8 +678,9 @@ these metrics are twofold: they play a role in the marketing sphere,
attracting potential students to the university as well as they are
attracting potential students to the university as well as they are
utilized in interactions and negotiations with the government, which
utilized in interactions and negotiations with the government, which
increasingly cuts budgets allocated to universities.</p>
increasingly cuts budgets allocated to universities.</p>
<hr/>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="../aglaia/quality.jpg"
<imgsrc="../aglaia/quality.jpg"class="full-image"
alt="The linguistic experiment of the Quality Assurance Questionnaire Document" />
alt="The linguistic experiment of the Quality Assurance Questionnaire Document" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The linguistic experiment of the Quality
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The linguistic experiment of the Quality
Assurance Questionnaire Document</figcaption>
Assurance Questionnaire Document</figcaption>
@ -711,7 +717,7 @@ contradictory feelings or thoughts. Over-identifying with a role was
being instrumentalized as an “interrogation” of one’s own involvement in
being instrumentalized as an “interrogation” of one’s own involvement in
the reproduction of social discourses, power, authority, hegemony.</p>
the reproduction of social discourses, power, authority, hegemony.</p>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="../aglaia/queue.jpg"
<imgsrc="../aglaia/queue.jpg"class="half-image"
alt="Leeszaal West Rotterdam - November 2023 – People queuing to receive their documents and sign. I was thinking of queues as a spatial oppressive tool used often by (bureaucratic) authorities. The naturalized image of bodies-in-a-line waiting for “something” to happen at “some point” under the public gaze in an efficiently defined area." />
alt="Leeszaal West Rotterdam - November 2023 – People queuing to receive their documents and sign. I was thinking of queues as a spatial oppressive tool used often by (bureaucratic) authorities. The naturalized image of bodies-in-a-line waiting for “something” to happen at “some point” under the public gaze in an efficiently defined area." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Leeszaal West Rotterdam - November 2023 –
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Leeszaal West Rotterdam - November 2023 –
People queuing to receive their documents and sign. I was thinking of
People queuing to receive their documents and sign. I was thinking of
@ -720,8 +726,9 @@ authorities. The naturalized image of bodies-in-a-line waiting for
“something” to happen at “some point” under the public gaze in an
“something” to happen at “some point” under the public gaze in an
efficiently defined area.</figcaption>
efficiently defined area.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<hr/>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="../aglaia/mitsi.jpg"
<imgsrc="../aglaia/mitsi.jpg"class="full-image"
alt="One of the forms that the audience had to fill out during the Lesszaal event" />
alt="One of the forms that the audience had to fill out during the Lesszaal event" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">One of the forms that the audience had to
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">One of the forms that the audience had to
fill out during the Lesszaal event</figcaption>
fill out during the Lesszaal event</figcaption>
@ -763,13 +770,10 @@ paths, how departure or arrival is smooth or cruel. Are there emotions
along the way? For some people these are documents “that embody power —
along the way? For some people these are documents “that embody power —
minimal or no waiting, peaceful departure, warm and confident arrival”
minimal or no waiting, peaceful departure, warm and confident arrival”
(Khosravi, 2021).</p>
(Khosravi, 2021).</p>
<figure>
<hr/>
<imgsrc="../aglaia/passport1.png"
<p><imgsrc="../aglaia/passport1.png"class="full-image"/> ![Part of
alt="Part of the A6 booklet of the transcription of the passport readings session" />
the A6 booklet of the transcription of the passport readings
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Part of the A6 booklet of the
session]</p>
transcription of the passport readings session</figcaption>
and empowers (bureaucratic) institutions through repetitive acts. These
and empowers (bureaucratic) institutions through repetitive acts. These
theatrical moments attempt to highlight the shrouded performative
theatrical moments attempt to highlight the shrouded performative
elements of these processes.</p>
elements of these processes.</p>
<hr/>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="../aglaia/postal.png"
<imgsrc="../aglaia/postal.png"class="full-image"
alt="A6 booklet of the first chapter of the “theatrical” scenario created out of the Postal Address Application documents and performed by XPUB peers" />
alt="A6 booklet of the first chapter of the “theatrical” scenario created out of the Postal Address Application documents and performed by XPUB peers" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">A6 booklet of the first chapter of the
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">A6 booklet of the first chapter of the
“theatrical” scenario created out of the Postal Address Application
“theatrical” scenario created out of the Postal Address Application
@ -862,8 +867,9 @@ border crossers, stressed expired document holders or just curious
people to share, vocalize, talk through, read out loud, amplify,
people to share, vocalize, talk through, read out loud, amplify,
(un)name, unplace, dismantle the injurious words of these artifacts.</p>
(un)name, unplace, dismantle the injurious words of these artifacts.</p>
@ -16,23 +16,18 @@ This thesis is an assemblage<sup><span class="margin-note">I live somewhere in t
The eastern Mediterranean borderland<sup><spanclass="margin-note">I use the word borderland to refer to Greece as a (mostly) transit zone in the migrants’ and refugees’ route towards Europe.</span></sup>, I happened to come from, proves to be one of Europe’s deadly borders towards specific ethnic groups. The embodied experience of borders and practices of (im)mobility change radically depending on the various identities of the people crossing them. As I moved to the Netherlands I started more actively perceiving bureaucracy as another multi-layered border. I was wondering how this situation is shifted and transformed moving towards the European North. What is the role of bureaucracy and how it could be perceived as a mechanism of repulsion for some bodies - a camouflaged border?
The eastern Mediterranean borderland<sup><spanclass="margin-note">I use the word borderland to refer to Greece as a (mostly) transit zone in the migrants’ and refugees’ route towards Europe.</span></sup>, I happened to come from, proves to be one of Europe’s deadly borders towards specific ethnic groups. The embodied experience of borders and practices of (im)mobility change radically depending on the various identities of the people crossing them. As I moved to the Netherlands I started more actively perceiving bureaucracy as another multi-layered border. I was wondering how this situation is shifted and transformed moving towards the European North. What is the role of bureaucracy and how it could be perceived as a mechanism of repulsion for some bodies - a camouflaged border?
But what is my starting point and where does my precarious body fit within the borders that I am touching? The language of the administrative document is rigid and hurtful but myself lies between the margins of these lines.
But what is my starting point and where does my precarious body fit within the borders that I am touching? The language of the administrative document is rigid and hurtful but myself lies between the margins of these lines. This thesis does not consist of an excessive inquiry about the profoundly complex concepts of borders and bureaucracy. On the contrary, it is initiated by personal concerns, awareness and my positioning. I choose to structure my argument and talk through a personal process that is being unfolded in parallel with the writing period. Accordingly, these words are dynamically being reshaped due to the material constraints of the bureaucratic timeline. A more distant approach became personal and tangible with auto-ethnographical<sup><spanclass="margin-note">I perceive auto-ethnography as a way to place myself, my lived experiences, my identities, reflections in the (artistic) research and talk through them about structures and within the structures of social, cultural, political frameworks.</span></sup> elements as I was trying to squish myself and my urgencies under these thresholds and fit the A4 document lines.
This thesis does not consist of an excessive inquiry about the profoundly complex concepts of borders and bureaucracy. On the contrary, it is initiated by personal concerns, awareness and my positioning. I choose to structure my argument and talk through a personal process that is being unfolded in parallel with the writing period. Accordingly, these words are dynamically being reshaped due to the material constraints of the bureaucratic timeline. A more distant approach became personal and tangible with auto-ethnographical<sup><spanclass="margin-note">I perceive auto-ethnography as a way to place myself, my lived experiences, my identities, reflections in the (artistic) research and talk through them about structures and within the structures of social, cultural, political frameworks.</span></sup> elements as I was trying to squish myself and my urgencies under these thresholds and fit the A4 document lines.
I would like at this point to acknowledge and state explicitly my privilege recognizing the different levels of otherness produced by the several bordering mechanisms. My European machine-readable passport as a designed artifact dictates and facilitates the easiness of my mobility. In other (many) cases the lack of it creates profoundly a severe barrier<sup><spanclass="margin-note">“Passports still function as a technology to control movement. Technologies like RFID chips and face recognition are part of a control system for digital state surveillance. Designing a passport is relative to design a surveillance tool. The analysis of passport designs rarely looks at the social consequences of identification, control, and restriction of movement, which can have violent consequences.” (Ruben Pater, 2021)</span></sup>. I do not intend in any respect to compare my case to the lived experiences and struggles of migrants and refugees. I utilize the paperwork interface of my smaller-scale story in order to unravel and foreground the aforementioned questions.
I would like at this point to acknowledge and state explicitly my privilege recognizing the different levels of otherness produced by the several bordering mechanisms. My European machine-readable passport as a designed artifact dictates and facilitates the easiness of my mobility. In other (many) cases the lack of it creates profoundly a severe barrier<sup><spanclass="margin-note">“Passports still function as a technology to control movement. Technologies like RFID chips and face recognition are part of a control system for digital state surveillance. Designing a passport is relative to design a surveillance tool. The analysis of passport designs rarely looks at the social consequences of identification, control, and restriction of movement, which can have violent consequences.” (Ruben Pater, 2021)</span></sup>. I do not intend in any respect to compare my case to the lived experiences and struggles of migrants and refugees. I utilize the paperwork interface of my smaller-scale story in order to unravel and foreground the aforementioned questions.
This thesis is very much indebted to some text-vehicles that mobilized my reflections and nourished the writing process. "Illegal Traveller, an autoethnography of borders" and "Waiting, a Project in conversation" both written by Shahram Khosravi as well as "The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy" by the anarchist anthropologist David Graeber. Graeber initiated his research utilizing the horrendous prolonged bureaucratic processes he had to follow in order to place his sick mother in a nursing home. In parallel, Khosravi’s work is itself the outgrowth of his own 'embodied experience of borders', of ethnographic fieldwork among undocumented migrants. I found valuable and inspiring in both texts the personal filter through which they articulate their positioning and develop critique.
This thesis is very much indebted to some text-vehicles that mobilized my reflections and nourished the writing process. "Illegal Traveller, an autoethnography of borders" and "Waiting, a Project in conversation" both written by Shahram Khosravi as well as "The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy" by the anarchist anthropologist David Graeber. Graeber initiated his research utilizing the horrendous prolonged bureaucratic processes he had to follow in order to place his sick mother in a nursing home. In parallel, Khosravi’s work is itself the outgrowth of his own 'embodied experience of borders', of ethnographic fieldwork among undocumented migrants. I found valuable and inspiring in both texts the personal filter through which they articulate their positioning and develop critique.
I follow a zoom-in approach in mapping my thoughts beginning from the large-scale rigid border as entity and ending up at the document as the smallest designed artifact of the bureaucratic labyrinth.
I follow a zoom-in approach in mapping my thoughts beginning from the large-scale rigid border as entity and ending up at the document as the smallest designed artifact of the bureaucratic labyrinth. In the first chapter, I touch the concept of borders in relation to migration. I begin with a personal inspection and comprehension of material borders as entities. Alongside, I interweave in the text the concept of hospitality as a cultural attitude towards 'strangers' from the state’s perspective. Conditional and unconditional. How the document I hold in my hands reflects positions on the government’s conditional hospitality and what constraints it dictates.
In the first chapter, I touch the concept of borders in relation to migration. I begin with a personal inspection and comprehension of material borders as entities. Alongside, I interweave in the text the concept of hospitality as a cultural attitude towards 'strangers' from the state’s perspective. Conditional and unconditional. How the document I hold in my hands reflects positions on the government’s conditional hospitality and what constraints it dictates.
In the second chapter, I unpack bureaucracy and focus on its bordering function. From migration ghost bureaucracies to the educational bureaucracies of my surroundings to even smaller components of this apparatus. I end up analyzing the document as a unit within this complex network. Through the "interrogation" of the form as an artifact are emerging issues related to language, graphic design and transparency, universality, and underlying violence.
In the second chapter, I unpack bureaucracy and focus on its bordering function. From migration ghost bureaucracies to the educational bureaucracies of my surroundings to even smaller components of this apparatus. I end up analyzing the document as a unit within this complex network. Through the "interrogation" of the form as an artifact are emerging issues related to language, graphic design and transparency, universality, and underlying violence.
In the third and last chapter, I bridge the written text with the ongoing project that runs simultaneously as part of my graduation work in Experimental Publishing, where I mainly speak through my prototypes. Talking documents(5) are performative bureaucratic text inspections, vocal and non-vocal, that intend to create temporal public interventions through performative readings. The intention is to underline how the vocalization of bureaucracies as a tool can potentially reveal their territorial exclusive function and provide space for the invisible vulnerability.
In the third and last chapter, I bridge the written text with the ongoing project that runs simultaneously as part of my graduation work in Experimental Publishing, where I mainly speak through my prototypes. Talking documents(5) are performative bureaucratic text inspections, vocal and non-vocal, that intend to create temporal public interventions through performative readings. The intention is to underline how the vocalization of bureaucracies as a tool can potentially reveal their territorial exclusive function and provide space for the invisible vulnerability.
---
> “on the other side is the river
> “on the other side is the river
> and I cannot cross it
> and I cannot cross it
@ -40,7 +35,6 @@ In the third and last chapter, I bridge the written text with the ongoing projec
> I cannot bridge it”
> I cannot bridge it”
> (Anzaldua, 1987)
> (Anzaldua, 1987)
---
## borders
## borders
@ -98,7 +92,6 @@ According to Hannah Arendt, the right to have rights and claim somebody else’
> “…<sup><spanclass="margin-note">This is a transcribed recording of my phone during a protest on migration at Dam Square in Amsterdam. I insert part of the speech of a Palestinian woman addressing the matter of undocumentedness. Date and time of the recording 18th of June 2023, 15:05. “✶” means undecipherable</span></sup>I am here for the rights of the children which haven't be in the taking part in the education since they have undocumented mothers and they are more than ✶ years. I am here to represent mothers who are looking for a place to have a sense of belonging or how long are you trying to continue humiliating them and the female gender. I am here to express my frustration with IND<sup><spanclass="margin-note">Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst - Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service</span></sup>. So frustrated. And I will not stop talking about democracy. Democracy is the rule of law where everybody feels included. Democracy is a rule of law where everybody feels * We, undocumented people, we don't feel a sense of belonging from the system."
> “…<sup><spanclass="margin-note">This is a transcribed recording of my phone during a protest on migration at Dam Square in Amsterdam. I insert part of the speech of a Palestinian woman addressing the matter of undocumentedness. Date and time of the recording 18th of June 2023, 15:05. “✶” means undecipherable</span></sup>I am here for the rights of the children which haven't be in the taking part in the education since they have undocumented mothers and they are more than ✶ years. I am here to represent mothers who are looking for a place to have a sense of belonging or how long are you trying to continue humiliating them and the female gender. I am here to express my frustration with IND<sup><spanclass="margin-note">Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst - Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service</span></sup>. So frustrated. And I will not stop talking about democracy. Democracy is the rule of law where everybody feels included. Democracy is a rule of law where everybody feels * We, undocumented people, we don't feel a sense of belonging from the system."
---
## bureaucracy as immaterial border
## bureaucracy as immaterial border
@ -122,7 +115,7 @@ The contradiction embedded in many cultural and educational institutions lies in
The genuine essence of education is not bureaucratic at all, neither does it have to fit and ground its foundations under a bureaucratic roof. “The pedagogical process runs counter to the hierarchical, impersonal qualities of bureaucracy” (Cunningham, 2017). However, people working in educational institutions acknowledge the fact that entrenched bureaucratic systems impose their material constraints on teaching structures and on how these actors in this process interact with each other.“Students and staff are treated as human capital” (Cunningham, 2017). This determination can dehumanize people involved, like when "faculty-as-labor" and "students-as-consumers" are marginalized and treated as just variables.
The genuine essence of education is not bureaucratic at all, neither does it have to fit and ground its foundations under a bureaucratic roof. “The pedagogical process runs counter to the hierarchical, impersonal qualities of bureaucracy” (Cunningham, 2017). However, people working in educational institutions acknowledge the fact that entrenched bureaucratic systems impose their material constraints on teaching structures and on how these actors in this process interact with each other.“Students and staff are treated as human capital” (Cunningham, 2017). This determination can dehumanize people involved, like when "faculty-as-labor" and "students-as-consumers" are marginalized and treated as just variables.
> “there is no document of civilisation which is not at the same time a document of barbarism”
> “there is no document of civilisation which is not at the same time a document of barbarism”
> Walter Benjamin
> (Benjamin, cited by Pater, 2021)
### the document
### the document
@ -147,7 +140,7 @@ There is a great materiality in bureaucracies. Bureaucratic procedures are often
Underneath every bureaucratic document, there is a good amount of graphic design labor. What kind of visual strategy is embedded in administrative objects that the design aspect of these artifacts appears to be invisible? The material decisions applied as well as the material constraints attributed to the document can transform or produce different textual meanings and consequently understandings.
Underneath every bureaucratic document, there is a good amount of graphic design labor. What kind of visual strategy is embedded in administrative objects that the design aspect of these artifacts appears to be invisible? The material decisions applied as well as the material constraints attributed to the document can transform or produce different textual meanings and consequently understandings.
> “This does not mean that constraints limit meaning, but on the contrary, constitute it; meaning cannot appear where freedom is absolute or nonexistent: the stem of meaning is that of a supervised freedom”
> “This does not mean that constraints limit meaning, but on the contrary, constitute it; meaning cannot appear where freedom is absolute or nonexistent: the stem of meaning is that of a supervised freedom”
> (Roland Barthes, 1983)
> (Barthes, 1983)
When I encountered the green logo of the municipality of Rotterdam I did not cultivate any feelings of enthusiasm or even boredom. A big calligraphic “R” with the flawless green ribbons that penetrate it on the left corner of a 229x162 mm standardized dimension folder with a transparent rectangle that reveals my inscribed name and surname from the inside part. I did not put any aesthetic critique over this but I rather felt this rush of stress for the expected response to my objection letter or a fine or a tax to be paid within a specific timeline cause another fine would come if I did not comply with this.
When I encountered the green logo of the municipality of Rotterdam I did not cultivate any feelings of enthusiasm or even boredom. A big calligraphic “R” with the flawless green ribbons that penetrate it on the left corner of a 229x162 mm standardized dimension folder with a transparent rectangle that reveals my inscribed name and surname from the inside part. I did not put any aesthetic critique over this but I rather felt this rush of stress for the expected response to my objection letter or a fine or a tax to be paid within a specific timeline cause another fine would come if I did not comply with this.
@ -161,7 +154,6 @@ In the latter case, the inscription technology used is the sugar blue paste and
{.image-95}
{.image-95}
---
## vocal archives-talking documents
## vocal archives-talking documents
@ -177,7 +169,6 @@ How performing a collection of small bureaucratic stories can function as an ins
I started working and engaging more with different bureaucratic material that my peers and I encountered regularly or appeared in our (e)mail (in)boxes and are partly related to our identities as foreign students coming from different places. I chose to start touching and looking for various bureaucracies that surround me as a personal filter towards it. From identification documents and application forms to rental contracts, funding applications, visa applications, quality assurance questionnaires related to the university, assessment criteria, supermarket point gathering cards, receipts. A sequence of locked doors to be unlocked more or less easily via multiple bureaucratic keys. The methods and tools used to scrutinize the administrative artifacts are not rigid or distinct. It is mainly a “collection” of small bureaucratic experiments - closely related to language as well as the performative “nature” of these texts themselves. I was intrigued by how transforming the material conditions of a piece of text could influence the potential understandings and perceptions of its meaning.
I started working and engaging more with different bureaucratic material that my peers and I encountered regularly or appeared in our (e)mail (in)boxes and are partly related to our identities as foreign students coming from different places. I chose to start touching and looking for various bureaucracies that surround me as a personal filter towards it. From identification documents and application forms to rental contracts, funding applications, visa applications, quality assurance questionnaires related to the university, assessment criteria, supermarket point gathering cards, receipts. A sequence of locked doors to be unlocked more or less easily via multiple bureaucratic keys. The methods and tools used to scrutinize the administrative artifacts are not rigid or distinct. It is mainly a “collection” of small bureaucratic experiments - closely related to language as well as the performative “nature” of these texts themselves. I was intrigued by how transforming the material conditions of a piece of text could influence the potential understandings and perceptions of its meaning.
---
## prototypes
## prototypes
@ -212,6 +203,8 @@ These 'rituals' are components of a larger “culture of evidence”, serving as
**Reflections-Thoughts:** Beyond the information gathered through my bureaucratic-like questionnaires, the most crucial element of this experiment was the understanding and highlighting of the hidden performative elements that entrench these “rituals”. It was amazing seeing the audience becoming instantly actors of the play enacting willingly a administrative ritualistic scene.
**Reflections-Thoughts:** Beyond the information gathered through my bureaucratic-like questionnaires, the most crucial element of this experiment was the understanding and highlighting of the hidden performative elements that entrench these “rituals”. It was amazing seeing the audience becoming instantly actors of the play enacting willingly a administrative ritualistic scene.
The provided context of this “play” was a social library hosting a masters course public event on graduation projects. I am wondering whether this asymphony between the repetitive bureaucratic acts within the space of Leeszaal, where such acts are not expected to be performed, evoked contradictory feelings or thoughts. Over-identifying with a role was being instrumentalized as an “interrogation” of one’s own involvement in the reproduction of social discourses, power, authority, hegemony.
The provided context of this “play” was a social library hosting a masters course public event on graduation projects. I am wondering whether this asymphony between the repetitive bureaucratic acts within the space of Leeszaal, where such acts are not expected to be performed, evoked contradictory feelings or thoughts. Over-identifying with a role was being instrumentalized as an “interrogation” of one’s own involvement in the reproduction of social discourses, power, authority, hegemony.
---
{.half-image}
{.half-image}
---
---
@ -238,8 +231,7 @@ We read the embedded signs, symbols, categories, texts, magical numbers in our p
---
---
{.full-image}
{.full-image}
![Part of the A6 booklet of the transcription of the passport readings session]
---
---
@ -260,7 +252,6 @@ The first and the last moment of the performance was during a semi-public tryout
{.full-image}
{.full-image}
---
## conclusion
## conclusion
@ -282,7 +273,7 @@ My intention is to facilitate a series of collective performative readings of bu
---
---
#### “we didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us”(20)
#### “we didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us”
As I sit in the waiting area at the gate B7 in the airport preparing to come back to the Netherlands, I am writing the last lines of this text. I am thinking of all these borders and gates that my body was able to pass through smoothly, carrying my magical object through which I embody power- at least within this context. However, I yearn for a reality where we stop looking at those bodies that cross the multifaceted borders and get crossed and entrenched by them, but on the contrary we start interrogating and shouting at the contexts and the frameworks that construct them and render them invisible, natural and powerful.
As I sit in the waiting area at the gate B7 in the airport preparing to come back to the Netherlands, I am writing the last lines of this text. I am thinking of all these borders and gates that my body was able to pass through smoothly, carrying my magical object through which I embody power- at least within this context. However, I yearn for a reality where we stop looking at those bodies that cross the multifaceted borders and get crossed and entrenched by them, but on the contrary we start interrogating and shouting at the contexts and the frameworks that construct them and render them invisible, natural and powerful.
<p>Wink is a prototype for an interactive picture book platform. This
<p>Wink is a prototype for an interactive picture book platform. This
platform aims to make reading into a mindful and thought-provoking
platform aims to make reading into a mindfull and thought provoking
process by using interactive and playful elements, multiple stories
process by using interactive and playful elements, multiple stories
within one narrative and sound. Today, when consumerism and low
within one narrative and sound elements. Especially today where
attention span are rising issues, especially amongst young readers,
consumerism and low attention span is a rising issue especially amongst
this was an important task to tackle. The thought of Wink
young readers, this was an important task to tackle. The thought of Wink
emerged to find a more sustainable and creative way of reading for
emerged to find a more sustainable and creative way of reading for
elementary school children.</p>
elementary school children.</p>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="../irmak/improv.JPG"
<imgsrc="../irmak/twine.png"class="half-image"
alt="“a tag made by a participant in the public moment at XPUB studio. Trying to understand different approaches to certain emotions/states for a bee”" />
alt="“The twine map of text based story, reachable from Bee Within.”" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“a tag made by a participant in the
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“The twine map of text based story,
public moment at XPUB studio. Trying to understand different approaches
reachable from Bee Within.”</figcaption>
to certain emotions/states for a bee”</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="../irmak/leeszaalknotpoems.jpg"
alt="“From the event at Leeszaal West, experimenting with knots and poetry. How can we see movement in text?”" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“From the event at Leeszaal West,
experimenting with knots and poetry. How can we see movement in
text?”</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<p>Working as a children’s literature editor for years, I came to a
realisation that picture books were turning into another object that
kids read and consume on daily basis.</p>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="../irmak/knotpoems2.jpg"
<imgsrc="../irmak/cg.png"class="image-95"
alt="“From the event at Leeszaal West. Some of the results of knotting text”" />
alt="“Click game story of the Queen Bee.”" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“From the event at Leeszaal West. Some of
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“Click game story of the Queen
the results of knotting text”</figcaption>
Bee.”</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<p>Working as a children’s literature editor for years, I came to a realisation that picture books were turning into another object that kids read and consume on a daily basis.At least this is what I observed in Turkey. Teachers and parents were finding it difficult to find new books constantly or were tired of rereading the same book. As a young person in the publishing sector, I believe there should be as many options
<p>Teachers and parents were finding it difficult to find new books
for children as there are for adults; such as ebooks, audiobooks etc. But
constantly or were tired of rereading the same book.</p>
moreover, a “book” that can be redefined, reread or interacted with.
So I revisited an old story I wrote, translated it to English and named it
“Bee Within”.</p>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="../irmak/print3.jpg"
<imgsrc="../irmak/printp33.jpg"class="image-95"
alt="“Example page from the print version of the picture book.”" />
alt="“Example page from the print version of the picture book.”" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“Example page from the print version of
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“Example page from the print version of
the picture book.”</figcaption>
the picture book.”</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="../irmak/print4.jpg"
<imgsrc="../irmak/printp3.jpg" class="image-95"
alt="“Example page from the print version of the picture book.”" />
alt="“Example page from the print version of the picture book.”" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“Example page from the print version of
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“Example page from the print version of
the picture book.”</figcaption>
the picture book.”</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<p>Bee Within, is a story about grief and it is based on my experiences
throughout the years. I erased it, rewrote it, edited it, destroyed it
multiple times over the past years, simultaneously with new experiences
of loss. In the end, I believe the story turned out to be an ode to
remembering or might I say an ode to not being able to forget or an ode
to the fear of forgetting which I now think is a great and sweet battle
between death and life. I think it is an important subject to touch
upon, especially for children dealing with trauma in many parts of the
<p>As a young person in the publishing sector, I believe there should be
more options for children as there is for adults; such as ebooks,
audiobooks etc. But moreover a “book” that can be redefined, reread or
be interacted with… So I revisited an old story I wrote, translated to
English and called it, “Bee Within”.</p>
<p>Bee Within, is a story about grief/memory and it is based on my
experiences throughout the years. I erased it, rewrote it, edited it,
destroyed it multiple times over the past years; simultaneously with new
experiences of loss. In the end, I believe the story turned out to be an
ode to remembering or might I say an ode to not being able to forget or
an ode to the fear of forgetting which I now think is a great and sweet
battle between death and life. I think it is an important subject to
touch upon, especially for children dealing with trauma in many parts of
the world.</p>
<figure>
<imgsrc="../irmak/printp1.jpg"class="half-image"
alt="“example page from the picture book”" />
alt="“example page from the picture book”" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“example page from the picture
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“example page from the picture
book”</figcaption>
book”</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="../irmak/printp2.jpg"
<imgsrc="../irmak/printp22.jpg"class="image-95"
alt="“example page from the picture book”" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“example page from the picture
book”</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="../irmak/printp2.jpg"class="image-95"
alt="“example page from the picture book”" />
alt="“example page from the picture book”" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“example page from the picture
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“example page from the picture
book”</figcaption>
book”</figcaption>
@ -105,34 +118,38 @@ book”</figcaption>
interactivity options and workshops with children and adults, around
interactivity options and workshops with children and adults, around
reading and doing various exercises on Bee Within, I improved the story
reading and doing various exercises on Bee Within, I improved the story
to be a more playful and interactive one which can be re-read, re-played
to be a more playful and interactive one which can be re-read, re-played
and eventually re-formed non digitally to be reachable to all
and eventually re-formed non digitally to be reachable for all
children.</p>
children.</p>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="../irmak/twine.png"
<imgsrc="../irmak/improv.JPG" class="half-image"
alt="“The twine map of text based story, reachable from Bee Within by clicking to hear more about Gray the tree.”" />
alt="“a tag made by a participant in the public moment at XPUB studio. Trying to understand different approaches to certain emotions/states for a bee”" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“The twine map of text based story,
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">“a tag made by a participant in the
reachable from Bee Within by clicking to hear more about Gray the
public moment at XPUB studio. Trying to understand different approaches
tree.”</figcaption>
to certain emotions/states for a bee”</figcaption>
alt="Cloud of cards with instructions to be performed on the books" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Cloud of cards with instructions to be
performed on the books</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The release of the Special Issue 19 was a momentary snapshot of the
<p>The release of the Special Issue 19 was a momentary snapshot of the
current state of a library seen through the metaphor of gardening;
current state of a library seen through the metaphor of gardening;
pruning, gleaning, growing, grafting and harvesting. Garden Leeszaal is
pruning, gleaning, growing, grafting and harvesting. Garden Leeszaal is
@ -71,79 +79,55 @@ overwriting, printing, and scanning. It was magical having an object in
the end. A whole book was made by all of us that evening. Stations,
the end. A whole book was made by all of us that evening. Stations,
machines, a cloud of cards, a sleeve that warms up THE BOOK.</p>
machines, a cloud of cards, a sleeve that warms up THE BOOK.</p>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="pruning.jpg"
<imgsrc="open-bin.jpg"class="full-image"
alt="Irmak’s and Aglaia’s Pruning station, where people edited punctuation and text, scanned it then printed it with a dot matrix." />
alt="Bin of discarded books from Leeszal." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Irmak’s and Aglaia’s Pruning station,
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Bin of discarded books from
where people edited punctuation and text, scanned it, then printed it
Leeszal.</figcaption>
with a dot matrix.</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="card-cloud-leeszaal.jpg"
alt="Cloud of cards with instructions to be performed on the books" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Cloud of cards with instructions to be
performed on the books</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="final-book.jpg"
<imgsrc="people-bins.jpg"
alt="The final book produced that evening, the cover was made from hand-stiched covers of discarded books." />
alt="People choosing books from the discarded books bins, behind the instructions cards cloud." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The final book produced that evening, the
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">People choosing books from the discarded
cover was made from hand-stiched covers of discarded books.</figcaption>
books bins, behind the instructions cards cloud.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<figure>
<hr />
<imgsrc="mint-scan.jpg"
<p><imgsrc="mint-scan.jpg"class="image-95"
alt="Page of the final book containing scans of the edited book, an instruction card, a pen-plotted bookmark with a quote from the book and a sprig of mint." />
alt="Page of the final book containing scans of the edited book, an instruction card, a pen-plotted bookmark with a quote from the book and a sprig of mint." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Page of the final book containing scans
<imgsrc="drawn-scan.jpg"class="image-95"
of the edited book, an instruction card, a pen-plotted bookmark with a
alt="Page of the final book containing scans of a drawn on book, an instruction card and a pen-plotted bookmark with a quote from the book." /></p>
quote from the book and a sprig of mint.</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="drawn-scan.jpg"
<imgsrc="pruning.jpg"class="image-80"
alt="Page of the final book containing scans of a drawn on book, an instruction card and a pen-plotted bookmark with a quote from the book." />
alt="Irmak’s and Aglaia’s Pruning station, where people edited punctuation and text, scanned it then printed it with a dot matrix." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Page of the final book containing scans
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Irmak’s and Aglaia’s Pruning station,
of a drawn on book, an instruction card and a pen-plotted bookmark with
where people edited punctuation and text, scanned it then printed it
a quote from the book.</figcaption>
with a dot matrix.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<figure>
<hr />
<imgsrc="hand-scan.jpg"
<p><imgsrc="hand-scan.jpg"class="image-95"
alt="Page of the final book containing scans of edited books, a hand and coins." />
alt="Page of the final book containing scans of edited books, a hand and coins." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Page of the final book containing scans
<imgsrc="editing.jpg"class="image-95"
of edited books, a hand and coins.</figcaption>
alt="Part of the Pruning process, the editing of a book page." /></p>
</figure>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="second-edition-open.jpg"
<imgsrc="second-edition-open.jpg"
alt="Page of the second edition, containing scans of edited books and instruction cards." />
alt="Page of the second edition, containing scans of edited books and instruction cards." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Page of the second edition, containing
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Page of the second edition, containing
scans of edited books and instruction cards.</figcaption>
scans of edited books and instruction cards.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<hr/>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="second-edition.jpg"
<imgsrc="binding.jpg"class="image-95"
alt="The second edition of the final book from the event." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The second edition of the final book from
the event.</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="people-bins.jpg"
alt="People choosing books from the discarded books bins, behind the instructions cards cloud." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">People choosing books from the discarded
books bins, behind the instructions cards cloud.</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="editing.jpg"
alt="Part of the Pruning process, the editing of a book page." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Part of the Pruning process, the editing
of a book page.</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="open-bin.jpg"alt="Bin of discarded books from Leeszal."/>
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Bin of discarded books from
Leeszal.</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="binding.jpg"
alt="The binding of the scans into the final book at the end of the evening." />
alt="The binding of the scans into the final book at the end of the evening." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The binding of the scans into the final
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The binding of the scans into the final
book at the end of the evening.</figcaption>
book at the end of the evening.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<hr/>
<figure>
<imgsrc="final-book.jpg"class="image-95"
alt="The final book produced that evening, the cover was made from hand-stiched covers of discarded books." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">The final book produced that evening, the
cover was made from hand-stiched covers of discarded books.</figcaption>
alt="Laser engraved quote from Silvia Federici, Love is the great magician, the demon that unites earth and sky and makes humans so round, so whole in their being, that once united they cannot be defeated." />
</figure>
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Laser engraved quote from Silvia
<figure>
Federici, Love is the great magician, the demon that unites earth and
<imgsrc="oracolotto.jpg"alt="Reading with the Oracolotto cards."/>
sky and makes humans so round, so whole in their being, that once united
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Reading with the Oracolotto
alt="Laser engraved quote from Silvia Federici, Love is the great magician, the demon that unites earth and sky and makes humans so round, so whole in their being, that once united they cannot be defeated." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Laser engraved quote from Silvia
</figure>
Federici, Love is the great magician, the demon that unites earth and
<figure>
sky and makes humans so round, so whole in their being, that once united
<imgsrc="oracolotto.jpg"class="half-image"
they cannot be defeated.</figcaption>
alt="Reading with the Oracolotto cards." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Reading with the Oracolotto
cards.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<hr/>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="console-open.jpg"
<imgsrc="console-open.jpg"class="image-95"
alt="Console box with Fiction Friction, Oracolotto, the Wheel of Fortune, a Worry Doll, tea and a tealight." />
alt="Console box with Fiction Friction, Oracolotto, the Wheel of Fortune, a Worry Doll, tea and a tealight." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Console box with Fiction Friction,
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Console box with Fiction Friction,
Oracolotto, the Wheel of Fortune, a Worry Doll, tea and a
Oracolotto, the Wheel of Fortune, a Worry Doll, tea and a
tealight.</figcaption>
tealight.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<hr/>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="console-front.jpg"
<imgsrc="fiction-friction.jpg"class="half-image"
alt="Screenprinted cover of the Console box." />
alt="Fiction Friction gameplay during the launch at Page Not Found." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Screenprinted cover of the Console
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Fiction Friction gameplay during the
box.</figcaption>
launch at Page Not Found.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<hr/>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="license-reading.jpg"
<imgsrc="license-reading.jpg"class="image-95"
alt="SIXX Licence reading ceremony at Page Not Found. The copyleft licence for this object included (in additional permission 4b) a term specifying the ritual absorption of intellectual property." />
alt="SIXX Licence reading ceremony at Page Not Found. The copyleft licence for this object included (in additional permission 4b) a term specifying the ritual absorption of intellectual property." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">SIXX Licence reading ceremony at Page Not
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">SIXX Licence reading ceremony at Page Not
Found. The copyleft licence for this object included (in additional
Found. The copyleft licence for this object included (in additional
permission 4b) a term specifying the ritual absorption of intellectual
permission 4b) a term specifying the ritual absorption of intellectual
property.</figcaption>
property.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="fiction-friction.jpg"
alt="Fiction Friction gameplay during the launch at Page Not Found." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Fiction Friction gameplay during the
<p>why shd it only make use of the tips of the fingers as contact points
<p>why shd it only make use of the tips of the fingers as contact points
of flowing multi directional creativity. If I invented a word placing
of flowing multi directional creativity. If I invented a word placing
@ -48,6 +49,19 @@ or carried like a speaking singing constantly communicating charm. A
typewriter is corny!!</p>
typewriter is corny!!</p>
<p>Amiri Baraka, Technology & Ethos,
<p>Amiri Baraka, Technology & Ethos,
http://www.soulsista.com/titanic/baraka.html</p>
http://www.soulsista.com/titanic/baraka.html</p>
<hr/>
<figure>
<imgsrc="TTY.jpg"
alt="An inscription performance using the TeleType Model 33 and a 40m stairwell." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">An inscription performance using the
TeleType Model 33 and a 40m stairwell.</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="stairs_concrete.jpg"class="half-image"
alt="A reading and writing of poetry using pedestrians and vinyl quotes." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">A reading and writing of poetry using
pedestrians and vinyl quotes.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This issue started from a single technical object: a Model 33
<p>This issue started from a single technical object: a Model 33
Teletype machine. The teletype is the meeting point between typewriters
Teletype machine. The teletype is the meeting point between typewriters
and computer interfaces, a first automated translator of letters into
and computer interfaces, a first automated translator of letters into
@ -59,13 +73,44 @@ guest contributor who joined us in unfolding the many cultural and
technical layers that we found stratified in such a machine, reading
technical layers that we found stratified in such a machine, reading
them as questions to our contemporary involvements with computing and
them as questions to our contemporary involvements with computing and
with networks.</p>
with networks.</p>
<p>The format of the issue consisted of an on-going publishing
<p>The format of the issue consisted of on an on-going publishing
arrangement, constantly re-considered and escaping definition at every
arrangement, constantly re-considered and escaping definition at every
point in spacetime, a sort of Exquisite Corpse Network. It evaded
point in spacetime, a sort of Exquisite Corpse Network. It evaded
naming, location, and explanation; the Briki, the Breadbrick, the Worm
naming, location, and explanation; the Briki, the Breadbrick, the Worm
Blob. A plan to release weekly bricks was wattled by a shared
Blob. A plan to release weekly bricks was wattled by a shared
understanding of time into something more complex in structure, less
understanding of time into something more complex in structure, less
structured in complexity.</p>
structured in complexity.</p>
<hr/>
<figure>
<imgsrc="tape.jpg"class="full-image"
alt="punchtape read-writer of Teletype Machine" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">punchtape read-writer of Teletype
Machine</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr/>
<figure>
<imgsrc="callme_bike.jpeg"
alt="I’ve fallen in love with you and I have no idea what to do about it. Phone cards inviting participation in “Hey Babe”." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">I’ve fallen in love with you and I have
no idea what to do about it. Phone cards inviting participation in “Hey
Babe”.</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="callme_window.jpg"class="image-80"
alt="Hey Babe arduino based telephone experience. Callers can listen to love stories, excerpts from conversations at the Houweling Telecom Museum, Rotterdam, parts from the documentary The Phantom of the Operator and a collective reading experience on binary systems, time, worms and pebbles." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Hey Babe arduino based telephone
experience. Callers can listen to love stories, excerpts from
conversations at the Houweling Telecom Museum, Rotterdam, parts from the
documentary The Phantom of the Operator and a collective reading
experience on binary systems, time, worms and pebbles.</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="calling.jpeg"class="image-80"
alt="Ada’s switchboard - a call between New York and Brussels" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Ada’s switchboard - a call between New
York and Brussels</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr/>
<p>Initially, the week’s caretakers were responsible for collecting
<p>Initially, the week’s caretakers were responsible for collecting
materials from our guest contributions, which included lectures,
materials from our guest contributions, which included lectures,
collective readings, hands-on exercises, an excursion to the Houweling
collective readings, hands-on exercises, an excursion to the Houweling
@ -78,110 +123,73 @@ creating languages, plotting strikes and cherishing memories. This mode
of publishing made us develop our own collective understandings of
of publishing made us develop our own collective understandings of
inter-operation, of networked care and access, backward- and
inter-operation, of networked care and access, backward- and
forward-compatibility, obsolence and futurability.</p>
forward-compatibility, obsolence and futurability.</p>
<p>Teletypewriters ushered in a new mode of inscription of writing: if
<hr/>
the typewriter set up a grid of letters and voids of the same size,
turning the absence of a letter (the space) into a key itself (the
spacebar), the teletypewriter finished it by inscribing the space in the
very same material as all other letters: electrical zeros and ones, that
were to immediately leave the machine. The Teletype Model 33, one of the
most widely produced and distributed text-based terminals in the 1970s,
introduced multiple technological concretizations that are present in
the computers of today as a sort of legacy, such as the QWERTY keyboard
with control keys, the ASCII character encoding and the TTY terminal
capability. We have created short-circuits that allow us to remember
otherwise technical progress and computational genealogies.</p>
<p>TTY was produced in April-June 2023 as special issue 21 with guest
editor Martino Morandi, and contributors Andrea di Serego Alighieri,
Femke Snelting, Isabelle Sully, Jara Rocha, Roel Roscam Abbing, and
Zoumana Meïté.</p>
<figure>
<imgsrc="TTY.jpg"
alt="An inscription performance using the TeleType Model 33 and a 40m stairwell." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">An inscription performance using the
TeleType Model 33 and a 40m stairwell.</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="tape.jpg"alt="punchtape read-writer of Teletype Machine"/>
<imgsrc="gesture.png"class="half-image"
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">punchtape read-writer of Teletype
Machine</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="stairs_concrete.jpg"
alt="A reading and writing of poetry using pedestrians and vinyl quotes." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">A reading and writing of poetry using
pedestrians and vinyl quotes.</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="gesture.png"
alt="Gesture Glossary : how a body language is documented, how it expands, how it is capable of creating or enhancing identities." />
alt="Gesture Glossary : how a body language is documented, how it expands, how it is capable of creating or enhancing identities." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Gesture Glossary : how a body language is
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Gesture Glossary : how a body language is
documented, how it expands, how it is capable of creating or enhancing
documented, how it expands, how it is capable of creating or enhancing
identities.</figcaption>
identities.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="strike.jpg"
<imgsrc="strike.jpg"class="image-80"
alt="Wiki strike screenshot: embedding hidden comments in a wiki to highlight the invisible labour, to provide comprehensive details about our intentions and the underlying ideas while maintaining the wiki’s regular functionality." />
alt="Wiki strike screenshot: embedding hidden comments in a wiki to highlight the invisible labour, to provide comprehensive details about our intentions and the underlying ideas while maintaining the wiki’s regular functionality." />
comments in a wiki to highlight the invisible labour, to provide
comments in a wiki to highlight the invisible labour, to provide
comprehensive details about our intentions and the underlying ideas
comprehensive details about our intentions and the underlying ideas
while maintaining the wiki’s regular functionality.</figcaption>
while maintaining the wiki’s regular functionality.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<hr/>
<p>Teletypewriters ushered in a new mode of inscription of writing: if
the typewriter set up a grid of letters and voids of the same size,
turning the absence of a letter (the space) into a key itself (the
spacebar), the teletypewriter finished it by inscribing the space in the
very same material as all other letters: electrical zeros and ones, that
were to immediately leave the machine. The Teletype Model 33, one of the
most widely produced and distributed text-based terminals in the 1970s,
introduced multiple technological concretizations that are present in
the computers of today as a sort of legacy, such as the qwerty keyboard
with control keys, the ascii character encoding and the TTY terminal
capability. We have created short-circuits that allow us to remember
otherwise technical progress and computational genealogies.</p>
<p>TTY was produced in april-june 2023 as special issue 21 with guest
editor Martino Morandi, and contributors Andrea di Serego Alighieri,
Femke Snelting, Isabelle Sully, Jara Rocha, Roel Roscam Abbing, and
Zoumana Meïté.</p>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="callme_window.jpg"
<imgsrc="encoding.png"class="image-95"
alt="Hey Babe arduino based telephone experience. Callers can listen to love stories, excerpts from conversations at the Houweling Telecom Museum, Rotterdam, parts from the documentary The Phantom of the Operator and a collective reading experience on binary systems, time, worms and pebbles." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Hey Babe arduino based telephone
experience. Callers can listen to love stories, excerpts from
conversations at the Houweling Telecom Museum, Rotterdam, parts from the
documentary The Phantom of the Operator and a collective reading
experience on binary systems, time, worms and pebbles.</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="callme_bike.jpeg"
alt="I’ve fallen in love with you and I have no idea what to do about it. Phone cards inviting participation in “Hey Babe”. Someone holding it in the street?" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">I’ve fallen in love with you and I have
no idea what to do about it. Phone cards inviting participation in “Hey
Babe”. Someone holding it in the street?</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="encoding.png"
alt="Encoding Convertor: the wacky world of character en-coding." />
alt="Encoding Convertor: the wacky world of character en-coding." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Encoding Convertor: the wacky world of
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Encoding Convertor: the wacky world of
character en-coding.</figcaption>
character en-coding.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="overlap.png"
<imgsrc="overlap.png"class="full-image"
alt="We have a bag full of planets, stars, our favorite moments, darkest fears, best intentions and worst feelings. Our bag is now in the middle, its ready for you to discover and see the networks of our minds, make knots in the middle or intervene with what we call is a collective memory of few xpubbers." />
alt="We have a bag full of planets, stars, our favorite moments, darkest fears, best intentions and worst feelings. Our bag is now in the middle, its ready for you to discover and see the networks of our minds, make knots in the middle or intervene with what we call is a collective memory of few xpubbers." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">We have a bag full of planets, stars, our
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">We have a bag full of planets, stars, our
favorite moments, darkest fears, best intentions and worst feelings. Our
favorite moments, darkest fears, best intentions and worst feelings. Our
bag is now in the middle, it's ready for you to discover and see the
bag is now in the middle, its ready for you to discover and see the
networks of our minds, make knots in the middle or intervene with what
networks of our minds, make knots in the middle or intervene with what
we call is a collective memory of few xpubbers.</figcaption>
we call is a collective memory of few xpubbers.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="hexalogue.jpg"
<imgsrc="zine.jpg"class="image-95"
alt="This A6 zine is a sub-release created by three women sitting on the teletype machine thinking and performing" />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">This A6 zine is a sub-release created by
three women sitting on the teletype machine thinking and
performing</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="hexalogue.jpg"class="image-95"
alt="Hexalogue booklet. A conversation for six voices is encoded and documented in a script." />
alt="Hexalogue booklet. A conversation for six voices is encoded and documented in a script." />
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Hexalogue booklet. A conversation for six
<figcaptionaria-hidden="true">Hexalogue booklet. A conversation for six
voices is encoded and documented in a script.</figcaption>
voices is encoded and documented in a script.</figcaption>
</figure>
</figure>
<figure>
<figure>
<imgsrc="publication.jpg"
<imgsrc="publication.jpg"class="image-80"
alt="Publications holding tiny sub-releases during SI21" />
alt="Publications holding tiny sub-releases during SI21" />
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