Studiolab scientist
Architects, artists, scientists, hackers and engineers from across Europe came together in Dublin today to begin a unique collaborative workshop called Interactivos?’12 in Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin.
The event is taking place in the midst of the opening of the Euroscience Open Forum in Dublin this evening.
Interactivos?’12 is part of a new Europe-wide initiative called Studiolab. It’s a three-year project that is aiming to merge the artist’s studio with the research lab.
During Interactivos, which will run until 15 July, Science Gallery said this evening that 30 participants from all over Europe will be collaborating to develop their ideas, ranging from planting guerilla gardens with ‘seed bombs’ to turning recycling bins into public art.
Jane Chadwick of Science Gallery is leading the Studiolab project. She said that Interactivos is about bringing together people from very different backgrounds to generate new ideas.
“We’re also expecting some really useful outcomes from the taskforce, so it’s great to be hosting the process here in Dublin,” she said.
To give you a flavour of some of the ideas that people will be collaborating on, in terms of hacking, one idea being progressed is a project to hack our home electrical system, visualise energy usage and improve efficiency.
Another idea is a mobile app to crowdsource information on dangerous areas for cycling. Another project is a digital platform to explore our emotional connections to different parts of the city.
Studiolab itself is funded by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). It is a collaborative effort between experts from 13 European centres of scientific research, artistic excellence and experimental design across 12 countries.
The aim of the initiative is to propose solutions for environmental, technological and social issues across themes as varied as the future of water, the future of social interaction and synthetic biology.
While Science Gallery is leading the project, the other network members include Le Laboratoire from Paris, Design Interactions at The Royal College of Art, London; Ars Electronica at Linz; MediaLab Prado, Madrid; ISI Foundation, Turin; Optofonica, Amsterdam; Ecole de Recherche Graphique (ERG), Brussels; Leonardo, France; CIANT, Prague; RIX-C – The Center for New Media Culture, Riga; Medical Museion Copenhagen; and Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem.
