Julie Gendron was driven to participate in the Digital Economies Lab by her desire to explore how more artists could join, or create, the creative economies without needing to rely on the granting system. This is just one of Gendron’s questions as she works toward her broader goal of seeing more people create in general. She sees regular creative practice as a pathway to critically considering how and what one thinks, as well as how one may think more independently. Drawing on her experience creating participatory art and her background in strategic design, Gendron places the individual at the centre of the design for the “machine” she, Kofi Oduro, Kalli Retzepi and Macy Siu are developing. The somewhat tongue-in-cheek naming of the Offer Need Machine suggests a machine that will counter the mechanics of capitalism by requiring an offering first to initiate generous exchange. Each day social media robs us of our privacy more and more; meanwhile, we are conditioned to exclusively rely on the contractual agreement between purchase and commodity. With these two realities in mind, how does one integrate trust into every level of the Offer Need Machine? Is ephemerality the key to building trust? Participants need to feel safe to contribute freely and confident they will not be taken advantage of. Further, how can the Offer Need Machine make participants feel they are not mere users but co-collaborators in the creation of a compassionate network of care? How can time be valued as a modicum of exchange without a monetary value attached? Join us in this conversation with Julie Gendron on the Offer Need Machine, and consider what boundaries you need to feel safe enough to trust.
Learn more about Julie Gendron:
Check out some of the bigger ideas:
Collaborators and Projects mentioned:
The Offer Need Machine Collaborators:
Produced by the Artengine Stream Team:
Mikke Gordon aka Seiiizi https://twitter.com/s3iiizi
Ryan Stec
Kimberly Sunstrum https://www.kmbrlysnstrm.com/
Editorial Assistant
Erin Galt
Production Design Consultation
Leslie Marshall/MAVNetwork http://mavnetwork.com/
Post-Production Support: Chris Ikonomopoulos
DEL Theme Music by Mikki Gordon aka Seiiizi
Artengine’s Digital Economies Lab brought together a diverse group of artists, designers and other creatives to rethink the infrastructure of cultural production in the 21st century.
Funding for the Digital Economies Lab was received through the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Strategies Fund.
Instead of purchasing culture all the time, I wanted them to make culture.
Join us as Macy Siu gives us the lowdown on another development from the Digital Economies Lab – the Offer/Need Machine. In an era where the gig economy has monetized every informal network from ride sharing to pet sitting, the Offer/Need Machine proposes a network of decentralized reciprocity. Pay close attention to when Siu explains the need for an anti-capitalist model and more-than-human design.
Tracey Lauriault provides a dynamic introduction to the relationship between data and the city at the Future Cities Forum. This talk delves into the social and technological infrastructure and frames a new more open and democratic version of a data centered city.