so I have kind of been teasing some changes for a while now, and some gears are finally in motion. to start, this will- fingers crossed- be the last 💕🖥 an artist’s guide to computation 🖥💕 newsletter delivered via Substack. tomorrow I am beginning the process of migrating all of the content and subscriptions to a new, independent site, built with Ghost. Substack worked to get this community up and running, but I honestly get, like, zero benefit from Substack’s reporting and discovery features (or lack thereof 🙄), and want to give more to this project in the future than I can do with Substack alone.
I’ve been considering a move for a bunch of reasons for a while, but here are some of my reasons for moving now:
- improved accessibility for you with stuff like alt text on all images
- improved privacy for you (Substack collects data for Substack, not for me, and I have limited control over how they collect it and what they do with it)
- better long-term financials (Substack takes a 10% cut of your donations vs. this migration is primarily a one-time cost for me)
- more robust publishing features for new content beyond the weekly newsletter, as well as better organization of the old content
- ability to integrate with tools like Discord so that I can add more value to this community more easily
- open source, carbon neutral tech that gives me more ownership over my work instead of using a tool from a VC-backed, private company where I have no control over feature development
a lot of these concerns have come direct from your feedback, like that Substack’s link tracking is invasive, or that you like looking back through old posts which tbh is not the easiest with Substack’s archive.
what does this mean for you? if you’re a monthly or annual donor, you don’t have to do anything. your account will be migrated over and nothing will change besides Substack losing out on their cut. if you donate via Paypal, I’ll be integrating Paypal directly into the new site to make things easier for everyone. if you’re a subscriber of any type, you’ll still get this newsletter every week and it will look just about the same in your inbox, minus all the link tracking. the web version of the content will have a new look & feel at a custom domain, and will be better designed for sharing and reading on the web. the newsletter will still literally just be me, but it is gonna be kewter!
starting in February, I’ll be experimenting with new content as well, and I’m looking forward to more of your feedback. your support of this project has already enabled me to fund this move to the new site, and I’m excited to devote more time and energy to this project in 2021.
ok onto the real shit!
resources!
events are still going to be remote for the majority of 2021, it seems, so if you’re planning on doing some events organizing, why not take some time for this write-up on the problems of making these events accessible for people who are blind or visually impaired? it’s a bigger problem than just trusting technology vendors, and worth some consideration as we head into another year of virtual conferences and exhibitions.
and while we’re talking about working remotely, it’s worth touching on the need for artists to be able to collaborate securely and privately. this article by Nathan Hewitt is a great starting point for making your creative collaborations safer for everyone involved with accessible tools. check it out!
the latest issue of Luba Elliot’s Creative AI newsletter is a round-up of art projects, writing, research, and more on the theme of creative applications of AI in 2020. it includes a huge section devoted to resources for working with AI, so check this one out and consider subscribing to future issues.
I am digging the approach of this shared document by Raphaël de Courville and Naoto Hieda for Creative Code Berlin as an introduction to creative coding. it offers one tool, one artist, one book, and one website as resources for an array of starting points to get you going in a new direction instead of overwhelming you with too much information too fast. I’m curious to see how this document grows and changes, and how it works in their community!
my personal homepage is made with Jekyll, and I’ve found it to be a nice lil minimalist alternative to running something more elaborate with WordPress for my purposes of basically just sharing some links to my various projects with something that is a bit more personal than a link tree. this guide is a nice starting point for making the switch from WordPress to Jekyll if you’re curious about if it would work for you. you can definitely see where Jekyll’s limitations are a bit of a roadblock as well, which is pleasantly honest.
if you’re a resource-hoarder like me, just go ahead and download this free vaporwave drum kit and I’m sure you’ll find the right project for it… eventually.
educational opportunities!
Cuna is back with a bunch of new programming for 2021, starting with a free performance on February 6 with artists Claude Heiland-Allen and Lauren Netz. upcoming courses include “Ecoativismo Fotográfico: Conservación de las Especies” and “Future Studies & DIY Solar Panels: Sci-Art International,” both starting next month! check out the full line-up here!
School of Machines, Making & Make-Believe has just announced their programming for 2021, and it looks pretty flippin’ great, and includes their first Spanish-language programming! I highly recommend checking out the full list of programming here and signing up for something if it fits your schedule!
did you check out the Hackaday Classes and Events calendar yet? classes on Architecture, Assembly and Reverse Engineering, Introduction to 3D using Rhino 3D, and Prototyping in Mechanical Engineering all begin next week so get on it!
open calls!
Ender Gallery is partnering with the MacKenzie Art Gallery, with curators Sarah Friend, Cat Bluemke, and Jonathan Carroll, to host four Minecraft residencies in 2021 that include an artist fee of 1600 CAD:
While we love beautiful builds, we are interested especially in proposals that extend the possibilities of play, that bring elements from outside the game world to bear, or that consider the game as an expressive medium. The call is open to video, media, game, and performance artists who are interested in pushing the medium’s potential. For this residency tranche, we are particularly interested in proposals exploring Indigenous sovereignty, storytelling, simulation, colonialism, alternative economies, materiality, fandom, and digital ontologies – but we look forward to being surprised.
this sounds rad as hell, tbh. applications are due by midnight CST on January 31. learn more here!
Global Game Jam 2021 is right around the corner! people of all skill levels and experiences are invited to join and collaborate on making a new game based on a shared world-wide theme in 48 hours! what a way to spice up ur weekend! this sounds like a great way to meet some new friends and get a project out the door to kick off your year. learn more and register here!
IDPW will be holding the inaugural “ART HOMEPAGE FAIR” in collaboration with arebyte Gallery’s arebyte on screen (AOS), featuring a collection of handmade homepages, starting February 1. why not check out Olia Lialina’s Vernacular Web for some inspiration and apply to take part in this exploration of DIY web expression? learn more and apply here!
applications are open until January 22 for DigiMyths, a paid program on digital folklore and how we can better understand our heritage through familial storytelling and computer technologies, hosted by Babycastles. learn more here!
China Residencies is hosting an open call for people who work with all kinds of media to apply for a fully-funded, 6 month remote residency in 2021, and are welcoming proposals of media arts and mediated projects connected to mainland China, Hong Kong, Chinatowns, and the greater Chinese diaspora worldwide in some way. learn more and apply by February 9 here.
upcoming events!
Jan 4-29! the School of Afrotectopia is back with a month-long series of events exclusively for Black and Pan-African participants! learn more and get your ticket here!
Thurs, Jan 21! 10:30AM UTC-5! in this final session of The Lab: Making Sense of Immersion in 2021, the conversation will be all about insights harvested from this series on funding and distributing immersive works, with Mehdi Mejri of Atlas V and artist Mélodie Mousset as guests. learn more and register here!
Fri, Jan 22! 7:00PM UTC-5! Babycastles’ first “____-in-Residence” program is wrapping up this week with a showcase of the work that residents Sukanya Aneja, Allan Pichardo, Kevin Cadena, and Rachel Li have been doing! you can register for this free event here, and can read more about the residents and their work here!
Jan 22-23! UTC-5! Learning To Teach Creative Technologies Remotely: A Virtual UnSymposium will be an opportunity to participate in conversations on how to foster creativity and experimentation within this new teaching and learning landscape. this is a chance to share what worked and didn’t work in remote and hybrid classrooms the past year and to workshop new ideas. topics of particular relevance to u all are teaching creative coding & physical computing in a remote format, as well as virtual events in lieu of in-person exhibitions. learn more and register for this FREE event here!
Sun, Jan 24! 3:00PM UTC-5! CC Fest is an opportunity for students and teachers to engage in creative coding with a few hours of interactive and engaging digital art, animation, games. there will be an array of workshops, as well as a keynote with Jordan Harrod and Cassie Tarakajian as speakers! both paid and free tix are available, and you can also donate extra $$$ to be shared between the presenters and Processing Foundation. learn more and register here!
just for lulz!
*~housekeeping~*
if you have anything in the works that you are excited about (an event, a workshop, a new project), please send me all the details. if you wanna share links or chat, there is now a Discord server that you can use here.
I am pausing accepting new paid subscribers today to make the migration easier! stay tuned if u’re hoping to become a paying member!
