transformers
Robots in disguise
Associated tags: privacy | Available languages: en

Transformers is a hacklab collective in the future. If more members would join we could afford to live in the present.

A hacklab, or media hacklab, is an autonomous technology zone used for the promotion, use and development of emancipatory technologies such as free software and alternative media. Hacklabs promote active participation and creative use of technology, which their participants see as a reaction to the supposed alienation and passive consumption that is usually associated with computer technology (Microsoft is a commonly given example). These spaces are often found in infoshops or social centers.

Tactical Media

"The term 'tactical media' refers to a critical usage and theoretization of media practices that draw on all forms of old and new, both lucid and sophisticated media, for achieving a variety of specific noncommercial goals and and pushing all kinds of potentially subversive political issues." -- Next 5 Minutes, quoted Critical Art Ensemble: Digital Resistance

Magyarul

Mi az a hacklab?

Varázsvölcs Összes

Whats in_a_Name
transformers metatron maxigas
2009 04 12 04:00

I am very picky about names of projects i do, so here's my take on my hacklab concept naming:

Transformers as a name for a would-be hacklab project is cool since...

  • Technical and political: a transformer is a common part in building electric circuits. It works with "mutual induction" which sounds like self-organisation for me. It is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductors —- the transformer's coils or "windings". So it also has a networking sense. Finally, it says something about transformation: that is, technological development and social change.
  • Cyborg connotations: it a copyrighted Hasbro marketing term and product line whatever and anybody hearing the idea makes the first guess that some big American corporation will sue the shit out of you if you use it. This looks like a major obstacle indeed, although once mounted it would be a real triumph. On the other hand, I really like this series (the old-school stuff is better of course). Becoming cyborg is a very pressing issue at the moment, and these robots reflect that a lot. Furthermore, gender-changing and species-changing is also coming to the fore with queer politics on the rise, check out lotu5's very exciting posts on nettime. Finally, the first animated series I saw as a child ran with the slogan "Robots in Disguise". I cannot imagine a better slogan for a hacker group!
  • Language-neutral: our languages are so colonised that imperialist terms like these are very commonly understood. It's a major issue if you start a project to choose a name that has clear alternatives at least in English and Hungarian but better still choose a name that is the same in both languages.
  • Defines a namespace: imagine you get 20 workstations and look for proper names for them or start a project and look for a code name. In the Transformers universe there is a myriad names with related associations -- like a language that can express anything without colliding with your everyday use, where all words are proper names.