School
for
Poetic
Computation
Is information scarce, or is it abundant? What power dynamics emerge from informational asymmetries? How is data collection being used for repressive ends? How could data collection be leveraged for liberatory, poetic, or critical ends? How can artists make use of techniques deployed by private investigators? In this 6-hour workshop students will learn how to find what or who they are looking for on the web. The class is a collaboration between Maura Brewer, an artist and investigator whose research-based videos explore the relationship between art, money and crime, and Sam Lavigne, an artist and programmer who employs automated data collection techniques to explore how power operates on the internet. The workshop will cover a variety of code-based and manual research methodologies and techniques that Brewer and Lavigne make regular use of in their artistic practices. No previous programming or investigative experience is required.
Images courtesy of teachers.
Day 1: All students are assigned a research subject at the beginning of class. Introduction to basic investigative techniques, including:
Day 2:
This class may be for you if:
Sam Lavigne is an artist and educator whose work deals with data, surveillance, cops, natural language processing, and automation. He has exhibited work at Lincoln Center, SFMOMA, Pioneer Works, DIS, Ars Electronica, The New Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and his work has been covered in the New Yorker, the Washington Post, the Guardian, Motherboard, Wired, the Atlantic, Forbes, NPR, the San Francisco Chronicle, the World Almanac, the Ellen Degeneres Show and elsewhere.
He has taught at ITP/NYU, The New School, and the School for Poetic Computation, and was formerly Magic Grant fellow at the Brown Institute at Columbia University, and Special Projects editor at the New Inquiry Magazine. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Design at UT Austin.
he/him
· website
· twitter
· instagram
Maura Brewer is a video-essayist who makes work about art, money and crime. Brewer is a Guggenheim fellow, a recipient of the Creative Capital Award and the Lens Award at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her work has been shown internationally at venues including MoMA, Art in General, the MCA and the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, and her projects have received press coverage in outlets including The Paris Review, The Guardian and CBS News. Brewer received her MFA from the University of California, Irvine in 2011 and was a Whitney Independent Study Program fellow in 2015. In addition to her art practice, Brewer works as an investigator in New York.
She/her
· website
· instagram
Applications are not required for workshops. Signups will remain open as long as seats remain. A limited number of scholarship tickets will be released via the SFPC email list two weeks before the date of the intensive.
For 1 classes, it costs $500 + processing fees, for a one-time payment. We also offer payment plans. Participants can schedule monthly payments of the same amount. First and last payments must be made before the start and end of class. *Processing fees apply for each payment.
SFPC processes all payments via Withfriends and Stripe. Please email admissions@sfpc.study if these payment options don't work for you.
For more information about what we look for in applicants, scholarships, and other frequently asked questions, please visit our applicant FAQ.
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