School
for
Poetic
Computation
How do our devices and bodies touch each other? What can we create when we think about contamination as generative? In this workshop, we will get close to the dirt on our devices, write about what we touch, and create a collective project in which students “contaminate” each other’s writing.
Images courtesy of teachers.
What residues do we leave on our devices, and what residues do they leave on us? What are the cultural fears that govern our encounters with these contaminations? What can we create when we think about contamination as generative?
Through Double Tap, Long Press, students will write and think together about how our bodies are not as contained as they seem. It can feel like the virtual world is very far away from our bodies. But our bodies are relentlessly leaky, and as we go about our digital lives, our devices get dirtier and dirtier. Students will create writing by slowing down these interactions, getting close to the sticky dirt under their keyboards, the cracks in their screens, their fingerprints on the glass, and whatever else we can touch.
Class will include periods of close observation, generative writing exercises, and guided discussions. Students will be guided through a collective project in which they will “contaminate” each other’s writing, which will be compiled as a digital zine. The final hour of class will take the form of a workshop, focusing on the work of 2–4 students who are seeking feedback.
No technical experience required.
This class may be for you if you:
This class may NOT be for you if you:
Ahana Ganguly is a writer, editor, and SFPC’s Program Coordinator. They serve as the managing editor at Futurepoem Books, an independent press that publishes experimental poetry. As a writer, they explore bodies and the stuff they touch — their writing can be found in The HTML Review, The Offing, Tiny Molecules, and elsewhere. They hold an MFA in writing from Pratt Institute.
they/them
· instagram
Sydney Haas is a writer and multidisciplinary artist from Seattle currently based in Queens, New York. Her writing is often concerned with water, the body, and grief. She is the submissions manager & assistant editor at Futurepoem and also works in museum education. She holds an MFA in writing from Pratt Institute.
she/they
· 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 $300 + 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.
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