Call for Applications: Speculation as Interface with Mario de Vega and Victor Mazón Gardoqui

Speculation as Interface Workshop by Mario de Vega and Victor Mazón Gardoqui From 21 to 23 February 2018, Sonic Acts hosts a three-day workshop on disruptive technologies by r-aw.cc artists Mario de Vega and Victor Mazón Gardoqui as part of Sonic Acts Academy. This workshop is aimed at individuals with an interest in sound, speculative processes, signal transmissions, ecology, language, unstable systems, high-frequency demodulation and interface design. r-aw.cc is a research platform founded in 2008 by de Vega and Mazón Gardoqui to investigate strategies in pedagogy, independent publishing, speculative interfaces, design as process, radio transmission and psychoacoustics. During the workshop participants will use custom logarithmic detectors to translate wireless architecture into sound, and tools to explore, control and disrupt devices within their vicinity. Using this tactical media the participants will instigate and discuss alternative ways of creating communities. Participants will finish with a PCB – a powerful instrument that allows the user to 'observe through the ears'. This workshop is a co-production of Sonic Acts & Paradiso and part of Re-Imagine Europe, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.   Enrolment The full-day workshop is open to a maximum of 11 participants. No experience in electronics is needed, but patience is mandatory for soldering SMD components. To apply, please send a short biography and motivation letter outlining why you would like to attend to workshop[at]sonicacts[dot]com.   Participants must attend the full programme. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered. If we receive more applications than expected, a careful selection will be made based on motivation and diversity of backgrounds. More information, including a detailed schedule, will be sent to the selected participants. The deadline for applications is 30 January.   Fee Participants pay a €75,- contribution for three days. Lunch will be provided.

  Mario de Vega (MX) explores the threshold of human perception and the physicality of listening. De Vega ́s work digs into the materiality of sound, the vulnerability of systems, materials and individuals, and the aesthetic potential of unstable arrangements. He has been guest artist and lecturer at Universität der Künste Berlin, Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt, Technische Universität Berlin, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts de Paris, Centro de Diseño, Cine y Televisión, KW Institute of Contemporary Art, Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Kyushu University, Tama Art University, Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien and Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center, amongst others. His work has been exhibited in Mexico, North America, Chile, South Africa, Nepal, South Korea, China, Russia, Japan and around Europe. He lives and works in Berlin and Mexico City.   Victor Mazón Gardoqui (ES) explores amplification, electromagnetic phenomena and perception by using locative audio techniques and custom electronics. His work materialises in three main fields: actions or site-specific performances through experimental processes, exhibitions as consequences of previous actions and collective work through seminars in cultural and or academic institutions. Active since 1999 in experimental techniques of media intervention and transmission through the use of sound and light, his works have been performed or exhibited in museums, galleries, billboards, urban screens, and public TV and radio stations in Africa, Russia, Nepal, North America, Canada, Mexico and numerous locations across Europe. He lives and works in Santander and Leipzig.