matterealities, mobilities, innovation

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
======================

http://www.ist-palcom.org/activities/matterealities
________________________________________________
matterealities, mobilities, innovation. Karen Barad @ Lancaster ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the detailed how of 'how matter comes to matter' (Barad 2003) the social is inextricably conjoined with the material. However, the very practices that join also often conceal such entanglement. In this interdisciplinary workshop we seek to explore a particular set of connections between 'matterealities', mobilities and innovation:

Matterealities: As new computing, sensor and actuator technologies become increasingly powerful and small, they converge with everyday materials, including the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, and the places we live, play and work in. Whereas research into socio-technical settings and practices has tended to look at 'the virtual' (cyberspace and life online), research must now also look towards the physical and to the 'materealization' of socio-technical reality. How can interdisciplinary insights and approaches come together productively and creatively?

Mobilities: A new 'movement-driven' social science (Urry 2007) is emerging, in which movement, potential movement and blocked movement are conceptualised as constitutive of economic, social, political, environmental and material relations.
How do mobilities depend on and, at the same time, help produce material infrastructures? How does matter move? How are material agencies mobilized? How can we mobilize interdisciplinary initiatives to investigate these questions?

Innovation: With everything in flux, viable and desirable innovation cannot be a top-down, mainly conceptual process. It has to be experimental and participatory, engaging all - material and human - agencies. Can studies of how matter comes to matter inform innovation?
Can they foster participation and bottom-up innovation?

For this workshop we invite participation from a broad field of interested parties, spanning the natural sciences, art, design, engineering, humanities, the social sciences, the public and commerical or industrial organizations.

IMPORTANT DATES
A maximum of 40 participants can be accepted. Registration takes place on a first come first served basis.

The deadline for registration is 12 October. Registration will cost approximately £ 80.00. Details will be published on our website:

http://www.ist-palcom.org/activities/matterealities

A limited number of student bursaries are available. For information about these or an expression of interest please contact m.buscher(at)lancaster.ac.uk

WITH ART BY
Fiona Jane Candy, UK - http://www.a-brand.co.uk Irene Janze and Anton Dekker, The Netherlands, http://home.tiscali.nl/burojanze/ Dr. Jennifer G. Sheridan, Alice Bayliss, Dr. Nick Bryan-Kinns http://www.jennifersheridan.com/

ORGANIZERS
Buscher, Monika, mobilities.lab, Lancaster University - m.buscher@lancaster.ac.uk Coulton, Paul, Infolab21, Lancaster University - p.coulton@lancaster.ac.uk Dennis, Kingsley, mobilities.lab, Lancaster University - k.dennis1@lancaster.ac.uk Hemment, Drew, Imagination@Lancaster - hemment@exchange.lancs.ac.uk Rooksby, John, Infolab21, Lancaster University - rooksby@comp.lancs.ac.uk Sangiorgi, Daniela, Imagination@Lancaster - d.sangiorgi@lancaster.ac.uk