Surveillance has become ubiquitous. From video cameras in public places to internet-enabled devices, wireless sensor networks and flying drones, privacy is becoming a scarce resource. What if, instead of resisting the use of surveillance technology, we could harness it for the public good? ARTiVIS (Arts, Real-Time Video and Interactivity for Sustainability) is a research project exploring how real-time video can be used as a powerful tool for environmental awareness, activism and artistic explorations. It aims to create a citizen-run peer-to-peer forest surveillance network through the use of affordable open source hardware and software. diy.artivis.net

Workshop Description:

What if we could harness surveillance technology for forest protection? Participants are invited to assemble their own autonomous ‘forest surveillance kit’, based on the Raspberry Pi embedded computer, from common off-the-shelf parts and custom open source software, then explore the artistic and activist possibilities of the hardware.

Morning session: 10am – 1pm (to assemble kits)

Afternoon session: 2-6 pm (creative session)

Participants must bring their own laptops

Workshop Presenters:

Mónica Mendes is a Digital Media artist, designer, and Multimedia Art professor at the University of Lisbon, and also an associate researcher at CIEBA and a founding member of altLab.

Pedro Ângelo is a PhD student in Digital Media, founder of Audiência Zero’s LCD medialab, and an independent technical research consultant for creative projects.