Grasping the digital

A Recent article (not yet published) I wrote with my brother examines some of the difficult questions raising from the increased use of digital technologies. For example, digitalization can be seen to act as an almost mythological buzzword for progress. But, what does digitalization mean? How do we live in the digital world?

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Maker movement -Creating knowledge through basic intention

I will be giving a talk at Makerfaire Rome on: "Maker movement -Creating knowledge through basic intention." I will be talking on both Saturday and Sunday at 11:00 AM. If you happen to be in Rome come and say hi!

Here's a short abstract of the talk:

This talk focuses on the knowledge making process in the maker movement. Following Finnish craft professor Kojonkoski-Rännäli's philosophy on making by hand. For Kojonkoski-Rännäli making by hand is existing in the world. Kojonkoski-Rännäli backs her theory with Martin Heidegger’s philosophical analysis on being. Making by hand is both a bodily experience where knowledge is acquired by doing, by grasping and making, but also requires knowledge of the material, process, etc. When both immediate grasping -being in the world, happens together with comprehension acquired through practice and intellectual knowledge, Kojonkoski-Rännäli calls the act of making a basic intention. This basic intention is crucial in making as it creates deep knowledge of the subject and also involvement and responsibility of the created object. Kojonkoski-Rännäli separates basic intention from instrumental intention, where the process of doing does not generate deep knowledge nor responsibility. Kojonkoski-Rännäli describes industrial processes as instrumental intention. In that, she also includes digital fabrication as part of it.
In this talk, I describe the philosophies of doing by hand and then examine if and how maker movement brings basic intention into digital fabrication and why this is important. 

Our Art & Craft School Robotti is also giving a workshop aimed at preschoolers there.