International Visitors Programme
Sasha Engelmann and Sophie Dyer of Open-weather were invited through the International Visitors Programme to host the pre-opening workshop of -1, the new digital culture lab and exhibition space of the Nieuwe Instituut.
Engelmann and Dyer hosted a workshop in the -1 space for a small group of selected participants around the idea of the digitally mediated sensing of the local and global environment through low-cost DIY antennas and feminist methodologies. The workshop took place over two days with the aim of giving participants the tools to set up their own satellite ground station.
A key strategy for -1 is to focus on how computing and digital culture can be done differently, and as part of this -1 invites artists and designers who are working with technology and methods that offer an alternative narrative. Open-weather are doing important work in relation to earth-sensing technologies and networks, repositioning the act of imaging the world through feminist sensibilities and opening up the act to a larger network through the use of low-cost, low-tech, DIY hardware and open source software.
Open-weather is a feminist experiment in imaging and imagining the earth and its weather systems using DIY tools. They weave speculative storytelling with low-cost hardware and open-source software to transform our relationship with a planet in climate crisis.
Sasha Engelmann is a creative geographer engaged in environmental sensing through artistic, collective and collaborative practices. She is a Lecturer in GeoHumanities at Royal Holloway University and a long-standing member of the Aerocene community.
Sophie Dyer is a designer and researcher working with digital archives, tools and models, fiction and workshops. Her work explores the material and social manifestations of the radio spectrum.