Art is not a mirror with which to reflect reality but a hammer with which to shape it

– Bertolt Brecht

The Data Rebels Alliance invites passionate researchers, scholars, and practitioners from diverse disciplines to join our Birds of a Feather group focused on exploring research at the intersection of the arts and science.

why ?

Arts-based research is a term that covers a variety of research methods that use one or more forms of art to collect, analyze, or present data. Arts-based research can offer different ways of knowing the world that involve sensory, emotional, and intellectual aspects. It can also enhance the creativity, collaboration, and communication of researchers and participants.

Arts-based research can be useful in the context of data science, as it can help with the goal of building the social and technical infrastructure to enable open sharing and re-use of data. Some of the benefits of arts-based research are:

• It can make data more accessible, engaging, and meaningful to diverse audiences, by using visual, auditory, or performative elements to convey information or stories from data.
• It can foster dialogue and participation among data producers, users, and stakeholders, by inviting feedback, questions, opinions, or actions from the audiences.
• It can generate new insights and perspectives on data, by using artistic methods and processes to explore, interpret, or critique data.
• It can address ethical and social issues related to data, such as privacy, fairness, transparency, or impact, by using art to raise awareness, challenge assumptions, or propose alternatives.

We are seeking individuals who are interested to contribute to shaping an active RDA community of rebels with a mission to work towards transformative change in our respective fields of work by exploring innovative research approaches and interdisciplinary collaborations.

“Our task is to make trouble, to stir up potent response to devastating events, as well as to settle troubled waters and rebuild quiet places.”
― Donna J. Haraway, Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene

The objective of this first session is to a) see whether people are interested to join and b) to discuss what our mission/focus should be. (We will start by sharing our idea which is to find like-minded people within RDA who are already active and/or interested in the relationship between arts and data/research)

Participants of this session will have the opportunity to comment on why we should establish the RDA Rebel Alliance, the group’s focus, objectives, and activities if we decide to take this forward.

What we hope to achieve with setting up the RDA Rebel Alliance is

• to foster a supportive environment for exploring the integration of arts and science in our respective disciplines.
• to collaborate on projects that bridge the art-science gap, embrace creative research methodologies and push the boundaries of traditional approaches.
• to share insights, experiences, and best practices
• (for discussion) to organise for example events/expo open to the general public to complement future plenaries which could help to improve outreach/impact ?

If you are enthusiastic about exploring the possibilities of arts-based research and creative practices in your field and want to be part of an inclusive community that supports and inspires one another, we invite you to join our Rebel Alliance.

The motivation for the Rebel Alliance is that we would like to connect people within the RDA community who use less common research methods including various arts, design and futures studies approaches depending on what their respective research requires.

Themes of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Visualizing Complex Concepts: Utilizing visual arts, data visualization, and multimedia platforms to represent complex ideas, theories, and phenomena in a visually compelling and accessible manner.
• Storytelling and Narrative Inquiry: Exploring the use of storytelling techniques, narratives, and personal experiences to shed light on research outcomes, engage audiences, and inspire new perspectives and insights.
• Participatory and Community-Based Research: Investigating how arts-based methods can facilitate participatory research approaches, empower marginalized communities, and promote inclusive knowledge co-creation.
• Sensory and Embodied Research: Embracing the role of the senses and bodily experiences in research through creative practices such as performance, installations, or interactive experiences, allowing for deeper engagement and understanding.
• Ethical and Social Implications: Reflecting on the ethical considerations and broader societal impact of integrating arts into research, exploring issues of representation, inclusion, and responsible dissemination of findings.

Welcome!

20 min The need for Rebellious Research: Introducing the motivation for the BoF and hearing why/what motivated people to attend.

5 min Arts Provocation to get people into the ‘right’ mood/mind to brainstorm

30 min: Break-out Groups: Brainstorm session using Design Thinking to find common interests and shape/select possible topics for the BoF to focus on)

30 min: Plenary Group Discussion: Go/NoGo: Do we agree we have a mission within and outside of RDA and if so what do we want to collaborate on achieving

10 min: Close with the mission statement and agenda for the next meeting

5 min Artistic intervention to leave people with a sense of communit

Previous work includes presentations and AIFutures workshops conducted in Japan, Taiwan and NY. The feedback and insights gained indicated there is a need for community building around arts-based research.

Thailand University, AI Ethics and Diversity Futures Workshops and Guest Lecturer on THAILAND FUTURES and Environmental Humanities

Parsons School of Design, NYU Guest lecturer/artist presentation. Speculative Design and Radical IoT
Topic: Speculative design AI FUTURES, The State of Glitch

Tamkang University, Taiwan Guest lecturer, Graduate Institute of Futures Studies
Workshop series on using Speculative design within Future Studies, focus on AI and Societal challenges
including Climate Change, Human-AI interactions and non-western cultures

Open Hardware Summit, 2023
Speculative Design and Futures Workshop The State of Glitch

Volkswagen Stiftung/Herrenhausen Conference, 2022
“AI and the Future of Societies” Poster presentation: The State of Glitch on speculative design in Transdisciplinary AI research

ACM FAccT 2022
– Session Chair and AI Imaginaries research

Amsterdam University Netherlands
Guest lecturer, M.A. International Technology Law Topic: Love, sex and violence beyond flesh and blood: Regulating Human-Machine Interactions

Additional links to informative material: 

publications/reference readings

Artefacts and C[H]arms, AI narratives project workshop report Vandenboom, F (2022) on file with author

Brownsword, R (2019) Law, Technology and Society: Reimagining the Regulatory Environment, Routledge;

Brecht, B. (1960). The Caucasian chalk circle. London, U.K.: Methuen

Bartlett, R. (2013) Playing with meaning: using cartoons to disseminate research findings. Qualitative Research 13(2) 214–27;

Cross N (1982) Designerly ways of knowing. Des Stud 3(4):221–227.

Dunne and Raby (2013) Speculative Everything, Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming, The MIT Press

Eisner, E. (2002). The arts and the creation of mind. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Chatziathanasiou, K (2022) Beware the Lureof Narratives: ‘Hungry Judges’ Should not Motivate the Use of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ in Law. German Law Journal (23) 2022, 452–464.

Graves, Jen. 2014. What Only Artists Can Teach Us About Technology, Data, and Surveillance. The Stranger, December 10, 2014.

Greenwood, J.  (2019, February 25). Arts-Based Research. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education.

Gardiner, R. (2015). Troubling method. In Gender, authenticity, and leadership (pp. 108–129). London, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan.

Leavy, P. (Ed.). (2017). Handbook of arts-based research. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Schön D-A (1984) The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. Basic Books, New York

Van den Boom, F (2023) The State of Glitch, a speculative design provocation for inclusive AI futures, in Morals & Machines Journal published by Nomos publishing house. DOI:10.5771/2747-5174-2022-2-42

examples

• Olafur Eliasson’s Ice Watch will give you a climate change chill
• Crawford K, Paglen, T (2020) Excavating AI, available at https://excavating.ai/
• Imagenet roulette available at https://paglen.studio/2020/04/29/imagenet-roulette/

• Bridle, James. 2017. Autonomous Trap 001. Installation. Mount Parnassus. https://jamesbridle.com/works/autonomous-trap-001 [accessed December 5, 2017].

• Burtch, Allison. 2013. Watching You. Video installation. NYU ITP, New York City. http://www.allisonburtch.net/watching-you/ [accessed December 11, 2018].

• unglitch.hotglue.me
  The State of Glitch project is a provocation and invitation to discuss the governance of AI and Data.
• www.unmannedfutures.com