Tech for Public Good, 2021
My first (and hopefully not last) involvement with Leeds 23 was a radical devising process that saw individuals from around the world come together to discuss and debate. Leeds 23 is an ambitious year of artistic festival and rich culture. There will be local, national and international artists engaging community every single day of 2023. Building up to this explosion of creativity, Leeds 23 opened applications for a ten-day online residency titled Tech for Public Good – a huge, juicy, rich but potentially problematic statement. Through unpicking this statement, 9 strangers find a common language for Tech and if there could ever be a definition of ‘for public good’. The virtual space allowed us to think differently about how we engage with the world, the impact technology has on ourselves, community and ultimately on the environment.
The process for TFPG was intuitive to me, as the flow and openness of conversations mirrored ongoing transformation of my own practise. A chance to experiment, play and enjoy the company of such extraordinary artists and thinkers created a unique space away from the need to produce and make an end product. The confluence of progressive conversation, difficult but necessary questions, input from a vast range of practises (from live reports, visual arts and academic pursuit) saw the early creation of a toolkit.
This prototype aims not to tell, instruct or criticize how people use tech, but to empower individuals to question the impact the technology has on their own wellbeing, the wellbeing of their community and the wellbeing of the planet. Navigating the policies which protect big tech, to allow the usage to be on their terms (you can only continue if you accept), the impact of technology and the sign-up procedure/contract of use, buried under pages of small-print, often pushing the end user of tech out of the conversation. So we began designing this tool to bring the conversation into a more accessible sphere. The prototype toolkit is also designed to stimulate conversations beyond tech as digital. We hope to encourage thinking around human knowledge and the power of lived experience, as well as the inherent knowledge of the earth/nature as technology. This tech belongs to us all and is being exploited by structures which do not benefit diverse communities.
For a more personal and playful reflection, check out the blog about this residency here