about dorkbot
most of this text is copied from the dorkbot-nyc website.
what:
dorkbot-gent is a monthly meeting of artists (sound/image/movement/whatever), designers, engineers, students, scientists, and other interested parties who are involved in the creative use of electricity. dorkbot meetings are free and open to the public. We follow the example of dorkbot-nyc and are part of the global dorkbot network around the world. See them all at: http://dorkbot.org
the purpose of dorkbot-gent is to:
- give people doing strange things an opportunity for informal peer review
- establish a forum for the presentation of new art works/technology/software/hardware
- help establish relationships and foster collaboration between people with various backgrounds and interests
- give us all a chance to see the cool things that our neighbors are working on
imaginary presentation topics:
- a demo of the new motion tracking software you're writing
- playing a video you made
- an explanation of how you hacked your game boy to get it to make cool bleeping noises
- trouble shooting/brainstorming your remote-controlled sandwich making robot
- bringing in some dancers you're working with and having them demonstrate the interface used in your new mind-control ballet
- discussing your approach to electronic sculpture
dorkbot-gent meetings are free and open to the public.
who:
dorkbot-gent meetings are coordinated by Kurt Van Houtte for Timelab. the email address for dorkbot-gent is: kurt@hexmatic.com.
when:
We try our best to make dorkbot-gent happen on a monthly basis (the 3th friday of each month from 8.30 pm), more details follow. the dorkbotgent-announce mailing list is used to send out meeting announcement reminders and other pertinent information. please subscribe to the list if you'd like to receive such information.
where:
dorkbot-gent meetings take place at Timelab in Ghent (Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 21, next to Vooruit)
how:
to attend a dorkbot-gent meeting, let us know you're coming via email or just show up and hope there's room.
to give a presentation at a future dorkbot just send an email or talk to Kurt at a meeting.
dorkbot presentations are meant to be fun, friendly, informal chats. They're short, just 20-30 minutes, including questions. The standard "artist talk" format (my life history in slides + narration) does not work very well at dorkbot. What does work well is a casual talk about something you're currently interested in. Pretend you're at a dinner party and someone has just asked you, "so what are you working on?" We encourage people to ask questions during the presentations, rather than always waiting until the end. The audience is quite diverse, with a mix of arty/techy/dorky folks, so presentations with a good balance between why and how tend to work best. You're having a friendly conversation with some nice, interested people, so enjoy it!
meeting format:
dorkbot-gent meetings are largely informal, but to save everyone time and energy a certain amount of planning goes into each meeting. the current structure is:
- brief intros, announcements, administrative details
- 3 x 20-30 minute presentations
- final comments/debate/etc.
which means that each meeting is about 2 hours long and features three presentations.
resources
you are encouraged to provide most of the resources needed for your presentation. however, some equipment will be available for your use. available resources include:
- a video projector
- a wireless network connection
- a small mixer and powered speakers
