Lead by: Zachary Lieberman (EEUU), Leslie García (México) y Alejandro Tamayo (Colombia)
Organized by:
Medialab-Prado – Área de Las Artes del Ayuntamiento de Madrid
Centro Cultural de España en México – Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo
With the collaboration of: Centro Multimedia – Centro Nacional de las Artes
Dates: August 1 through 16, 2008
Venue:
Centro Multimedia – Centro Nacional de las Artes, México D.F.
Centro Cultural de España en México – AECID, México D.F.
Assistants: Katya Álvarez and Jaime Villarreal, with the collaboration of Ernesto Romero and Ezequiel Netri (Taller de Audio, Centro Multimedia)
> Seminar Programme · August 1st
The workshop aims to use open hardware and software tools to create prototypes that explore the relations between machines and humour/laughter
Laughter is a psychological phenomenon that is a human characteristic. Frequently associated with fun, play and pleasure, it serves as a way of communicating moods that are not always positive or pleasurable. Laughter can be intelligent or stupid, liberating, forced, nervous, contagious or sinister. The incongruent and the unexpected provoke laughter; however, depending on the context, they can also cause terror. Laughter is also a social phenomenon. To be shared, a common cultural milieu is required. As a result, it can reinforce belonging to a group and also exclude “others”.
In this sense, the workshop aims to explore questions such as:
What mechanisms lead to laughter? What are the social and political implications? What happens if we understand laughter as a possible form of communication between humans and machines? Can machines have a sense of humour? How can machines make us laugh? What is a machine or software programme’s cultural milieu? How can a machine handle the unexpected? What kind of narratives/machines can be built to provoke various feelings related to laughter?