#LowTechLabLondon2016 is a project developed by Raúl Marroquín and coordinated by Daniela Medina Poch for the Educational Program of the Saatchi Gallery that will take place on January 15th, 16th and 17th of 2016.
“‘LowTech means technology that is cheap or free.”
James Wallback, LowTech Manifest for The Next 5 Minutes conference in Amsterdam, March 1999.
This experiment is inspired in the role artists have had in the development of technologies and innovation from very early stages. To mention a few, alchemy in the Middle Ages, multidisciplinary advancements throughout the Renaissance and more recently during the second half of the XXth Century and the first decade of this millennium: Video of the 1960’s and 1970’s, cable television of the 1980’s and 1990’s (USA & Canada and later in the Netherlands and Continental Europe) digital communications of the first decade of the 2000’s up to the present with user information and communication platforms, internet, streaming mobile, social media, augmented reality, etc.
As Klaus Fruchtnis mentions: “LowTech applied to communications has given the possibility of having a more exhaustive control in the management of information.”
Today artists continue to play a crucial role in the development of hardware, software and applications. The last four decades are full of examples; to mention a few: “Music Video” is based in the progress and achievements of video artists in the 1960 – 1980’s, video and media art have also influenced audio visuals in education, news gathering and journalism, activism and, last but not least, the advertisement industry.
#LowTechLabLondon2016 is a three day lab that makes use of LowTech, user and discarded technologies coupled with the repurposing of existing hardware and other facilities. It involves those present at the Educational Space of the Saatchi Gallery taking part from tabletop stations devised to interact in one-to-one and one-to-few engagements, as well as remote contributors from abroad, via social media: WhatsApp, Illustrated Twitter, SnapChat, video conferencing and live streams.
The aim of #LowTechLabLondon2016 is to generate a brief, concise and powerful event, that will include artists, students (PCA, Paris and Universidad Nacional, Bogotá, and others) musicians, writers, stage actors and directors, academics, researchers, journalists, politicians and designers realising artworks, workshops, tutorials, experiments: successes and failures, processes, interviews and discussions, presentations, discussions, performances and recitals, as well as urban bootcamps, klutges, scale models and prototypes either live or transmitted from other locations in London, the continent and the Americas.
One of the goals of the lab is to monitor the developments of LowTech throughout the last 50 years and how it has been redefined through the beginning of the second half of the XXth century. From low quality and low resolution, evolving into current user technologies were, for instance, average phone cameras are better than a betacam of 30 years ago, the LowTech have expanded and transformed into user technology.
Additional to the activities taking place at the Educational Space and taking into account the historical past of the area: Kings Road, the Punk Movement, etc, the lab includes works realised outdoors on locations such as streets, parks, shops, bars and terraces near the location of the gallery.
Social Media plays an important role in the daily coverage of the experiment: Everything will be streamed via Periscope, LiveStream, YouTube Live and ephemeral platforms like SnapChat. The #LowTechBlog:dehoekteenlive.nu Facebook: DeHoeksteenLiveCornetStone, LinkedIn: hoeksteencornerstone, Twitter: @hksteen, Recordings in YouTube: StudioMarroquin, Instagram: StudioRaulMarroquin and Google+: StudioMarroquin.
A final publication will round up the event.
This event is produced in collaboration with PCA Master’s students in Transdisicplinary New Media.
FREE ENTRANCE.
Participants LowTech Lab London2016 Saatchi
Muu Blanco
Operating in Miami
Raul Marroquin - Visual Artist - Amsterdam, Bogota, New York, Berlin, Madrid, London, Paris, Maastricht, Cologne, Keulen, Koln, Koeln, Pisa, art kunst kunstenaar kunstler media painting installations photography internet Second Life, virtual worlds, avatars, television tv video audio mobile phone telecommunications 
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