Welcome to an evening of art and encryption at the Common House. Autonomous Tech Fetish is proud to present a bizarre crypto bazaar, with stalls for practical encryption skills, the launch of Charles Hutchins and Jet Moon’s interactive installation Please Touch and chance to meet the developers of Freepto, a secure Linux operating system.
During this bizarre bazaar you can discuss, share and learn about ways to protect our data, communications, and experiences from government surveillance and corporate capture. Different stalls will highlight specific technologies and encryption practices, allowing us to experiment with strategies for a digital commons. No prior knowledge or expertise required! The night will conclude with drinks and merriment.
Common House is wheelchair accessible, but the toilet sadly isn’t yet.
Further details on participants:
Freepto: Freepto is a Linux-based operating system on USB stick that enables you to use any computer as though it was your own. All your data is always securely encrypted and saved onto the USB stick. Although focussed on the needs of activists, Freepto can be used by anyone to tackle mass digital surveillance without giving up the convenience of a traditional operating system. Freepto was developed and launched by AvANa, a hackspace in the Forte Prenestino squatted social centre in Rome. It is backed by groups fighting for social change in different locations across Europe.
Installation – Please Touch: In 2013, NGOs gathered in London to launch the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. Two years later, Dr Kathleen Richardson and Erik Brilling launched the Campaign Against Sex Robots. This interactive installation will explore the relationship between the two as well as examining our own reactions to sex robots against a background of technologies that are already gendered and sexualised. Please Touch is instigated by Charles Hutchins, a London-based sound artist, in collaboration with Jet Moon.
Autonomous Tech Fetish probes how digital technology is fetishised and how it can be re-configured to different needs and desires. We work with activist groups to affirm their technological autonomy and are committed to co-education exploring the pitfalls and potentials of technologies without assumptions.