Illegal Directions ── ‘Algorithmic Sabotage’ & Self-Organization

• This inaugural workshop, the first in a trilogy of private workshops and talks, constitutes an initiative organized by individuals affiliated with the Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group (ASRG). Entitled Illegal Directions ── ‘Algorithmic Sabotage’ and Self-Organization, the workshop provides an exemplification of the intricate nuances of information ethics and the capacity of aesthetics to traverse the ambiguous and inequitable social terrains shaped by information systems.
• Posted: Oct 30, 2024. Modified: Nov 1, 2024

Graphic: © Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group | The typeface used is Trickster from Velvetyne Foundry: https://velvetyne.fr/fonts/trickster/

* It should be noted that this page will be updated in a timely manner in line with any new information regarding the workshop, entitled Illegal Directions ── ‘Algorithmic Sabotage’ and Self-Organization. The updates will include details of the venue, scheduled dates, and any relevant information regarding the registration process.

About the Workshop #

In this intensive one-day, eight-hour workshop, the Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group (ASRG) will undertake a detailed examination of the critical notion of ‘algorithmic sabotage’ as a prefigurative praxis that acts directly to disrupt computational machinery that sustains existing structural injustices, intensifies neoliberal inequalities, and expands different dimensions of necropolitics from within systems that are already enabling forms of segregation, racialization, and exclusion.

During the workshop, the critical notion of ‘algorithmic sabotage’ will be operationalized through the utilization of ‘legal’ or ‘illegal’ directions, and its application will be examined within the realms of political, cultural, societal, and technological struggles, ‘above’ and ‘below’ the algorithm. The insights provided will elucidate the aesthetic manifestations, ethical implementations, and methodologies, tactics, and practices of resistance, agency, and refusal that are associated with it.

* The artistic approach will play a pivotal role, contributing to the introduction and formulation of methods and tactics of awareness, experimentation, and agency, as well as providing literacy in the context of advanced computation, which has the potential to amplify existing inequalities and injustices, deepening existing divisions on the way to full-on algorithmic authoritarianism.

Workshop Outcomes #

The workshop has been designed with the intention of achieving three principal outcomes:

1. The primary objective is to facilitate the formation of a community and to encourage networking among individuals who are key figures in the realms of diverse, creative, and disobedient artistic activism, technical concern, and collective action. Additionally, the workshop will provide an opportunity for substantial networking among these areas, allowing for the formation of connections between individuals with disparate expertise and backgrounds.

2. Secondly, the workshop aims to foster a multifaceted and critical examination of the spectrum of collective techno-disobedience, including instances where it is employed in opposition to the constraints imposed by iron algorithmic state repression, right-wing structures, or the harmfulness of unrestrained techno-solutionism. To this end, innovative strategies of withdrawal, refusal, sabotage, and the negotiation of new ‘lines of flight’ from the techno-feudal forms of domination will be put forth as a means of countering the shift to the right and the securitisation discourse.

3. Thirdly, the objective is to engage in collaborative efforts to further develop this approach and the methodologies that can support it, with the aim of creating pathways of solidarity, emancipation, and empowerment.

Organisers #

The workshop, Illegal Directions ── ‘Algorithmic Sabotage’ and Self-Organization, is being organized by individuals affiliated with the Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group (ASRG). It constitutes the inaugural component of a scheduled series of three privately organized workshops and talks, with the subsequent two forthcoming events scheduled to take place in the near future.

The Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group (ASRG) is an ongoing, conspiratorial, aesthetico-political, practice-led research framework focused on the intersection of digital culture and information technology. To gain further insight into the nature and scope of our research activities, we direct your attention to the following URL: https://algorithmic-sabotage.github.io/asrg/.

Kra. Con. / Artist & Researcher. In order to protect the privacy of the individual depicted, the face has been redacted using the DFACE.app.

Rud. Jen. / Computer Scientist. In order to protect the privacy of the individual depicted, the face has been redacted using the DFACE.app.

Ard. Den. / Artist & Researcher. In order to protect the privacy of the individual depicted, the face has been redacted using the DFACE.app.

Supplemental Information #

The workshop is designed for a diverse range of individuals, including those engaged in investigative journalism, the defence of human rights, artists, hackers, researchers, political activists and groups of people who are joining forces for the occasion. A maximum of 25 individuals (at least 18 years of age) will be permitted to attend. The workshop will be conducted over the course of a single day, comprising eight hours of scheduled instruction, with the necessary breaks between sections.

* Please be advised that the workshop, Illegal Directions ── ‘Algorithmic Sabotage’ and Self-Organization, is intended to be conducted in an offline mode. In the event that a participant is unable to attend in person, a private connection will be made available to facilitate direct participation. The workshop will be conducted in English, Greek and German. Consequently, those with limited proficiency in any of these languages may encounter difficulties participating fully.

Prerequisites #

• Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptop or mobile devices, or alternatively, a notebook and pen.

• No prior experience, knowledge, or equipment is necessary, although it is recommended that participants have some familiarity with the subject matter.

Contact #

Should you wish to host this workshop in your area or request further information, we kindly request that you contact us at the following address: x7kekmg7@proton.me.

We kindly request that you employ our GPG key to facilitate secure email communication with the aforementioned email address. Our public key can be obtained here or alternatively from a public key server using the following command:

gpg --recv-keys DD4FF0D691C7C8F501C1CD0441CC385A75C16CD7

Archive #

A synopsis of selected outcomes from the workshop will be made available for download in the form of an archive. Please consult this page regularly for updates.