CATALYST: Jessica Foley
SEED: Interrupting Things
INTERRUPTOR: OMG! [Orthogonal Methods Group, CONNECT*]
This session of Engineering Fictions opens up a conversation on the concept of Interruption and emerging practices of Interrupting Things.
The concept of interruption was perhaps first raised in the world of computer science by Charles Babbage when he declared “jamming is a form of error detection”! This aphorism, by one of the earliest computer engineers, neatly (though unintentionally) synopsises an indeterminacy in the concept of interruption: jamming happens when things get stuck, but it also happens when things begin to riff and play off each other, as in music, dance, improvisation and humble conversation.
Jessica will catalyse the session by introducing her current take on interruption as a contemporary mode of work. Such work involves Interrupting Things, but it is unclear just what this might mean for the future. Just what kind of apparatus is an interruptor? Hence, the session will involve writing the first Interruptor Manifesto.
Please bring your preferred writing materials with you. Some light refreshments will be provided. All are welcome. This is a word-of-mouth event. Let us know that you’re coming via engineeringfictions@connectcentre.ie so we can arrange the space and materials accordingly.
* The Orthogonal Methods Group is comprised of artists, new-media theorists, engineers, urban designers and many others working through CONNECT.
engineeringfictions.org 