Especially in digital event formats via internet-based channels, with a potentially unlimited public, organisers and seminar leaders are often unsure where their own liability for shown content begins and ends. What needs to be pointed out in advance? Which declaration of consent should be obtained in advance? Which content can be shown in which context without hesitation?

Within the two-hour online workshop, the speaker Dr. iur. Till Kreutzer will cover the following topics:

1 Basics of copyright: what is copyright, how does it come into being and how does it end?

2 Free uses in the context of culture and education: Quotations, satire, accessories, uses for teaching purposes (training, conferences).

3 Use of online content on platforms, social media and websites: Linking, embedding, sharing

4 Legally compliant use of open content: Creative Commons and the re-use of free images, texts, videos

After each part there is an open question and answer session.

We ask for your understanding that AN INDIVIDUAL LEGAL ADVICE CANNOT AND – for legal reasons – MUST NOT BE GIVEN WITHIN THE WORKSHOP. Such advice is only permissible within the framework of a lawyer’s mandate. Of course, the speaker will be happy to answer individual questions. However, questions related to specific individual cases (such as: “I have the following project, contracts are to be concluded there, how do I have to … formulate?“) cannot be answered during the workshop.

The workshop will be held in German.

Registration until 24. October 2021:
Interested (online) organisers and (online) seminar leaders can register until Sunday, 24. October 2021, by sending an email to info@medienwerk-nrw.de, please mentioning your first and last name as well as your professional context. If you already have specific questions, you are welcome to include them in the registration email. Registration is free of charge but binding. The number of participants is limited.

Dr. iur Till Kreutzer is a lawyer, legal scholar and publicist. He is co-founder and managing partner of the law firm iRights.Law as well as co-founder and editor of iRights.info, the internet portal for consumers and creatives on copyright in the digital world, which has won several awards (including the Grimme Online Award 2006). He is a frequent invited expert for governments and parliaments on copyright reforms in the information society, both at national and EU level. He teaches at a variety of institutions on IT, copyright and personal rights.

The Office medienwerk.nrw is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of NRW. The Office medienwerk.nrw is located at Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund.

Online workshop series in cooperation with the Landesbüro für Bildende Kunst NRW (LaB NRW): “Technical realisation of digital event-formats”, led by Jonathan Kastl & Mario Frank, for artists, event- or project managers and production staff

In this three-part online-workshop, the two video artists Jonathan Kastl and Mario Frank introduced into the technical and organisational basics of digital event-formats. They showed alternative scenarios for different artistic practices and answered questions from the participants.

The 1st workshop-block “Technical basics” took place on April 13th 2021 and offered artists, event managers, project managers and production staff an introduction into the technical realisation of live streams and online conferences. Using practical examples, the speakers demonstrated the functions, interaction-possibilities and limitations of streaming-software, platforms and tools for videoconferences. In addition, the participants were given an overview of the necessary components of audio- and video-technology.

On April 20th 2021 the 2nd workshop-block “Alternative virtual space scenarios” took place and presented various possibilities of how technical set-ups and platforms can be used non-intentionally and alternatively, for example to generate attention in social media or to achieve an interesting effect during an online-event. Extended and creative uses of software were discussed as well specialised apps for social gathering and games. Other topics were multi-channel playouts (livestream + video conference) and hybrid events.

In the 3rd workshop-block “Successful realisation of online-events” on April 27th 2021, the speakers focused on project- and resource-management. The question “How do I successfully implement an online event?” accompanied the participants through this last block of the three-part workshop series. Design concerns such as speech intelligibility, image detail, lighting, lecture structure and interactive design were discussed as well as concrete organisational questions about technical requirements, staff scheduling, resource planning and technical support.

MARIO FRANK is an integrated designer, photographer, videoartist, audioengineer and cultural activist. Music production and performance as “M.Funk”. Co-founder of the art and design collective „KOLLEKTIV33“ and artistic director of the musiclabel of the same name. Co-founder and chairman of the board of the non-profit cultural association “dreidrei e.V.”. Co-founder and board member of the literary initiative „Land in Sicht e.V.“. Co-initiator of the studio community “INSEL”. Lectureships at the Köln International School of Design, Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln and Bergische Universität Wuppertal. Further information at www.mariofrank.com.

JONATHAN KASTL is a visual and sound engineer, videoartist and musician. His artistic work includes media art, video and sound for theatre productions as well as various music projects. As a cameraman and image director, he creates recordings and live-streams for various clients. He also supports artists and institutions in the planning and realisation of hybrid and online-events. Further information at www.jonathankastl.com. Jonathan Kastl and Mario Frank have been working together under the name frankaflux since 2021.

The office medienwerk.nrw, the LaB K and the workshop were supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of NRW. The office medienwerk.nrw is located at Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund.

Are you looking for another hackathon where you can develop your next million dollar app and start your next start-up by the way? Then you are in the wrong place!

In our Foolish Hackathon we want to question things, identify the elementary functions of products – and remove it! We take a look at the components and try to make new combinations. In the end it should be senseless, useless and just crazy. 

On September 1st, 2018, we started at 10:00 a.m. with an intensive four-hour workshop. First we looked at the typical components of a future smart life. An automated cocktail machine served as the basis for this: we removed or replaced parts, reprogrammed the entire machine, but also arbitrarily and wildly added new functions.

Those one without any skills in programming, got the opportnity for a practice-oriented crash course in programming. So all participants were able to implement their own ideas on the cocktail machine or with their own prototype. Sufficient microcontrollers, sensors and actuators were provided for this purpose. In addition, there was plasticine and a 3D printer, for a quick implementation of large and small components. Afterwards from 2:00 p.m. the gadgets for a future not-so-smart Home were presented during a walk through the harbour. 

Invited were artists, activists and all interested people – with and without previous knowledge.

Process Festival 2018 – Pre-Event
The Foolish Hackathon was organized by office medienwerk.nrw in cooperation with the Process Festival and FabLab DEZENTRALE Dortmund, joint laboratory for future questions, a project of Fraunhofer UMSICHT. The event took place under the Process Festival motto “Man <> Machine” and was held with a small group of about 10 people who did not necessarily have to program.

Schedule: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.: Workshop | 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.: Public presentation of the gadgets.

Further information: dotprocess.org

The office of medienwerk.nrw and the event were supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of NRW. Office hosted by: Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund

#BlackLivesMatter and #Metoo are two examples of how digital public spheres can be used to highlight socio-political problems of discrimination and inequality. Often, physical and digital spaces are intertwined: protesting groups accure in urban space and images of these actions circulate in social networks around the world, generating attention for the shared concern.

At the same time, new, anarchic-libertarian and aggressive subcultures are also forming “on the other side” of the political spectrum on the Net, such as Alt Right in the USA and Identitäre in Europe, which are based on self-organization on the one hand and the contempt of all statehood on the other. They also produce strong images with the intention to have a social echo. The focus here is often on campaigns against individuals or public institutions, in which the appeal to lower emotions has replaced the rational exchange of arguments in favour of any construction of reality. The actors of these populist campaigns adopt the tactics of “counter culture” and turn them against the idea of a pluralistic, open society.

The one-day workshop, organized by the Landesbüro Freie Darstellende Künste and the office medienwerk.nrw, aims to explore these contemporary dynamics of activism, in order to understand what role the strategy of border-crossing plays today, how the arts react to these developments, what the power of current movements on the net is – and where their limits might lie. Different forms of artistic action have tried to use similar strategies in recent years. After a short input at the beginning and the discussion of some current artistic projects, the participants looked for suitable ways of dealing with these phenomena themselves. The participants were also invited to bring their own concepts and material in order to refine existing approaches during the the workshop-day.

Since this year, Hans Bernhard and lizvlx have been the professor-team – called UBERMORGEN – for Networks at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. They are currently researching and working in the field of “Binary Primitivism” and are interested in the Alt-Right movement and related right-wing net cultures globally. They are investigating what transhumanism has to do with gamification in social media systems; what kind of role games – as a “cold” medium – plays for unloved people and what all that have to do with the Right and its revolutionary potential.

Workshop direction: UBERMORGEN | Input: Fabian Saavedra-Lara (Office medienwerk.nrw)

UBERMORGEN: lizvlx (AT, *1973) and Hans Bernhard (CH/USA, *1971) are two artists, working with installation, video, code and performance: “doing strange things with software & hardware”. Their early works have been called ‘Media Hacking‘ and ‘Online Performances’. In 2000, the strategy behind the voting platform Vote-Auction was described by Libération as “un plan machiavélique”. In 2005, the NZZ described the “Google Will Eat Itself”-project as “factual and perverse” conceptual art.

The event took place within the framework of weiterkommen! – the qualification program of the NRW Landesbüro Freie Darstellende Künste. weiterkommen! was supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of NRW within the framework of the IKF (Individeuelle KünstlerInnenförderung).

The office medienwerk.nrw and the event were supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of NRW. Office hosted by: Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund

The office medienwerk.nrw and super_filme e.V. invited students, prospective (media-)artists and scientists to take part in a two-part workshop on technoimagination, exploring the subversive potential of the virtual and alternative formations of gender and desire. The workshop was led by Anneliese Ostertag, member of the warehouse project (http://warehouse.industries/). With Rahel Spöhrer and Samira Elago.

The first block (June 30th – July 2nd, 2017, in german language) dealt with new technologies, texts and artistic positions, which put the virtualization of desires and post-internet intimacy at the disposal of the audience. This block was accompanied by Rahel Spöhrer, co-founder of the performance collective THE AGENCY.

The second block (July 15th – 16th, 2017, in english language) focused on subversive media practices. Togehter with the finnish-egyptian artist Samira Elagoz (http://www.samiraelagoz.com/) the participants explored intimacy relationships and structures of desire in new media. Furthermore they tested some formats through which the virtual space can be (re)conquested for artistic production.

The workshop took place at the University of Witten/Herdecke (Bahnhofstraße 48, 58452 Witten). After the workshop, an online publication of the artistic and scientific results appeared.

The workshop was organized by super_filme e.V. and the office medienwerk.nrw and was part of the workshop series “Speculative Technologies” (office medienwerk.nrw) as well as the curatorial online/offline project “warehouse” (super_filme e.V.).

The workshop was funded within the framework of the Individual Artists’ Funding (IKF) of the Ministry for Family, Children, Youth, Culture and Sport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The office medienwerk.nrw was supported by the Ministry for Family, Children, Youth, Culture and Sport of the State of NRW. Office hosted by: Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund.