Introduction
"Union miners stand together
Do not heed the bosses tales
Keep your eyes upon your wages
and your hand upon the scale"
– A Miner's Life (trad arr.)
The cyberpunks see the internet as a way to transgress physical borders, destroy social hierarchies and allow information to flow freely. Can we use the internet to create new queer spaces as the forces of capital convalesce around a permanent state of crisis, sweeping away our community venues and clubs in the chaos of the class war?
Leo Francisco of the Queerzone3000 collective has created a virtual world using the open-source Minetest game. Drop out and connect from anywhere on the internet and build a resilient virtual community with your friends. Share the plentiful resources with cooperation and care. Build a new world that provides for all.There will be a hackspace at Birmgham Open Media where you can relax and play or you can join us online and remotely.
The hackspace also features work by Caleb Steer and Taylor Wells. Caleb has created a digital graphic of a textile flag, featuring William Gibson’s quote: “There are no maps for these territories” (a comment on cyberpunk culture). This work, combined with footage of Caleb’s time-travelling avatar “Gary Davidson”, highlights Caleb’s interests in DIY fashion as a manifest medium of resistance, where fantasy can come to life and the digital/animated world might “hack” physical, real-life spaces.
Taylor has created an anarchic visual space, using techniques such as collage, LEDs and fluorescence. Taylor’s work contributes a dystopic edge to the U/QTOPIA.
This new commission is presented by SHOUT festival in partnership with BOM (Birmingham Open Media).