Rules of Entry
[ A Roleplaying Workshop on Borders, Bureaucracy, and Resistance ]
by Yuehao Jiang
In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore the bureaucratic rituals of borders and immigration through the lens of speculative game design. Using the 2013 video game Papers, Please as a starting point, we will collaboratively play an experimental card game that simulates the emotional and ethical tensions of border control systems. Players take on the roles of immigration lawyers and border officers to navigate a fictional border system. Each round, they interpret documents, make arguments, and enforce rules. At the end of each round, players reflect collectively on the dynamics of authority, identity, and resistance. No prior game design experience required, just bring your curiosity and a willingness to roleplay power.
Time: 10am-1pm
Experience level: Beginner to advanced
Requirements: No prior game design experience required, just
bring your curiosity and a willingness to roleplay power.
Yuehao Jiang is an interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles exploring the surreal intersections between digital bodies and landscapes. Working with 3D animation, sculpture and painting, Jiang constructs immersive environments that blur the boundaries between the physical and the virtual. Jiang holds a MFA in Design Media Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has held teaching appointments at UCLA Design Media Arts and Parsons School of Design.
https://yuehaojiang.com/
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ALT COMMS
[ LoRa Radio and Mesh Networks ]
by Nat Decker
Communication technologies are crucial for the organizing of care, resistance, and community connection. They are also hyper regulated, corporatized, centralized, surveilled, and extractive. This workshop explores alternative communication protocols and community generated mesh networks.
With an introductory lecture and hands-on demonstration, participants will learn about LoRa (Long Range) Radio devices instancing Meshtastic. Meshtastic is “An open source, off-grid, decentralized, mesh network built to run on affordable, low-power devices.” Utilizing an unregulated radio bandwidth, it allows for encrypted peer-to-peer messaging independent of cellular or broadband networks. This technology has potential as a tool of counter-surveillance, emergency preparedness, connectivity in absence of networks or during disruptions to networks, and is a fun way to learn more about communications technology and autonomous infrastructure.
Devices being demonstrated will include LoRa radios such as Heltec LoRa32, Lilygo T-Deck and SenseCAP Card Tracker T1000-E. You are not required to bring anything to this workshop. If you already have a LoRa radio, you are invited to bring it along. If you would like to purchase a radio prior to the workshop, options are outlined on the meshtastic website. Look for devices that operate on the 915 MHz frequency band for use in the USA. Your radio can be flashed with the Meshtastic firmware during the workshop. Bring a computer and USB-C cable if you want to try out the Meshtastic webflasher.
Time: 2-5pm
Experience level: Beginner to advanced
Technologies: LoRa Radios
Nat Decker is a Chicago-born Los Angeles-based artist using technology, sculpture, and performance to interrogate the politicality of the alienated body/mind networked within a call for collective care and liberation. They work critically with technology and explore materials as extensions of the body and anti-prosthetics. Their practice fundamentally integrates accessibility, collectivism, and friction as generative mediums. They have professionally consulted on accessibility for organizations including p5.js, UCLA, Creative Growth, and New Art City. Nat has exhibited work internationally - most recently in Tokyo, Los Angeles, and New York - and delivered artist talks at Tokyo Future Visions Summit, Dweb Camp, Rip Space, NEW INC DEMO2024, and Whitney ISP. Their collective, Cripping_CG, was awarded a 2024 Democracy Machine Fellowship. They are a Y10 and Y11 member of NEW INC, a 2024 mentor and 2023 Fellow at the Processing Foundation, a 2024 Coaxial resident, a 2024 fellow at the Decentralized web camp, and a 2021 resident and current staff of ACRE. In June 2022, they graduated from UCLA with a degree in Design|Media Arts and Disability Studies.
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