Envisioning Alternative Futures: Reinventing and Reimagining Technologies for Art and Creative Practices

This PD project explores alternative approaches to audiovisual technologies in art and creative practices by reimagining and reinventing marginalized and decommodified devices through Media Archaeology, artistic experimentation, and hands-on technical reinvention.
This research employs Media Archaeology to uncover “obsolete” yet artistically relevant technologies and hands-on technical reinvention to adapt these tools for contemporary creative practices. It seeks to develop experimental self-built devices that critically engage with media materiality, exploring alternative aesthetic possibilities through practice-based investigations into the cultural and historical dimensions of media technologies. These developments provide artists with new creative possibilities beyond mainstream commercial standardized tools and infrastructures.
A key component of this project is collaborative innovation with artist-run analog film communities, such as Filmwerkplaats. By fostering knowledge exchange and artistic experimentation, this research ensures that reinvented tools remain relevant to both analog film communities and contemporary media art practices. The intended outcomes directly benefit two key groups:
• Artist-run film labs gain sustainable methods for evolving their practices, reducing dependence on scarce, out-of-production equipment.
• Digital-native artists are introduced to alternative methods for engaging with analog processes and media materiality, expanding their creative toolkit.

This collaboration also strengthens art and design education by embedding alternative technological perspectives and research methodologies into curricula, providing students and practitioners with resourceful, sustainable approaches to working with technology. It advocates for a more diverse educational paradigm that incorporates media-technological history and critical reflection on the ideologies of linear technological progress.
Ultimately, this research fosters critical discourse on media culture, challenges the dominance of corporate proprietary systems, and promotes innovation, redefining the relationship between creativity and technology.