Disruption Network Lab

Disruption Network Lab is an ongoing platform of events and research focused on art, hacktivism and disruption. The Laboratory takes shape through a series of conference events at Studio 1, Kunstquartier Bethanien in Berlin.

The goal of the Disruption Network Lab is to present and generate new possible routes of social and political action within the framework of hacktivism, digital culture and information technology, focusing on the disruptive potential of artistic practices. The Disruption Network Lab is a conceptual and practical zone where artists, hackers, activists, networkers, whistle-blowers and critical thinkers enter into a dialogue. The programme is developed through artistic presentations, theoretical debates and keynote events. This series of events establishes local and translocal partnerships with other spaces and institutions.

Focus of the first series of events are media practices at the border of hacking, art and activism covering a wide spectrum of contemporary political, cultural and economical issues, where the use of technology is central, but it becomes also a mean to redefine criticism: from the use of drones in political conflicts, to the emergence of social media practices shaping our everyday life causing critical consequence on our privacy; from the critical reflection on identity and sexuality in post-digital contexts, to the upcoming frontiers of bio-hacking; from the practice of whistleblowing as a way of exposing misconducts in political systems, to the tactic of disruption of corporations’ logic, to reveals bugs of economical and business processes from within.

The artistic programme intertwines collective projects and networks focused on the practices of hacktivism and disruption. A large body of artistic examples and practices is presented and analysed during the Lab’s activity.