Vernelle A. A. Noel - Computers, Craft, and Culture: Creative and Critical Inquiry into Computation Design

Craft and cultural design practices are vehicles for people’s histories and knowledges, and are dependent on their social, cultural, and political contexts. On the other hand, software practices are often framed as neutral, independent - devoid of social, cultural, and political entanglements. Drawing from methods, concepts, and modes of inquiry in computing, craft, media studies, and science and technology studies, this lecture demonstrate (1) how software-based practices can reshape cultural and craft-based practices, ideas, and labors; and (2) how new investigations into craft can repair and reveal hidden entanglements in computational design.