COVID has taken our reliance on software to the next level. We now rely on software for managing our days from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep. Software predicts the future based on fixed patterns from the past. It produces procedures instead of experiences and solutions instead of care. On the other hand, fortune-telling is an ancient language of change. It elucidates, unlearns, and reworks patterns. How can the art of fortune-telling guide us to rethink software as systems of healing?

Using different cultures’ patterns surrounding fortune-telling as a source, we will collectively determine patterns for our own fortune-telling Instagram filter in Part One on March 2. Then join us for Part Two on March 4 when we take our patterns and code our own Instagram filter using Spark AR.

Date: This two-part online workshop meets on Tuesday, March 2 and Thursday, March 4 from 7-8pm ET via Zoom.

Price: $25

Audience: Open to all who are interested in critical software culture. No prior software design or development experience is needed.

Materials: Participants should have a writing utensil, paper, and a personal computer with access to the internet.

Zhenzhen Qi is an educator, researcher, and technologist based in Brooklyn, New York. She is a candidate for Doctor of Education (EdD) at Teachers College, Columbia University. She cofounded ZZYW, an artist and research collective which produces software application, installation, and text as instruments to examine the cultural, political, and educational imprints of computation. She is currently researching software simulation as a mode of collective re-making and un-looping.

Please note, this online workshop will begin promptly at the listed start time. In order to ensure the quality of instruction for all participants, late entry will not be permitted. For questions, please contact education@pioneerworks.org.

This program is supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.