Patrick and I spent 27th March in Space gallery in Hackney, East London for their symposium On the Margins of Technology a day of ‘presentations and debate about realising the impacts of technology expanding and diversifying participation in art and society.’

We responded to a number of projects including Geezer Power a project which is run by Lorraine Leeson and the ‘Geezers’ some of whom included Dennis Banks, John Bevan, John Day, Ray Gipson and Ted Lewis. The project is based around accessing the Geezers collective experience and expertise of ways in which you can generate energy from already available resources. What they came up with was a turbine fixed to the Thames barrier which they hoped could either generate enough electricty for street lighting for their community.

Although the project was different to ours in the sense that it focusses on scientific subject matters rather than those of a creative or technological ilk we felt that their ethos really matched ours and we were inspired to start thinking about accessing the wonders of people over 55’s knowledge and expericence of life and how this should be tapped into when looking at the future of the planet for all of us.

We also responded to Mukul Patel and Fiona Fieber talking about User Manuals and ‘explaining technology’ which focusses on the relationship between the explaination of a product/entity and the usage of that in everyday life.

We really enjoyed our stay in London and met some inspirational and complex people and projects and are grateful to Space for inviting us down. For more information about Space gallery, Hackney please click here.