SFPC: Electronic Cafe for Poetic Computation
The Electronic Cafe for Poetic Computation (ECPC, pronounced easy-peasy) is an internet cafe being developed in real time by the School for Poetic Computation (SFPC) for Recess’s Session program. Community members and visitors are invited to participate in a series of workshops and events exploring creative, inclusive, and liberatory uses of networked technology within an abolitionist framework.
Decades ago, internet cafes were practical hubs for computer usage, and for utopian visioning about the future of networked society. Those utopian visions are almost irreconcilable with the experience of virtual space today, as every area of the internet has been enclosed by big tech monopolies, commodified by hyper-capitalist marketplaces, and disciplined by surveillance regimes. These systems were designed to be oppressive, and/but they can be built in more generous ways that prioritize a multitude of community needs and values over one singular idea of “utopia.” The internet cafe, as both a virtual and physical connection point, offers many possibilities when asking how to collectively learn and practice a more creative, empowered, and just relationship to technology.
Drawing inspiration from the local hubs of the early 2000s where people could access free internet, relax, play games, chat with friends, and print documents, this intimate space alludes to the “golden era” of the internet, where it was possible to find community online or at a local cafe. ECPC is inspired by the “multi-media telecollaboration network” first initiated by Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz’s Electronic Cafe ‘84, a project that transformed informal community venues into a networked cultural organization. By exploring this form, ECPC is a center to investigate and transcend the tension between exclusive art and academic spaces and people-first, community spaces, and explore the possibilities in operating a hybrid in-person and online classroom.
SFPC: Electronic Cafe for Poetic Computation
The Electronic Cafe for Poetic Computation (ECPC, pronounced easy-peasy) is an internet cafe being developed in real time by the School for Poetic Computation (SFPC) for Recess’s Session program. Community members and visitors are invited to participate in a series of workshops and events exploring creative, inclusive, and liberatory uses of networked technology within an abolitionist framework.
Decades ago, internet cafes were practical hubs for computer usage, and for utopian visioning about the future of networked society. Those utopian visions are almost irreconcilable with the experience of virtual space today, as every area of the internet has been enclosed by big tech monopolies, commodified by hyper-capitalist marketplaces, and disciplined by surveillance regimes. These systems were designed to be oppressive, and/but they can be built in more generous ways that prioritize a multitude of community needs and values over one singular idea of “utopia.” The internet cafe, as both a virtual and physical connection point, offers many possibilities when asking how to collectively learn and practice a more creative, empowered, and just relationship to technology.
Drawing inspiration from the local hubs of the early 2000s where people could access free internet, relax, play games, chat with friends, and print documents, this intimate space alludes to the “golden era” of the internet, where it was possible to find community online or at a local cafe. ECPC is inspired by the “multi-media telecollaboration network” first initiated by Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz’s Electronic Cafe ‘84, a project that transformed informal community venues into a networked cultural organization. By exploring this form, ECPC is a center to investigate and transcend the tension between exclusive art and academic spaces and people-first, community spaces, and explore the possibilities in operating a hybrid in-person and online classroom.