ISTC-Social Symposium on Information Materialities

The ISTC-Social hosts a symposium on the materialities of information at UC Irvine. Both full-fledged studies and work in progress are encoraged. So if you're in the area, this might be an excellent opportunity to discuss your ongoing work. Surveillance-related submissions are explicitly welcome! Note that the deadline has been extended to November 21. Here's the original call:

ISTC-Social Symposium on Information Materialities WHERE: UC Irvine WHEN: December 11-13th, 2013 Popular metaphors for computing technologies such as the 'cloud' or the divide between virtual and physical frame information technology as inchoate and unmoored from human experience. The goal of this symposium is to extend conversations around the materiality of digital systems, taken broadly. Topics could include (but are not limited to):

• object-centered studies and analyses
• surveillance, personal information, privacy, and everyday life
• digital fabrication, materials, and manufacturing
• self-monitoring, quantified self, and data-driven lifestyles
• physical artifacts, residue, and waste from information technologies

By gathering perspectives at the intersection of practice, design, and theory we hope to provide a platform for showcasing current research and developing collaborations within this theme. Informal workshops will also serve as incubators for conceptualizing materiality and its opposite — the immaterial — with regards to information technology. We invite contributions from any discipline that address the relationships between the material and the digital. To participate, please send a 4 page position paper in the CHI extended abstract format by November 14th to istc.materialities@gmail.com. These position papers are encouraged to be works in progress or based on previous submissions.