This exhibition explores the connections between craft, technology and community. From 3D printing prosthetics, to handing over your garden to a robot, these four new commissions showcase the potential of skill-sharing and collaborative making in the real world.
It will feature four new commissions by leading makers, creative technologists and collectives, exploring the opportunities that are brought along by the democratisation of digital tools, and the roles of both old and new skills in today’s crafts movement:
- Will Shannon and Turner Prize 2015 nominees Assemble’s Homework will set up a concrete casting factory in the backyard of a newly refurbished house in Toxteth, Liverpool, turning construction waste into mantelpieces to be installed in refurbished houses.
- Linda Brothwell will restore missing letters in iconic building signs in Liverpool with a new handcrafted alphabet that combines traditional English and Polish Wycinanki designs for her project Acts of Care: The Lost Letters of Liverpool.
- Rachel Rayns’ project Neurotic Machines developed with the Raspberry Pi Foundation will show us how an ‘Internet of Things’ machine – a Raspberry Pi greenhouse – can help us take care of our gardens.
- The hacker and entrepreneur community DoESLiverpool will set up a production line of 3D printers at FACT for their project Desktop Prosthetics, supplying the components for prosthetic hands for local people with real needs, and invite visitors to get involved in testing and building the prosthetics.
FACT will also present FACTLab, a pioneering three month pilot programme taking place within Build Your Own. FACTLab will host visiting artists and provide an open workspace for informal workshops and skill-sharing events, offering visitors the chance to engage in activities such as 3D printing, filmmaking and computer coding as well as using the space to develop their own creative projects. FACTLab aims to be the initial step of something that will grow into a permanent resource for engaging with the creative community in Liverpool.
FACT Exhibition ‘Build Your Own: Tools for Sharing’
4 June 2015 – 31 August 2015
