[OpenDesign] Introducing Constant, OSP, LGRU

Mon Mar 12 09:32:25 UTC 2012

Hello,

My name is Femke Snelting and I work with Constant, association for arts and media based in Brussels.

Constant[1] works in-between media and art on projects that are inspired by the way that technological infrastructures, data-exchange and software determine daily lives. Free software, copyright alternatives and (cyber)feminism are important threads running through our practice.

In 2006 we formed the international design collective OSP (Open Source Publishing)[2]. OSP experiments with the possibilities and realities of doing graphic design, illustration, cartography and typography using a wide range of F/LOSS tools. The modification of their toolbox, but most of all the fact that they gradually started to engage with the communities that develop them, has changed both their practice and its outcomes.

With Medialab Prado (Madrid), Piksel (Bergen) and Worm (Rotterdam) plus six other associates, Constant runs The Libre Graphics Research Unit[3]. LGRU is a travelling lab where we develop new ideas for creative tools; it's name is a salute to the Libre Graphics community[4], responsible for developing tools-of-the-trade such as Gimp, Scribus, Inkscape, FontForge etc. This two-year project is supported by the European Commission (Culture Programme) and involves artists, designers and programmers.

Thank you for taking the initiative for this list and I look forward to conversations here!

Femke

[1] http://constantvzw.org
[2] http://ospublish.constantvzw.org
[3] http://lgru.net
[4] http://www.libre-graphics-meeting.org