The School of Machines, Making and Make Believe is excited to announce its latest 2015 offering, Fabricating Empathy, an exploration into digital fabrication in the context of empathy. For the first time, the school will be located in Belgrade, Serbia. Expert instructors (from RCA in London, ITP in NYC, and more!) will lead workshops over a five week period immediately following the 2015 Resonate conference in Belgrade.

How can we create meaningful experiences using technology to express who we are and where we came from? This course will focus on Empathy and Culture in the context of art and technology. While learning digital fabrication techniques, designing mechanisms and kinetic sculptures as a way to animate the invisible forces that shape our human behaviour, we’ll simultaneously explore Empathy as a necessary tool to strengthen human connection and enhance our experiences of life.

The goal of the program is to explore in-depth the creative and expressive possibilities of digital fabrication (3D printers, CNC) and kinetic objects while delving into speculative and critical design. In addition, we’ll also have an opportunity to explore Oculus Rift and ways in which it helps us to extend our empathic capabilities outside ourselves and into public spaces. Instructors include BeAnother Lab, Marcela Godoy of YesYesNo, Sitraka Rakotoniaina, Andrew Friend & Pussykrew.


What you will learn:

/ 3D modelling

/ 3D printing

/ 3D printing (post-processing techniques)

/ 3D scanning

/ CNC

/ making simple machines: gears, pulleys, levers, joints, cams and linkages

/ prototyping

/ using stepper motors, actuators, bearings

/ basic electronics, using arduino, bend sensors, conductive thread

/ oculus rift

/ speculative design methodologies


To learn more, ask questions and submit an application, visit http://schoolofma.org. Applications are due March 8.