Experimenting with low-tech and making it desirable

Varia
A pragmatic approach to documentation
By Morgan Meyer
English

How is low-tech experimented with and documented? Based on a case study of the Low-tech Lab, this article shows that documentation can mobilize different practices and formats: tutorials that present ‘recipes’ for building low-tech oneself; reports that evaluate experiments scientifically; and videos that feature low tech as key actors in ecological lifestyles and modern adventures. These documents not only record how low-tech is being experimented with, but also demonstrate that it has a place in our everyday lives. The article describes how literary technologies are combined with technologies of affect, thus positioning low-tech as feasible, functional and desirable. Compared to scientific and technical documentation, which describes a technological world purified of emotions, where achievements, reproducibility, and seriousness prevail, low tech documentation shows the interweaving of technologies in a world full of emotions, humour, uncertainty and openness.

  • low-tech
  • experimentation
  • documentation
  • tutorials
  • Low-tech Lab
Go to the article on Cairn-int.info