The three required readings for this workshop included: a practical guide for collaborating with non-artists; an article on improving accessibility, while working on diminishing emissions; and a list of resources for diminishing digital emissions.
Co-creating with People, usually non-artists
I really enjoyed this text. I appreciated how tangible and accessible the writing was. The themes covered are very important conversations to have. Sections one and three were particularly resonate for me.
1. make with, not for - I have been asking “Is there an ethical way to make work about stories that are not your own, when the people are marginalised, vulnerable or underrepresented?” in my professional work a lot recently. Artists are often storytellers and we find ourselves with the desire to raise awareness about things we witness. How do/should we tell stories of others when we aren’t in a position to work directly with the group? My instinct is to say no, regardless of how positive the intent might be, but there are other times when my mind shifts from this instinct.
This section does a great job of highlighting the importance of recognizing power dynamics when telling stories with others.
While I liked this section, I do find myself still grappling with the question posed at the beginning.
3. you can only create safer spaces - This section does a good job of hitting on what is truly needed when making safer spaces: listening and letting people do what feels comfortable. Too often there is an intention to be welcoming and inclusive, but that sentiment slips into a demand to be the same kind of welcoming. It’s vital to let people make the choice on how to participate in a way that is safe and healthy for them.
How do we increase access and inclusion while powering down civilization?
I struggled with this text. I found it challenging to grapple with the guilt induced by it, particularly when it is being shared for a workshop that I will be flying to. The text was highlighting very important issues but did it in a way that left me with more unanswerable questions in the end.
Applying Disability Justice, Climate Justice, and Solidarity Economics to your Digital Practice
I also struggled with this text. There were some sentiments that aligned with my priority for accessibility. I appreciated the clarity in the resources shared, but I found some of the resources slightly problematic given the theme, particularly OBS Studio due to being sponsored by YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch. The text is posed as focusing on disability justice, climate justice, and solidarity economics, but the majority of the text is only focused on climate justice.
Aside from highlighting the digital accessibility specialists, the text doesn’t give a lot of resources or information about digital accessibility that is so central to disability justice. Readability, plain language, image/color contrast, font choice, more accessible popups, and non-autoplay videos are all essential to creating an accessible digital presence that could be highlighted in this text.