Workshops.

Come and visit us between 27 January and 05 February 2006.
The VBI Lounge will be open between 10am and 10pm most days for dropping in and hanging out. Visitors are were welcome any day to come and learn about making teletext or Nintendo cartridge hacking - we hav had an open station policy!

At present We have had two scheduled sessions for hands on workshops. We will definitely be adding more dates once we have found out feet.

28 January 2006 - Microtel and making teletext 11:00 - 13:00h
This workshop is for people who really want to get stuck into making teletext pages. We will cover some history and general info, but really it will be an intense pixel popping session!
The station has two PC computers available for participants to use to create teletext, and we encourage people to bring their own PC laptops along. We can provide software. Previous experience using a computer is beneficial but not imperative for participating in the workshop.

29 January 2006 - Nintendo Cartridge Hacking 11:00 - 13:00h
This workshop will cover ROM hacks, Graphics Hacks and reprogramming the NES game cartridges - as we will definitely explain the difference between those three things! Also covered will be why you might want to hack a game as well as the history of people who create art by messing with NES carts.
The station has two computers available for participants to use to run the software required for ROM hacking and we encourage people to bring their own PC laptops along. We can install the required software. Previous experience using a computer is beneficial but not imperative for participating in the workshop.

We also have some other activities in the VBI Lounge

28 January 2006 - Rachel Baker 18:00h
Rachel will be talking about 'Unscheduled Television. How do we watch TV in an unscheduled, downloadable, distributed, pirated, and converged digital environment?' Just come to the VBI Lounge and hang out with us to listen and discuss what's up with this.

Please email us or check back here for more fixed session times. Otherwise drop in!

Visiting address
Witte de With, center for contemporary art
Witte de Withstraat 50
3012 BR Rotterdam
The Netherlands

Microtel is just one part of the activites VBI is hosting in the public lounge created for the period of the festival. The VBI lounge will exhibit several installations, host artist talks, workshops for how to create teletext content and Nintendo cartridge hacking and provide an inviting, informal discussion space complete with well stocked fridge!

On display:
hacked Nintendo installation by Paul B. Davis and Emma Davidson
Pirate Radio Scanner by Irational.org - an online interface to control a scanner located in London, which tunes in to pirate stations
the online road movie Broadbandit Highway by Manu Luksch and Ilze Black, which hijacks traffic surveillance webcams. The movie is now over 4 years long
Faceless by Manu Luksch, a science fiction film shot using London's CCTV network and the provisions of data protection legislation

And the VBI Lounge staff are involved in other activities and talks too.

01 February 2006 - TV DINNERS with Emma Davidson 18:30 - 20:00h
Emma Davidson will talk about a lifetime of TV watching and Paul B. Davis will join in to act out certain roles from pivotal shows in Emma's life. Audience will be able to purchase TV dinners, heat them up in the microwaves and listen and watch.
Emma's talk will feature snippits from 80's breakdance movies, Australian kids shows and American cop shows, from her personal VHS and DVD collection.
More about the series TV DINNERS organise by the Exploding Television people here.