WP3:_SMALL_FILE_PUBLISHING

Connecting Otherwise

Work Package 3: Small File Publishing

In this workgroup we aim to shift the prevailing paradigm of technological advancement from “move fast, break things” and “always on, always available” towards approaching slowness (slow loading time, slow processing) and lowness (low energy, low tech, low bandwidth, low resolution, low fidelity) as generative and creative lenses through which to engage with digital technologies. We engage with the concept of “bandwidth imperialism,” a term coined by our collaborators from the Small File Media Festival, which questions ideals such as net neutrality and equal access to high-speed internet. On a global scale, these ideals are unattainable because they are based on a perspective of, and engagment with, digital access that is often relegated to the Global North. How can we make small files for environments with light infrastructure? In this workgroup we will work hands-on with small file tools and practices, explore the materiality of the small file, and engage with compression aesthetics and our own relationship to the ‘high resolution’ image.

• planning (as outlined in the original project plan) for reference;
  • start in April 2026 with some desk research
    • April - June for desk research
    • October - December for desk research
  • outreach in May (to other collaborators)
  • September, October, November 2026 for the internal work sessions (but we can have them earlier)
  • workshop testing - November 2026 and February 2027
    • suggestion for test workshop with Nestor to be in February 2027 since November 2026 doesn’t work (RIJKS open)
  • contribution to final program in May and June 2027 —> this might be postponed to September 2027
  • outcome is 2 test workshops (with students and the public) and one workshop for the workshop program at the end

WP3 - Internal work sessions summary and date suggestions

In our internal work sessions we want to take an approach of doing / making as we think about the questions around the small file that we want to engage with.

• Internal work session #1: small file tools and practices - May and June 2026
• This work session will be led by Laura, Joni, and Radek, who will be sharing the tools and practices of the SFMF. This session extends from an interest in developing a curriculum around the small file and sharing tools that the SFMF has been developing. The big time difference between the Netherlands / Ireland and British Columbia makes it a bit tough to align with everyone and do a three-hour session together. I suggest that we split the sessions into smaller parts to make it a bit easier and Radek leads one of the workshops/sessions alone and then Laura and Joni do another one. My suggestion is the following:

• Part 1: Presentation from Radek of the environmental impact of streaming and the research SFMF have done around this topic, as well as a more hands-on workshop on different methods and options for compression, and the choices that are made (i.e. learning about data moshing techniques and open source programs that can be used for making small files). Following this session I suggest that we then have two weeks to try out the different methods Radek showed, and document them, so we can discuss them together in Part 2. * date suggestions (please put a check mark ✅ on the moments that work for you): * Monday May 25: 14h-17h (Amsterdam-time) * Tuesday May 26: 10-13h (Amsterdam time) ✅ * Tuesday May 26: 14-17h (Amsterdam time) ✅ * Friday May 29: 10-13h (Amsterdam time) ✅ *

• Part 2: Joni from SFMF presenting small file web production methods * This session will start with us discussing our experiences with the different tools that we learned about in Part 1. This will be followed by a presentation from Joni about small file web production methods. * date suggestions (please put a check mark ✅ on the moments that work for you):
  * Monday June 15: 17-19h (Amsterdam time) * this is towards the evening because of the time difference with Joni who is also in British Columbia * Tuesday June 16: 17-19h (Amsterdam) * this is towards the evening because of the time difference with Joni who is also in British Columbia ✅

• Internal Session #2: the materialities of the small file - September 2026

• This session will be about inspiring us to look at different ways to work with hardware in relation to small file media. How can we make small files for environments with light infrastructure? This can include thinking about working with old cameras and old phones, building our own hardware, or hacking certain tools together. For this session we will invite Nestor Sire to share his work and his artistic practice, as well as the computers that he builds. Extra note that Radek wants to ask the Frugal Media group from Cork to also join the session.
• **Internal Session #3: compression aesthetics and narratives - October 2026 **
• The suggestion for this session is to look into compressional/compression aesthetics, and invite Marek and Judith from the Vrij Universiteit (@Radek, could you confirm their names? I couldn’t find them based on how I wrote their names). In this session we can think about how we can rethink our relationship to the image and the way we attribute ‘quality’ to something that is more high res. How can we make these kinds of aesthetics desirable for different kinds of publics? I also suggest that Juliette can be part of this session and lead a talk around the creation of narratives and aesthetic experimentation around the small file.
• Extra note: there was a suggestion from Laura to invite Mehvish Rather.

RESEARCH: HIGHLIGHTING RELATED PEOPLE, RESEARCHERS, ARTISTS, AND FILMMAKERS

In this section, please make a list of artists, researchers, writers, filmmakers, programmers, etc, who are working with the small file, challenging the aesthetics of compression, and creating their own tools to experiment with low-bandwidth image making. This is content that can go into the publication that we are developing.

WP3 Meeting - 5 March 2026

Agenda

1. Introduction of Juliette to everyone
2. Brainstorm of research focuses
3. Planning of work sessions
4. Budget questions

**Meeting Notes **

1. Juliette introduction

• Different roles in H&D, production, documentation, giving workshops
• in individual practice works with video, live action role play and collaborates with people a lot
  • fictional lore, games, video documentation
  • in own audio visual practice inspired by working methods of H&D, self developed video player
  • radio, audio streams, reaction to crisis like covid, dealing with taking less space but also anonimity and telling stories in a cryptic way

• https://jujulove.eu/ Radek introduction

• teachning critical media trinity college dublin

• have been involved with small file media for many years
• experimemtnal media practice from pov of sustainability
• workshops in dublin: how can we develop a more sustainable wokrflow
• started a module in climate leadership so its important to have more fixed knowledge about climate impact of streaming

• reference to Clint Sleeper’s work: https://www.clintsleeper.com/ Laura introduction

  • media scholar, media artist
  • streaming movies with tiny bit rate
  • moving image / communicating discretely (workshops in Tehran, Kashmir, etc.,)
  • story telling discretely / privacy /
  • small website / tiny online players by Joni Schinkel Brainstorm

• synergy of practices

• speculative world building / lore making

• internal work sessions taking an approach of doing / making

• how do we want to document and published what is being developed

• printed publication and a website and they work with the same pads

• hybrid publication: logic for dividing content between the two

• documentation on how the small file media website was made

• publishing broadly interpreted: dissemination, documentation, streaming

• laura and radek taught online small file workshops that were 3 hours

• joni could present web production methods that he developed, laura and radek could presernt small file methods they developed, we could go offline and hten try out some tools, and come back and return to discuss

• Laura: trying different options of compression, could be other methods too, you could begin with choosing your camera, could be animation, small camera apps, coming to a point where we have media that could be compressed

• Radek: start with small file media talk from environmental standpoint, 20 min presentation on different techniques, slide dek, showcaseing, then focus on compression aesthetics,

• 2 hrs, method data moshing > geeky (you never knwo what you get) you need specific type of footage / high contrast / showing workflow / 2-3 open source programs

• handbrake > compress to image into small file

• end workshop: one more hardware (cameras) focussed? the other one more software / aesthetics focussed

• 2 methods: small file movies / small file platforms

Most people would probably be interested in making high quality but small bitrate, appealing to places with lower infrastructure

2. Research focuses for the desk research period: April - May 2026

• from our last meeting, some of the interests/directions might be:
  • developing a curriculum around the small file and sharing tools that the SFMF has been developing (Laura)
  • developing a handbook around the small file (Radek)
  • making technologies now to prepare for future collapse (Laura)
  • ways of working with old cameras and old phones; to convince students to use this
  • building our own hardware, or hacking certain tools together (Margarita)
  • different programs and tools that can be used for compression aesthetics; how to develop a complete workflow for these processes(Radek)
  • moving image communicating discretely (Laura)
• based on this research we can organise our work sessions
• decide which workshops at Rietveld/Sandberg we want to work with
  • editing workshop
  • media lab
  • Anja and Mark will do an open call for this

**3. Planning / brainstorming of work sessions: **

• Internal work session #1: small file movies
  • maybe this could be with Laura, Joni, and Radek sharing the tools and practices of the SFMF?
    • we could all then go offline and experiment with some of the tools
• Internal Session #2: hardware
  • this could be with Nestor Sire https://nestorsire.com/
  • making small files for environments with light infrastructure
  • hardware aspect
  • make our own camera/ recording device with old devices/ how things are powered
  • Radek wants to invite someone from Frugal Media (group in Cork)
    • https://www.instagram.com/frugalmediaresearchgroup/
• Internal Session #3: compression aesthetics
  • perhaps we could invite Marek Yankovitch and Judith from the Vrij Universiteit > compressional aesthetics
  • compression aesthetics
  • how to make these desirable for different kind of publics
  • encryption, transmitting messages / stories / not so interested in aesthertic experimentation but more encryption part of small files / not thought about so much / can laura share some research / could there be an interview /text about this topic? presentation by laura on encryption / can we invite additional people? Mehvish Rather (Laura will reach out)
    • we can highlight related people / researchers / filmmakers in the publication
    • making a handbook / curriculum? how to document each work session?
    • small file media already working on curriculum / trying to find funding for
      • SFMF will have a meeting to discuss how to best document tools and publishing them in way that feels good to the ortganization
• Open call for workshops and workshop specialists -> survey of what is there

**4. Budget questions: **

• Payment schedule and invoice info
• any open questions / concerns

WP3 Meeting - 13 Jan 2026

Margarita, Anja, Laura, Radek

**Agenda **

• small introductions
  • Laura is in vancouver at Simon Fraser
    • doing research on the carbon footprint of online media
      • founded small file festival in 2020
      • much better known locally in Vancouver
      • got a Guggenheim fellowship to develop workshops around the world
        • the idea was to do the workshops to also teach these methods and to encourage people to disseminate them
  • Radek
    • based in Trinity College, teaches a contextual media course
    • currently doing a post-doctoral project on Quantum Policy, through the lens and point of view of values
    • students have been asking about a handbook, so that could be interesting
      • etherport as a tool to create the handbook
    • Radek has been thinking a lot about the workshops that we could develop together
• **General thoughts / sharing: **
  • Anja: embrace the small file aesthetics, also in printed files
  • Laura: at SFMF they have been working on these topics for years but they have little funding for this
    • they want to develop a curriculum for this
    • they have tips on their website, that people do use a lot
    • Joni has created a web player and a website that is less than 1.44MB
      • if you play a small file on Vimeo, it actually turns it into a large file
    • Laura wants to share those tools and ways of working that Joni has developed
    • they are also working on the pixel squisher
  • The project is about continuation and sharing
    • disseminating all this knowledge
  • Radek: important to take it slow, and not create new ideas all the time to keep up
  • Anja: it’s really important to use the tools and work side by side through hands-on engagement
  • Laura: initiatives for green media making is always focused on production, and not on file size, or the size of files that are transmitted. This is where they really have something to share
    • the production of computers and hard drives is so ecologically intensive.
    • working with 1.44mb per minute
  • Mark: the editing workshop has an interest in thinking about smaller files
  • Radek: important to make people think about creating smaller files
  • Laura: the radical criterion is interesting for experimental filmmakers
  • Laura: a chapter of her book is on collapse; making technologies now to prepare for future collapse (this is more for the global north)
    • global south practice is learning to make-do with minimal technology, minimal infrastructures
      • these are two practices that we can look at
      • how do we learn from the global south and make these practices more systemitised
  • Laura wants to systematise some of their small file practices
    • ways of working with old cameras and old phones; to convince students to use this
    • Radek is interested in various ways you can use compression to get specific effects
      • thinking about different programs and tools that can be used for compression aesthetics
        • how to develop a complete workflow for these processes
        • want to develop sound design
    • Laura wants to systematise the new apps for making small files, need to experiment with this
  • Radek, things are sustainable part of the way, but then you end up using Adobe
    • looking at other companies that are more sustainable; open source, etc.
  • Laura: wants to spend some time looking at the small apps are out there already for filming small, editing small
  • Radek: Marek Yankovitch and Judith from the Vrij Universiteit > compressional aesthetics
• **planning **
  • start in April 2026 with some desk research
  • outreach in May (to other collaborators)?
  • workshop testing - November 2026
  • contribution to final program in May and June 2027
• **budget **
  • what is available and the in-kind contribution from small file media festival
    • €12,154 budgeted for small file costs
    • in kind contribution of €2400
    • so that means €9754 available from budget
  • Laura’s time will be an in-kind contribution
  • Radek will be paid for the work that he does
  • other small file freelancers will be paid from this budget
• discuss how we each work
  • Laura:
    • in courses they teach students how to make small files
    • at festivals they teach students how to make small files through workshops
• the outcomes of the project
  • “Each work package will result in 2–3 workshops, with a focus on hands-on and participant-empowering experiences designed for diverse educational and professional settings”
  • contribution towards documentation and research
• set next meeting

Workshop Meeting _ 6 Jan 2026

• Niels Albers coordinates all the workshops, responsible for the booking system, and organising the practicum generale, to teach hands-on workshop skills to students
  • interesting in materials, wood, welding, etc
  • Niels is like an interface between the workshops, education, and research
  • the people who are working in the workshops have a lot of knowledge, skills, and other things related to their art practices
  • there are 23 workshops
• The idea is for each of the work packages to be connected to the workshops at Rietveld/Sandberg
  • the idea is that we co-develop the ideas and plans with the workshop specialists
  • the final result will be a small symposium and a series of workshops
• Dorine
  • focused more on hardware and what they call “earthbound hardware”
  • looking at the ecological impact of hardware and these materials
  • looking at the mining industry in the DRC
• there is tension in the workshops in terms of what people are being paid and the scale they are paid
  • the workshop specialists will be paid for the extra work for this project
• Juliette from H&D will join our work package
• For WP3 we could also look into publishing and PDFs, low resolution printing
  • chip making could also be a part of it
• Niels suggests doing a general introduction to all the workshops, and then we can meet some more specific workshop people
  • film and editing studios could be a nice collaboration
  • media lab could also be interesting
  • Lars from the photography workshop could also be interesting
  • web-to-print and printing lab
  • Anastasia who works in the computer workshop and in the large print workshop, and into Unity and VR
  • X Lab
• WP4: Ancestral connections
  • the way the sun is affecting digital physicality and the digital signal
  • space weather is important because we are relying on technology that is affected by the sun
  • using android phones to map the earth
  • the protective layer of our atmosphere and the impact on technologies
  • lenses, light, sensitivity to light
  • WeavingWorlds collective at NDSM
• WP1:
  • more meta work package that connects all the workshops
  • doing some desk research and other research on the needs of people
  • using etherport as a reporting tool but also revisting the etherport web-to-print to see how to make it better
• Action plan for the next steps
  • workshop tour on Tuesday the 12th