DocLab Playrooms
The DocLab Playrooms build on the strength of the community gathered by a festival like IDFA, providing a series of curated yet open and interactive events for professionals to get hands-on experience and knowledge from key artists, producers, the audience, and each other. Each DocLab Playroom has its own setup, theme, and format. All include ample space for informal networking and knowledge exchange.
Over the years, the programming team of DocLab has been reluctant to include works-in-progress and prototypes in the public program of the DocLab Exhibition. As experimental as new media can be, the motto for the public program has always been: we exhibit the work, not the potential of the work.
However, with decreasing budgets available, tech partners moving away from the arts, and increasing pressures on artists to deliver, we are seeing artists struggle to take the time needed to properly test, prototype, play, and reflect on their works. This includes both young and upcoming artists as more established artists.
Moreover, many interdisciplinary experiences cannot be meaningfully playtested remotely, and getting a critical test audience to your studio is not easy. And when doing rapid prototyping or exploring the limits of a new technology, wouldn’t it be great to do that together with some of the world’s leading and critical artists in that field?
DocLab Playroom: Formats
DocLab Playroom: How to Not Make It About AI
