Digital Craftsmanship.

Abstract

The dissertation undertakes a transdisciplinary study, investigating the ethics and methodology of the hacker subculture while examining its potential for cultural heritage conservation. Throughout this study, ethical principles from the hacker subculture (Levy 1984; Stallman 2012) are compared with programmatic approaches of conservation-restoration principles and examined for their analogies. This work is based on the thesis that "hacking" can be defined as a craft (Steinmetz 2016, Coleman 2013, Sennett 2008), positing that it is a cultural practice with specific characteristics. Additionally, it introduces a discussion on the tension between action and identity within the hacker subculture.
An initial research subject of the dissertation is a recursive cycle of disruption and creation—paradigms that allow objects or concepts to be  deconstructed, broken into fragments, understood, and then reassembled, expanded, or supplemented to foster innovation. Analogous to hackers who metaphorically peek behind closed doors through transgressive acts, conservators-restorers can also be seen as transgressive actors. Their conservation-restoration actions often take place behind the scenes in museums and institutions. The desired information is sometimes enigmatic or fragmented due to weathering and decay, often multilayered encrypted, inaccessible, protected, or only partially available.
In this recursive cycle, conservators-restorers are participants, consumers, and bearers of the immaterial components of the cycle. When this immaterial good—skills and knowledge—is considered a business model and thus protected, conservators-restorers are also pushed into the role of opposition. Consequently, the dissertation adopts a critical stance towards the promotion or support of proprietary, and thus unfree, information. The tension between individualism and collectivism in the self-definition of hackers directly touches on issues of authorship, self-determination, creativity, and intellectual property rights, which are also relevant to conservators-restorers.

Short biography

Sabina Simonič is a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Conservation and Restoration, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. Specializing in modern and contemporary art conservation, she has excelled as a freelance conservator since 2003. Between 2009 and 2012, Sabina served as chairwoman at the first Austrian Hackerspace: Metalab and subsequently became a founding member of the pioneering feminist Hackerspace, Mz Baltazar’s Lab highlighting her commitment to fostering inclusive tech communities. She represents professional interests within the field of conservation while also extending her dedication beyond the practical work itself. She holds the position of Vice President at Berufsverband Österreichischer Restauratorinnen und Restauratoren (ÖRV), additionally she's a board member at European Network for Conservation-Restoration Education (ENCoRE) and represents Austria as the Delegate of the European Confederation of Conservators-Restorers' Organisations (E.C.C.O.).