PATERSON Andrew Gryf/BIO

EN

I represent myself as an 'artist-organiser', cultural producer, educator and independent researcher. I am specialised in developing and leading inter- and trans- disciplinary projects exploring connections between art, digital culture and science, cultural activism, ecological and sustainability movements, cultural heritage and collaborative networks. I am experienced in coordinating and facilitating participatory-open workshops for multi-disciplinary professionals, students & young people.

I am from central Scotland, grew up and lived there until 2000, however I have been based in Helsinki and Eastern-Baltic Sea region since the end of 2002. I consider myself a Commons activist working from within the cultural sector. As a personal example I also contribute as much of my artistic-research work to the Cultural Knowledge Commons, archiving media and documents to http://archive.org/details/@agryfp

My main involvement of recent years has been with Pixelache Helsinki [1] node of International Pixelache Network. From early 2011 until end of 2014, I was coordinator and facilitator of the 'Pixelversity' around-the-year informal educational programme for Pixelache. I am currently involved in their ongoing work-group project 'Ferment Lab' (2015-), and as a board-member self-allocated responsibility for international networks and archival processes. In Finland I am also a member of Open Knowledge Foundation Finland, focused on OpenGLAM topics, and also Finnish Bioart Society, which has a strong ecological & environmentalist focus in art+science.

Looking ahead am currently planning projects for 2017 in Helsinki FI, Minsk BY, Riga-Liepaja-Aizpute LV, Dortmund DE, & Strasbourg FR. All more or less relate to participatory or commons-based peer-production.

In direct relation to the Commons topic I have taken part in one European Commons 'Deep Dive' gathering in early December 2012, and also the ' Economics and the Commons Conference ECC' in Berlin conference of May 2013, both organised by the Commons Strategies Group. In collaboration with Andrea Botero & Joanna Saad-Sulonen, we edited in Helsinki a document called 'Towards Peer-production in Public Services: Cases from Finland', Crossover 15/2012. Helsinki: Aalto University, 2012 [which can be accessed here: http://co-p2p.mlog.taik.fi/book-2012/ ]. I have also written in 2010 about the connections between rural cooperative traditions and network culture: http://affinitiesjournal.org/index.php/affinities/article/view/51

I am very much interested in migrant epistemologies and refugee hospitality & facilitation subjects, and out of the many topics presented in the Assembly, I will try to focus my contributions in the Assembly on the role of artists and cultural workers in contributing to Commons transitions, and to any migrant or cultural heritage topics.