Dušan Barok

Dušan Barok is an artist, writer and cultural activist involved in critical practise in the fields of software, art, and theory. Born in Bratislava, he is currently based in Rotterdam. He graduated in information technologies in Bratislava (DI, 2002), and Networked Media from the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam (MA, 2012). He founded and ran a Slovak online culture portal Koridor (1999-2002). In 2003 he co-founded BURUNDI media lab and organised there a series of Translab evenings. Developed an open source tool for online group-help, backstage, and a number of websites and online databases for artistic, cultural and educational organisations. Together with Magdaléna Kobzová he organised a two-week long Summer Open Academy in Bratislava, a workshop-based event bringing together people from arts, technology, media and humanities (2006 & 2007). Since 2004 he has been involved in organisation of Multiplace network culture festival, 2007-2009 as a festival coordinator. Since 2008 together with Peter Gonda he has been running a free art server Sanchez. In 2004 he initiated a wiki-based portal Monoskop for a collaborative research of media art and culture; in 2009 together with Tomáš Kovács started a free access living archive of writings on art, culture, and media technologies Monoskop Log; and has conducted research of history of media art and culture in East-Central Europe. In 2012 he co-founded an artist collective La Société Anonyme. Collaborations with OKNO, Atrakt Art (3/4 magazine), 13m3, Col-me, Satori, Artlist, and others. Taught interactive media at Prague College (2006). Guest lectured at AKU Banská Bystrica, MU Brno, FaVU Brno, FAMU Prague.

Selected works

FaceLeaks (2010), Computer with a Printer (2006), Matrica slovenská (2006), 22.2.2001 (2001).

Selected articles

• Interviews with Diana McCarty, Michal Murin, Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits, Călin Man. 3/4 magazine 27-28, 2012. (English/Slovak)
• Monoskop talks: Michal Murin, Monoskop 1. (Slovak)
• "Bitcoin: censorship-resistant currency and domain name system to the people", July 2011.
• "Privatising Privacy: Trojan Horse in Free Open Source Distributed Social Platforms", May 2011.
• "Sourced in, unsourced out: Leaking as common knowledge production", May 2011.
• "Web Time", May 2010.
• "On participatory art. Interview with Claire Bishop", A2 cultural bi-weekly, 2009. (English/Czech)
• "On Culture of Networks", Multiplace brochure, 2007. (English/Slovak)
• "Node.London. Analysis of season of media arts in London", 2007.
• "Talk with Dirk Paesmans (jodi.org)", 3/4 magazine 20, 2006. (English/Slovak)
• Dušan Barok, Magdaléna Kobzová (eds.), Save Before It's Gone, 2006. Includes interviews with Dirk Paesmans, Maja Kuzmanovic, Darko Fritz, and Andrei Smirnov.
• "The machine is an idea that art makes. Conversation with a network artist Guy van Belle", 3/4 magazine 19, 2005. (English/Slovak)
• "Net.art. Internet as artistic medium", 3/4 magazine 1/2001. (Slovak)
• "Zden Hlinka. Interview with a visual code artist", Koridor.sk arts culture media server, 2001. (Slovak)

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