Along with educational creative coding workshops for professionals and aspiring coders, NODE Forum also hosts a kids program. The program includes introductory creative technology workshops, Jugend Hackt (“the youth hacks”) for young coders, guided tours through the festival, and other activities.

The program is always complemented by nightly media art performances and an exhibition that encourages visitors to reflect on the edition’s leitmotif by offering an extensive mediation program. The mediation program is designed to stimulate an open exchange and enable visitors of all ages to take part.

Each NODE edition aims at broadening and further stimulating current discussions on the use of digital media and attracts a diverse crowd. Creative technologists, curious makers, and thinkers from design, architecture, philosophy, science, and the arts take part, contribute to the community and interact with each other.

The symposium

In 2015 and 2017 MESO partner Sebastian Oschatz personally took over the curation of the symposium as a volunteer. His focus is addressing the relevance of code and design for the general public in a participatory format.

Community talks

One of the most popular events within the NODE week is curated and moderated by MESO partner Max Wolf. The Patcher Kucha, a modified version of the well-received Japanese “pitch format”, invites the audience to present and debate their ideas, whether they’re already successfully implemented, or just a prototype for a crazy idea. It’s a great opportunity to connect with the international scene of creative technologists.

Workshops

Johannes Scherg of MESO and Joreg and Rosi Grillmair curated the educational program comprising more than 60 workshops in 2017.

Direction

For NODE17, Johanna Teresa Wallenborn directed the festival edition NODE Designing Hope together with Jeanne Charlotte Vogt. Shortly after, she joined the MESO team.

Sharing knowledge

Over the years, our team has contributed to many creative coding workshops, such as “Programming Industrial Robots” or “3D Rendering in Real-time”.

The educational program provides a fertile bed for our transdisciplinary roots and ambitions. The learned skills are in turn then reapplied in commercial projects.

Exhibiting research

In 2017, MESO brought “Who Wants to be a Self Driving Car” to life in collaboration with moovel Lab. The vehicle enabled people to see the world through the eyes of a futuristic autonomous car. NODE Forum provides an exceptional platform to present research and receive feedback for speculative prototypes.

Co-Producing Events

Countless other team members have also supported and helped to produce NODE editions, not only as part of the sponsoring, but also by volunteering year-round, strengthening the partnership between NODE and MESO.

Infrastructural support

MESO provides computers and other hardware for the extensive workshop program for each festival edition. For example, Anna Rack and Timon Skerutsch implemented a real-time data digital signage system across three venues which guided visitors through the current and upcoming programs.