International Forum on Artistic Research
17th Conference of the Society for Artistic Research (SAR)
Submission Number: 390
Submission ID: 462
Submission UUID: b5858f06-a3dd-4731-9d72-5a26a918ec07

Created: Mon, 2 Mar 2026 - 21:19
Completed: Mon, 2 Mar 2026 - 22:03
Changed: Wed, 13 May 2026 - 08:43

Remote IP address: 149.90.220.123
Submitted by: Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No
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Given name Camila
Surname Mangueira
Email camilasoares@fba.up.pt
I understand that by submitting this form, I consent to the use of my data for the purposes of the 2026 Forum on Artistic Research'. Yes
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Title Rethinking technical objects: Hands-on creative practices with historical media
Format Project presentation
Main language English
Abstract Technological changes have intensified cycles of consumption and obsolescence, while dominant narratives of digital innovation continue to obscure the material, ecological, and historical continuities of media technologies. In higher education institutions, this results in the accumulation of obsolete or partially functional technical objects, raising questions about sustainability, heritage, and the role of technical media in knowledge production. Grounded in media archaeology, critical design, and practice-based artistic research, this project presentation introduces the ongoing project Philosophical Media (PhilMe), developed at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto. PhilMe explores how historical, obsolete, and broken technical objects can be reactivated as epistemic devices within higher educational contexts. The project has identified and catalogued over 300 objects, and established a pilot collection structured through a non-hierarchical typology that articulates museological, operational, and circular modes of engagement. This framework enables research, preservation, teaching, and hands-on creative experimentation, by putting the objects in the hands of the artistic and general community. The presentation will discuss selected practices and methods emerging from this framework, including research through repair and reuse, reflection on pedagogical media collections, and teaching methodologies that promote speculative engagement with the collection. Rather than illustrating predefined categories, these practices test their limits, foregrounding materiality, maintenance, and obsolescence as productive conditions for research and learning. By articulating theory, pedagogy, and curatorial practice, the project argues that reactivation and material sensitivity can support more situated, critical, and ecologically responsible engagements with technological systems, contributing to debates on electronic art, media heritage, and sustainable futures.
Link to the Exposition https://www.researchcatalogue.net/shared/ed7ef3eec0f3745c906b6fe03f19bfc9
Image colecaoOT.jpg
Short biographies of the presenter(s)
  • Camila Mangueira is an artist, professor and researcher the Research Institute in Art, Design and Society (i2ADS), Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Porto. She coordinates the research project Philosophical Media (PhilMe), which critically explores the role of technical objects and mediations in shaping thought and the practice of the image as culture. Her work focuses on the interactions between logic, media, and image devices, examining the convergences between analog and digital from the perspectives of creative processes and media archaeology.
  • Fabrício Fava is a multidisciplinary designer and integrated researcher at the Research Institute in Art, Design and Society (i2ADS), Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Porto, where he promotes research through design. As a moderator of the interest group in Ludic Interfaces and Speculative Design, he has been exploring playful methodologies and expanding the idea of ludic design as a means to develop creative thinking.
Previous presentations or iterations of the research “Critical design practices for rethinking media ecologies”. SAR Forum, 2024. SIG 8: Facilitating as Creative Practice.
“Unfolding Technical Objects”, Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto, 2024. https://www.up.pt/philme/uto/
“Philosophical Media”. International Creation Processes Conference, Algarve University, 2025.
Additional information Nothing specific needed, it will be a traditional mode of presentation.
Spatial and technical requirements Projector and speakers.
Potential risks or ethical concerns N/A
Create a user account for SAR 2026 No