Critical Coding
The digital environment is in constant flux. Technology permeates everyday life with increasing speed. What was just visible disappears behind opaque surfaces. Digital platforms permanently connect people with one another, while data is casually exchanged for information. The more complex, smaller, and invisible technology becomes, the less comprehensible its inner workings appear. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence and synthetically generated content, questions about roles in the context of this transformation become ever more pressing.
Design operates at intersections: between human and machine, between analog and digital, between visible surface and hidden functionality. Interfaces, backgrounds, and interconnections are analyzed, researched, and shaped. The focus Critical Coding approaches digital transformation from two perspectives: on the one hand, changes are critically observed, analyzed, and examined; on the other, a practice emerges in the sense of a craft, one that produces its own digital tools. In this process, code, devices, and software are used experimentally; experiences are shared, open-source tools are employed, and self-directed forms of learning are cultivated.
The term “tool” is broadly defined—not only as a script that generates algorithmic forms on the screen, but also as a link in the transformation from input to output. Critical Coding does not necessarily qualify participants for professional programming but does impart fundamental skills to actively engage in digital developments.