Distributed Web of Care

Announcing WYFY School with BUFU

by Taeyoon Choi

We are excited to collaborate with BUFU (By Us For Us). The WYFY (With You For You) School Board of the Wise is a free, online and IRL school for a distributed learning community. We hope to explore new models for collective learning for code, code of ethics and code of conduct, please follow the BUFU’s site for the updates.

BUFU is a unique collective of artists, designers, storytellers and organizers. I first learned about BUFU around 2016 and I’ve been following their work closely. BUFU is building cultural solidarity among QTPOC and the wider public, combining art, fashion and music, and recently through technology. BUFU’s events feel different from any other arts and technology events. There’s an electric sense of excitement and radical inclusivity. BUFU’s conceptual approach is fearless and provocative. They explore the intersections of ideas and identifications with grace. Their aesthetic practice is rich and enticing, often combining graphic elements with photo, video and online storytelling. I’m thrilled to collaborate with them and their large community.

Photos by Taeyoon Choi

I hosted the inaugural “Orientation & Co-creation” at the Data and Society Research Institute (D&S) on May 1, 2019.The video is available but forgive us about the poor sound quality. The event was a culmination of long term collaboration with the D&S team. I intended to invite BUFU community to the D&S’s space and encourage them to learn about the D&S’s research on topics such as algorithmic accountability and AI, privacy and security, truth in the age of misinformation. I also wanted my friends at the D&S to experience BUFU’s organizing style and meet their community. The Distributed Web of Care project grew out of my fellowship at the D&S between 2017 - 2018 and it has been an intellectual home for me. The researchers and fellows at the D&S are creating powerful conceptual tools to gain critical perspectives about technology. I hope artists, organizers and creative individuals can utilize their research, activate it in their practice and to empower their community. A number of D&S researchers and staff participated in the orientation event and contributed to imagining ‘dream schools’. Thanks to Rigo, Audrey, Janet, Sam, Madeline, Erica, Natalie, Eli, Shadi, Sareeta and the Data and Society family.

group photo

Distributed Web of Care is an initiative to code to care and code carefully.

The project imagines the future of the internet and consider what care means for a technologically-oriented future. The project focuses on personhood in relation to accessibility, identity, and the environment, with the intention of creating a distributed future that’s built with trust and care, where diverse communities are prioritized and supported.

The project is composed of collaborations, educational resources, skillshares, an editorial platform, and performance. Announcements and documentation are hosted on this site, as well as essays by select artists, technologists, and activists.

Distributed on Dat and GitHub.