Mz* Baltazar's Laboratory

Mz*Baltazar's Lab aims at generating a culture of fearless making! An environment that fosters creativity, activism and provocative thinking! We try to build an accessible, inclusive, open, safer and radical space, from which to evolve as people and as community. Open Source Technology is at the root of our philosophy, it enables us to share and collaborate without restrictions. We need this space to experiment with things as gender, hardware or our selves.

"We identify as intersectional feminists, and we come from a variety of educational backgrounds. The lab is intended as a safer space for people who have traditionally been excluded from or have felt unsafe in spaces where science is taught, or technology is being used, and we invite those people (women, and trans* individuals) to participate or give workshops that bring together technology, art, and have a critical understanding of social structures. Our exhibitions and events are open to all audiences, and are intended to support women* in the broad sense of the political terms, and those who work on feminist issues, empowerment, and overturning patriarchy.

As a collective we are more or less fluid in our composition. Some of us travel a lot, others need to take care of families and friends, and almost all of us have some paying job. We therefore are flexible and try to support each other in whatever journeys we set out on. We come from a variety of linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and some of us have lived in Vienna longer than others. Working on, in, and with the collective is a fruitful experience, and a challenge, and we are always happy to meet people interested in working with the collective in whatever capacity they can." (2024)

Currently (August 2024) the collective is composed of:

Lale Rodgarkia-Dara – Experimentelle Klangkünstlerin, Lehrerin und Authorin / Sound artist, lecturer and author

Patrícia J. Reis – Medien Künstlerin, Forscherin und Lehrerin / media artist, researcher and lecturer

Anna Watzinger – Medien Künstlerin und Lehrerin / media artist and lecturer

Olivia Jaques – Künstlerin, Forscherin und Lehrerin/ artist, researcher and lecturer

Nicole Sabella – Medien Künstlerin, Lehrerin und Professorin, media artist, lecturer and Professor

Founded 2009.

Links

• https://www.mzbaltazarslaboratory.org/
• http://creatingcommons.zhdk.ch/feminist-hackspace/