Methods xpub

From XPUB & Lens-Based wiki

In this series of workshops we concentrate on methods of annotation and text analysis which help us research this trimester's Special Issue. Each session has a specific outcome.

Trim 1: SI28 - Writing Machines–Protocols–Feedback

During Special Issue 28 the bi-weekly methods classes will focus on reading, note taking & documentation practice:

  • Reading texts relevant to the current Special Issue (reading groups);
  • Group discussion to establish a common vocabulary and set of references to work from;
  • Establishing an annotation, note taking and documentation practice;
  • Conducting a literature survey (personal reader): collect texts for personal reader related to SI and personal interests.
  • Editorial work (publication): use rough drafts to develop your ideas further (through copy-editing, rewriting and peer review).

Class schedule + focus of each methods class: https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/Writing_Machines%E2%80%93Protocols%E2%80%93Feedback

Our notes: Writing_Machines_Notebook

Week 0: 17-09-2025 - (annotation) writing machines

11:00 - 11:45 Intro round: how, what and why we annotate?

12:00 - 12:30 Intro to Methods: the year && Trim 1

12:30 - 13:00 Intro to first annotation exercise in 3 groups

13:00 - 14:00 LUNCH

14:00 - 15:00 Annotation exercise 

Uncreative Writing, Managing Language in the Digital Age (2011), - Introduction (p.1-14), Kenneth Goldsmith
Postprint (2021) – Introducing Postprint, N. Katherine Hayles
Writing Machines (2002) - Technotexts and Media Specific Analysis – N. Katherine Hayles

15:00 - 16:00 Reconvene and discuss exercise

Math lady.jpg 
What is your key take away from this text?
Which method(s) of annotation did you use? Why these?
How did they help you understand the text?
Which aspects of the exercise did you struggle with the most?

16:00 - 16:45 Discuss how to approach annotating and reading together, (groups (size? ppl?) and methods (when to read (beforehand or during class?), when and how to annotate)

16:45 - 17:00 Closing the day -> homework: starting your personal reader on the wiki. Reading the texts chosen by your reading group! (we'll discuss personal readers next class, 01-10!)

Personal reader examples from previous year (wiki):

(Personal) readers as pdf:

Week 2: 01-10-2025 - gathering (ouli)po(ets) - annotation & personal reader

11:00 - 13:00 Show & tell of past projects and interests

13:00 - 14:00 LUNCH

14:00 - 14:30 How to start your personal reader and intro qualitative research and role of annotation

14:30 - 15:30 (Small) group annotation (summary + evaluation + interpretation) of 2 or 3 of the following texts: 

ALL TEXTS (except Perec) CAN BE FOUND IN 'Oulipo: A Primer of Potential Literature' IN THE BOOTLEG LIBRARY! (which is currently down :'( but I shared the link to a pdf on Zulip)

Harry Mathews – Liminal Poem to Martin Gardner (c1960s)
Michael Winkler – Where Signs Resemble Thoughts (c1960s)
Raymond Queneau – A Hundred Thousand Billion Poems (1961) Here is one attempt at an online version: https://www.bullfrog117.com/school/one-hundred-thousand-billion-poems.php
Raymond Queneau –A Story as You Like It (1967) (HTML approximation here: https://www.thing.de/projekte/7:9%23/queneau_9.html)
Paul Fournel – The Theatre Tree: A Combinatory Play
Marcel Benabou – Rule of Constraint (c. 1984)
Georges Perec – The Art of Asking your Boss for a Raise (see XPUB1 methods on Zulip for epub)

15:30 - 16:30 Discussion of the annotations in small groups (as per suggestion last time)

16:30 - 17:00 Wrapping up the day!

Homework for next class: add collective annotations documentation to the wiki && start your personal reader (with a text of your choosing or adopt a SI28 text that resonates with you)

Week 4: 15-10-2025 Reflections on reflections - literature review #1

>>> no reading! Reflection and documentation week!

11:00 - 12:00 Taking stock: review of Monday's discussions, identifying and annotating key points as a group.

12:00 - 12:15 Short break!

12:15 - 13:00 Order notes taken and log decisions made

13:00 - 14:00 LUNCH

14:00 - 16:00 Documentation work session -> work on annotations that need more attention, add drifting and floating (paper/etherpad/marginalia/etc) annotations to the wiki.

HERE >>>> Writing_Machines_Notebook

Lost an etherpad? Find it here: Ethereal_Etherpad_Directory

16:00 - 16:30 Short intro to literature reviews (in connection to personal reader & research more generally).

16:30 - 17:00 Wrapping up

Homework for next session: read A Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin + start/continue personal reader!

Week 5: 29-10-2025 A bag of stars - Close reading (and editing)

>>> reading: A Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, Ursula Le Guin.

11:00 - 11:30 Introduction to today, a contemplation of how this text relates to writing machines.

11:30 - 12:30 A Carrier Bag of Annotations: small group (3 ppl) discussion and annotation of 'A Carrier Bag theory of Fiction'. How does this text relate to writing machines? How can this text inform methods for research and writing?

12:45 - 13:00 Each group briefly presents their key take away(s) to the other groups.

13:00 - 14:00 LUNCH

14:00 - 14:30 Discussion of key take aways of each group.

14:30 - 17:00 Copy-editing workshop with example text to warm up for editorial work.

Homework: adding any dangling notes to the wiki && read/watch one of the texts of week 7.

Week 7: 12-11-2025 Editorial work for SI28

11:00 - 12:00 Class meeting (if needed) including discussion on editorial work needed for 19-11.

12:00 - 13:00 Individual and group editorial work on 'A_Mazing_Machine[s]: Wordscapes To Liberate Language'

BREAK

14:00 - 15:00 Continuing editorial work! The readings have been moved to November 24+26)

15:15 - 16:00 Group review of work done and open tasks and decisions, planning next steps.

16:00 - 17:00 Individual work on personal reader and closing of the day.

Week 9: 26-11-2025 Ai AI ai - group discussion and editorial work

11:00 - 11:30 Intro to the day

11:30 - 12:30 Discussion and annotation of AI texts in small groups (see below for list)

12:30 - 13:00 Short group discussion of key take aways from each text

13:00 - 14:00 LUNCH

14:00 - 14:30 Determining editorial tasks for SI28 publication (Writing_Machines_Notebook & Writing_Machine_Directory

14:30 - 17:00 Working on texts, images, design, etc. for publication

Reading/watching: 

    * Jeannette Winterton – on AI, Alternative Intelligence and Open AI's Machine Shaped Hand (2025) https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/12/jeanette-winterson-ai-alternative-intelligence-its-capacity-to-be-other-is-just-what-the-human-race-needs
   * Is Humanity Smart Enough to Survive Itself, Jeanette Winterson, https://www.ted.com/talks/jeanette_winterson_is_humanity_smart_enough_to_survive_itself/transcript
   * Open AI – A Machine-Shaped Hand (2025): https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/12/a-machine-shaped-hand-read-a-story-from-openais-new-creative-writing-model
   * Kate Crawford – Atlas of AI (2021) – Labour
   * Marta Perano & Kate Crawford, in: (re)programming Strategies for Self-Renewal (2024) – better machines for better humans
   * Emily M. Bender & Alex Hanna – The AI Con (2025)– Leisure for Me, Gig Work for Thee:AI Hype at Work

Week 10: 10-12-2025 - SI28 publication party ・ﾟ✧

Finishing the SI28 publication and celebrating its release into the world! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

>>> Nothing to read! We'll take these suggestions with us for next trimester! 

* All Problems of Notation will be Solved by the Masses, Simon Yuill, 2008 - https://www.metamute.org/editorial/articles/all-problems-notation-will-be-solved-masses
* Jo Freeman, The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1972)?

Trim 2: SI29 - Gossiping at the Intersection of Crafts and Resistances

During Special Issue 29 the methods classes will focus on glossary writing (and thinking through questions of language, shared vocabulary, "academese", the (im)possibility of static definitions and more). Activities will include:

  • Reading core theoretical texts relevant to the course and the topics discussed in the current Special Issues;
  • Group discussion to establish a common vocabulary and set of references to work from (glossary writing);
  • Essayistic methodologies: close reading, annotation, description;
  • Research methods: conducting a literature survey, interviews, observation, auto-ethnography, polls and surveys.
  • Iterative drafting of texts (learning/thinking through writing): use rough drafts to develop your ideas further (through copy-editing, rewriting and peer review).

We will gather our G(l)oss(ary)ips on the ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Grapevine ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Week 0: 07-01-2026 - G(l)oss(ary)ips - Glossary writing introduction

Gossips in work by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564–1638)

Reading (in class! no homework during the break!) 

Silvia Federici  (2018). On the Meaning of 'Gossip'. Witches, Witch-hunting and Women. Oakland: PM Press.

Fritsch, K., O’Connor, C. and Thompson, A.K. (eds) (2016) Introduction. Keywords for Radicals: the contested vocabulary of late-capitalist struggle. Chico, CA: AK Press.

11:00 - 11:30 ✨❄️☃️🌨️ Welcome to 2026 and SI29!!! ❄️☃️🌨️✨

11:30 - 12:00 🧩 Introduction to glossary writing with the goal of establishing a common vocabulary, grounding ourselves (and our readers) in a vocabulary and critically investigating language as a site of struggle as well as an area of study that can inform your research. If not as topic, as means to communicate and position yourself.

12:00 - 13:00 📖 Reading On the meaning of 'Gossip' in Federici + the introduction of Fritsch et al.

13:00 - 14:00 LUNCH

14:00 - 16:00 ✏️ In (editorial) groups of 3/4, write one or more glossary entries and transclude them on the Grapevine.

16:00 - 17:00 🔥 Discussion of entries and wrapping up the day.


Output: first G(l)oss(ary)ips on the ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Grapevine ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙


HOMEWORK I: Read Jo Freeman and 2 reviews of your choice (see next class). If you haven't finished reading Fritsch et al. please do so before next session.

HOMEWORK II: Sign up (if you want to join) for the data centre visit on Monday 26-01 at 10:00 am: https://pad.xpub.nl/p/gettingintofightswithdatacentres26012026

Week 2: 21-01-2026 - Reviewing the reviews - Literature review #2

Reading: 

Jo Freeman (1972). The Tyranny of Structurelessness. The Second Wave vol. 2, no. 1. (online version: https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm)
Two reviews (of your choice) of The Tyranny of Structurelessness.

11:00 - 17:00 Why and how to do a literature review, with focus on finding key texts, situating the writer (field and background), reading both a text and reviews to situate a text through multiple perspectives, writing a short summary and reflection through a glossary entry.

11:00 - 11:30 🔄 group check-in & set goals for the day

11:30 - 12:00 👁️‍🗨️ brief intro to literature review && reviewing the reviews

12:00 - 13:00 ✏️ discussion of the text and the reviews, find your 'keyword'

⏳ big break

14:00 - 16:00 🖐️ writing glossary entries based on the texts that were read

16:00 - 16:30 ✳️ group wrap up & plan for next class

HOMEWORK:

1. For 26-01 data centre tour: Please read "Getting into fights with data centers: Or, a modest proposal for reframing the climate politics of ICT" (2023). You can download it here: https://geoz.one/zines/data-centres/

2. For 4 Feb: please read the chapter 'Some Problems with Scale' in The Mushroom at the End of the World, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing (2015).

Week 4: 04-02-2026 - (inter)<->views - Interviews and ethics

Reading: 

 'Some Problems with Scale' in The Mushroom at the End of the World, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing (2015).

11:00 - 17:00 Why and how to do interviews, and how to do so ethically. We'll write interview questions, interview each other and write an entry to the grapevine.

11:00 - 11:30 🔄 group check-in & set goals for the day.

11:30 - 12:00 👁️‍🗨️ brief intro to interviews and ethics.

12:00 - 13:00 ✏️ discussion of the text and writing interview questions.

⏳ big break

14:00 - 16:00 🖐️ interviewing and writing a glossary entry based on findings.

16:00 - 16:30 ✳️ group wrap up & plan for next class

HOMEWORK: Please read:

  • Donna Haraway, Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective, Feminist Studies Vol. 14, No. 3 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 575-599.
  • Saidiya Hartman (2008), Venus in two acts. Small Axe, Number 26 (Volume 12, Number 2), June 2008, pp. 1-14.

Week 7: 25-02-2026 - "I am not here!" - Observation, critical fabulation and peer review

Reading: 

Donna Haraway, Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective, Feminist Studies Vol. 14, No. 3 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 575-599.

Saidiya Hartman (2008), Venus in two acts. Small Axe, Number 26 (Volume 12, Number 2), June 2008, pp. 1-14.

11:00 - 17:00 How to use observation and critical fabulation as research methodology for data gathering, with a focus on the role of participant-observer and the practicalities (note taking, documentation) and ethics of that position. Gaining insight into peer review as a process of gathering and giving feedback (generosity, collective knowledge building, constructive critique).

11:00 - 11:30 🔄 review of interviews and glossary entries & set goals for the day.

11:30 - 12:00 👁️‍🗨️ brief intro to observation as participant-observer and peer review.

12:00 - 13:00 ✏️ discussion of the texts and determining what to observe (preparing for field work)

⏳ big break

14:00 - 16:00 🖐️ field work: observing, note taking and expanding glossary entries based on this.

16:00 - 16:30 ✳️ group wrap up & plan for next class


HOMEWORK: Please read Yuill, S. (2008). All Problems of Notation will be Solved by the Masses. Available at: https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mw-mediadesign/images/f/f4/Problemsofnotation.pdf and Femke Snelting's Awkward gestures: Designing with Free Software, Available here: https://freeze.sh/_/2008/awkward/#

Week 9: 11-03-2026 - "I am here" - auto-ethnography

Reading: 

Yuill, S. (2008). All Problems of Notation will be Solved by the Masses. Available at: https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mw-mediadesign/images/f/f4/Problemsofnotation.pdf

Snelting, F. (2008). Awkward gestures: Designing with Free Software. Available at: https://freeze.sh/_/2008/awkward/#

11:00 - 17:00 Auto-ethnography as research method, with a focus on documentation of your own (collective or individual) practice.

11:00 - 11:30 🔄 group check-in & set goals for the day and discuss public versus private note taking!

11:30 - 12:00 👁️‍🗨️ brief intro to auto-ethnography and documentation.

12:00 - 13:00 ✏️ discussion of the texts and a bit of group research: ask each of the members of your editorial group with which 3 keywords they would describe your practice, then do the same but about your own practice.

⏳ big break

14:00 - 16:00 🖐️ 2 options: A) take time to document your workshop, or... B) write a short text based on these keywords (found before the break) about your (current) practice, include images, recordings or other media. Answer 1) what you have been making, 2) how you did it (method), 3) why you do this (motivation) and 4) what other artists/writers/makers/etc. you feel your work relates to.

16:00 - 16:30 ✳️ group wrap up & plan for next class

Week 11: 25-03-2026 - a, b or c - Polls and surveys

Reading: 

Fuller, M. (2008). Introduction, The Stuff of Software, in: Software Studies: a lexicon. Cambridge and London: The MIT Press. Available at: the bootleg library.

Mansoux, A. (2025). Nothing in Commons: the end of digital collective ownership? Available at: https://www.collectiefeigendom.nl/en/ownership/digital-collective-ownership

11:00 - 17:00 When and how to use polls or surveys in your research. Understanding the different value of a survey versus an interview (spoiler: larger sample size but more superficial information).

11:00 - 11:30 🔄 group check-in & set goals for the day.

11:30 - 12:00 👁️‍🗨️ brief intro to polls, surveys and gathering stories.

12:00 - 13:00 ✏️ discussion of the texts and writing a survey related to the texts, to be circulated after lunch.

⏳ big break

14:00 - 16:00 🖐️ There are 2 options: A) take time to document your workshop, or... B) circulate your survey and publish a glossary entry (with consent!) based on the results.

16:00 - 16:30 ✳️ group wrap up & plan for next trimester!

Trim 3: SI30

During Special Issue 30 the methods classes will focus on (re)writing Projects that May or May not be Made (PMOMMs) and the personal reader;

  • Reading core theoretical texts relevant to you;
  • Conducting literature survey (personal reader): filter what is relevant to your research and create comparative pieces of analysis;
  • Iterative drafting of texts (learning/thinking through writing) through "Projects that May Or May not be Made" (PMOMMs) and personal reader:
    • developing a method of drafting texts,
    • use rough drafts to develop your ideas further (through copy-editing, rewriting and peer review)
    • structure your use of notes and references;
  • Writing descriptions, analysis and contextualisation of your own (collective) practice (for personal reader and PMOMMs).

Class schedule: to be announced!

Methods resources

Methods archive

Link to Methods archive: Methods xpub archive

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