Restart Party

Coinciding with the exhibition Gameplay, we devote a space to discussion about some of the principal socio-environmental, economic and legal conflicts that emerge during the lifetime of our electronic appliances. The session concludes with a workshop to learn how to repair consoles and reflect on our responsibility for ecological and economic savings.

11:30 Debate about the video game industry and electronic waste
With Blanca Callén, co-founder of Associació Restarters BCN, an organisation devoted to promoting alternatives to programmed obsolescence. In this session, we’ll be looking at some of the ways we, as citizens, can address the growing problem of electronic waste.

12:00 – 14:00 Restart Party. Console repair workshop
Facilitated by Associació Restarters BCN. The video game industry generates many associated technological needs, different models of consoles and appliances needed to play and enjoy the gaming experience. These devices do break, but there is sometimes a way to extend their useful life by means of a simple repair.

Sign up for the Restart Party and bringing your broken console. Volunteers with technical skills will help you learn to repair it in a casual community setting. Participants must sign up in advance for the activity. When you arrive with your broken appliance, a volunteer host will direct you to the right volunteer technician to try and solve the problem. You’ll take part in the process of repairing your console.

This activity marks the start of a collaboration between the master’s degree in Contemporary Philosophical Challenges of the UOC and the CCCB with the aim of promoting hybrid reflection by the humanities and technology as an essential tool for thinking about our present.