“Institutions as a Way of Life was a research project organized by Bernhard Garnicnic, Lucie Kolbcand Jamie Allen in the Critical Media Lab of the Institute of Experimental Design and MediacCultures, which is attached to the School of Arts of the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, in Basel. The aim of IWL was briefly to ‘elaborate and explore perspectives on institutional practices’ by focusing on several specific themes which, at thecoutset of the project, included feminism, technology, individuation, dividuation, performance and publishing. Besides addressing these topics, Garnicnic, Kolb and Allen also set down some basic guidelines for the research. One or two collaborators were invited to compile a selection of bibliography that would offer insightful perspectives on each one of the selected themes.
Compilers were expected to present their bibliographic selections before a small group of participants who would join the discussions that followed as part of a workshop. The goal of this three-step procedure – selection, presentation, discussion – was not only to share sources within the group and evaluate their relevance, but also to produce ‘annotated’ versions of the chosen essays.
From the beginning, however, the answer to the question about what specific method(s) of ‘annotation’ were to be used was left intentionally blurred and, therefore, open: annotating might take many different forms – known or as yet unknown – as long as it enriched every essay with new layers for interpretation and productive comments…”