Hackers

Not long after the Christmas turkey leftovers have been polished off, the Chaos Communication Congress (CCC) [1] calls its devotees to Hamburg, Germany. This jaunt at the turn of the year is a mandatory part of the calendar for many a hacker, tinkerer, artist, and activist. The multiple-day educational event from December 27 to 30, 2015, attracted around 12,000 guests – too many, said some, whereas others were delighted to see such a varied cross-section of the community in attendance.

At the Congress

Although made up of a different breed of hackers in the early days, C3 conferences today are a meeting place for people from all walks of life who experiment with technology in various contexts, trying out new techniques and pushing boundaries. The gathering is about experiencing and demanding individual freedom and collaborating with other people. One of these collaborations is the Congress itself, which is a purely community-organized event – much like the Burning Man Festival [2], which has been around for a similar length of time.

The amount of work the organizers commit to the four days of the conference is amazing. The complete work is more than the sum of complex installations on the first floor, such as a working pneumatic dispatch system, or an enormous tree backdrop; it also comprises individual performances, like the one by Darsha Hewitt: In a very entertaining musical performance, she composed music with the help of 20 oscillators in a 20-minute session [3]. Hacking means being creative in your use of technology, which was accomplished both by the numerous works of art that played with the topic of technology and by the 7,000-square meter party arena with its sophisticated design, including a parked RV that recalled the sci-fi parody "Spaceballs."

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