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Open Source Abortion

Channel TWo [CH2]: Paige Treebridge (she/her), Dr. Jess Parris Westbrook (they/them)

Tags

Manifesto Critical Design Code

Geographic location

United States

Year

2014

Description

Published in 2014, Open Source Abortion was initialized as a gesture contrasting open source culture values (freedom, flexibility, distribution of power) with the ongoing (oppressive) socio-political landscape in the United States. In the spirit of amplifying access, agency, empowerment, and body autonomy, Channel TWo (CH2) shared (distributed) "A Womb of One’s Own: Taking Charge of Your Reproduction Without Doctors by Jane Doe" a document describing open source knowledge, on GitHub, the "World’s largest open source community."

Acknowledgements

Channel TWo: Paige Treebridge (she/her), Dr. Jess Parris Westbrook (they/them)

Biography

Launced in 2010 and sunsetted in 2020, Channel TWo (CH2) was an award-winning new media art and design studio. CH2 operated as a speculative media corporation and produced tactical information experiences and critical playware. Philosophically, CH2 was aligned with the concept and value of trespassing (and provocation) since its inception. CH2 was Dr. Jess Westbrook, Paige Treebridge, and Oskar Westbridge. CH2’s projects explored and challenged power, control, and security theater. We made computer virus systems, net art, interactive and networked games, innovative augmented reality experiences, while generating cognitive dissonance. We believed in using authorized formats for unauthorized ideas. Always engaging with impossibilities and steep learning curves, our DIY attitude was a pervasive feature in our approach to technology-based creative practices. CH2 was successful in all of its endeavors. Projects were exhibited/screened nationally and internationally, published on the App Store and Google Play, and featured in publications such as Leonardo (MIT Press), Motherboard (Vice), The Creators Project, Art Papers, The Intercept, and Media-N. CH2 achieved many honors and awards, including a prestigious Rhizome Commission through the New Museum.