Abstract
Free software development and the technological practices of hackers have been broadly recognised as fundamental for the formation of political cultures that foster democracy in the digital mediascape. This article explores the role of free software in the practices of digital artists, animators and technicians who work in various roles for the contemporary digital visual media industries. Rather than discussing it as a model of organising work, the study conceives free software as a production tool and shows how it becomes a locus of politics about finding material security in flexible capitalism. This politics is ultimately contradictory in that it extends creative and craft autonomy of digital artists but does not mobilise a critical project. Instead, it nurtures further precarious labour. Empirically, the article draws on ethnographically collected material from the media practices of digital artists and programmers who engage with two popular free software production tools, Blender and Synfig.
Highlights
Media practices, such as free and open source software development, and the technological experiments of hackers have been broadly recognised as fundamental for the formation of political cultures that foster democracy in the digital mediascape
The free software discussed here, Blender for 3D animation and sculpting and Synfig for 2D vector animation, were conceived as digital tools that would enable their creators to exercise a greater degree of craftsmanship, innovation and autonomy in the medium
The empirical examples discussed in this article show that free software’s role in the politics of digital media production should be understood as individual strategies to find material security and extend personal creative and craft autonomy through technological choices
Summary
Media practices, such as free and open source software development, and the technological experiments of hackers have been broadly recognised as fundamental for the formation of political cultures that foster democracy in the digital mediascape. This article seeks to broaden the scope of knowledge about the role of free software in the politics of digital media production by discussing its relevance for other actors, beyond activists, hackers or large media corporations In particular it explores its value, use and development among computer graphics artists, designers and animators who work in a wide range of roles at small advertising agencies, visual effects and computer game and film production companies for the contemporary digital media industries, while occasionally engaging in projects on free culture and independent film making. These forms of empowerment, are not mobilised to serve a broader critical political project, but represent individual pragmatic strategies to extend digital artists’ creative autonomy in the media industries or establish links of equivalence with them while nurturing further precarity
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