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Wanna get hands on designing creative and critical technologies with others in Berlin after hours?
• February - May 2026, evenings 18--21h
• In-Person at School of Machines in Berlin, Mitte
• Small class of participants
• Certificate of Completion
• No prior experience necessary
• Join our info Session 5. December 17-19h! at Veteranenstr. 21, 5. Flr.
Choose from two courses
Tuesdays: Creative Coding & Electronic Mischief
Thursdays: Homegrown Tools & Self-Hosted Infrastructures
course
description
School of Machines After Hours is a 14-week university level program with two courses to choose from, each consisting of lectures, class discussions, and hands-on workshopping supplemented by optional readings. After Hours is choose your own adventure: you can select one of two complementary courses, or join both of them for a full cohesive program.
Course 1: Creative Coding & Electronic Mischief led by contemporary artist and activist Grayson Earle focuses on media making, electronics and creative misuses of technology for art and activism.
Course 2: Homegrown Tools & Self-Hosted Infrastructures led by media artist and educator Sarah Grant focuses on developing your own digital tools - from self-hosted servers, networks and AI systems to custom scripts and alternative infrastructure.
By the end of the program, everyone will have worked toward developing a collection of interactive artworks and/or self-hosted tools and infrastructure that complements their practice. Together in each course, students will each develop a personalized toolkit that, depending which course you join, may consist of custom hardware, electronics, physical controllers, servers, networks, AI systems, communication tools, and new ways of thinking about digital creativity and autonomy.
Class time will consist of both discussions and hands-on workshop sessions. Lectures will provide context on movements toward technological self-sufficiency and the politics of infrastructure. Workshop sessions will serve as practical introductions to the software and hardware needed for building our own systems. Outside of class, we will have suggested readings to help deepen our understanding of concepts learned in class and guest lectures which students from both courses are invited to attend.
Throughout the course, students will have the opportunity to ask questions, share ideas, and receive feedback on their work as we progress. Ultimately the goal is to gain both the technical skills and conceptual framework to build, maintain, and share digital tools that assist us in our creative and activist practices alongside a new community of friends and future collaborators.
In this program you’ll explore
Creative and critical perspectives on visual, interactive, electronic and networked communications
Hands-on individual and collaborative group work
Critical and conceptual development of projects for group public exhibition at programs end
A variety of guest speakers with varying perspectives and relevant practices around critical tools and technologies
Mentorship, project feedback and professional development for artists and creatives
Use of School of Machines/Make-Believe Studio workspaces and equipment outside of class hours
An opportunity for personal and political introspection and self-reflection with others
An amazing network and community of like-minded creative beings and potential future collaboration
courses
Creative Coding & Electronic Mischief
Tuesdays, 3. February - 8. May
This course takes a practical approach to media making, focusing on the creative misuse of technology for art and activism. The goal is to become critical makers who understand and can manipulate the systems around us. We will avoid corporate software in favor of a DIY/open-source framework, building our own tools around our ideas. Over fourteen weeks, the curriculum builds toward a final project where students create works that blur the boundaries between digital and physical space. We will bridge the gap between hardware and software starting with basic electronics and 3D fabrication, and evolving into complex systems where the physical world speaks to the virtual.
Learning Objectives
Develop a critical maker mindset to deconstruct and manipulate technological systems.
Learn to build custom physical instruments and controllers from scratch.
Gain the coding literacy required to creatively use and misuse digital tools.
Understand the workflow between physical inputs (sensors) and digital outputs (software/audio/video).
Create projects that facilitate bidirectional communication between the physical and virtual worlds.
Core Technical Areas
Physical computing and electronics (Arduino, sensors, actuators).
Digital fabrication (3D modeling and 3D printing).
Creative coding and software integration.
Communication protocols (MIDI, Serial, network messaging).
Projection mapping and video manipulation.
Automation and bot creation (Discord API).
General internet mischief and open-source tool usage.
Homegrown Tools & Self-Hosted Infrastructures
Thursdays, 5. February - 8. May
This course explores how to develop your own digital tools - from self-hosted services to custom scripts and alternative infrastructure. Moving beyond being passive users of corporate platforms, we'll learn to set up our own servers, networks, AI systems, and communication tools. Questions around control of data, software, hardware and infrastructure will be tied to larger themes of autonomy, resilience, and community self-sufficiency. An ethos of artistry and activism will be infused throughout as students develop their own toolkit of custom tools, self-hosted services, and alternative infrastructure.
Learning Objectives
Gain foundational command line skills and systems administration knowledge
Learn to set up and manage your own web servers and self-hosted applications
Understand how to run your own local AI/LLM infrastructure
Build alternative communication networks (mesh, peer-to-peer, radio)
How to identify which tools serve your practice and assemble them into your own personalized toolkit
Core Technical Areas
Command line interface and basic scripting
Self-hosted web servers and applications (Yunohost)
Local knowledge management (Obsidian)
Self-hosted LLMs (Ollama) and integration strategies
Mesh networking (Meshtastic)
Peer-to-peer protocols (IPFS)
Radio communication and alternative networks
Embedded computing with Raspberry Pi
Additional tools and topics based on student needs and collective curiosity
who are these
classes for?
This program is for you if you want to understand how the systems you rely on actually work, to explore the creative potential of these technologies in your practice, or gain the skills to build and maintain alternatives that serve your communities. No previous experience is necessary, although a willingness to go behind the GUI and get your hands dirty will help you get the most out of this course.
Plan for approximately 5 - 8 hours per week including class time, readings, and project development.
about this IRL program
Classes are 'in-person' meaning that they will be taking place at School of Machines in Berlin, Mitte. Students are invited to use the School of Machines studio workspace outside of class hours for school work, project completion, and collaboration during operational hours from 10am - 6pm.
about fees
Artist/Student (Full Time)*
€1350 until 1. January, regular fee €1550
Freelancer*
€1450 until 1. January, regular fee €1650
Professional*
€1650 until 1. January, regular fee €1750
Generous Supporter Ticket*
€1750 until 1. January, regular fee €1850
*Fees above are for one course only and increase on 2. January. 10% discount if you join both courses. Inquire for details.
We are a small organisation with no outside funding and like many, we are also in survival mode. We depend on tuition fees for reimbursing class instructors, space fees, and operational costs. As we are a non-profit organization, our course fees are tax-deductible. Monthly payment plans are available. Additionally, 10% discounts are offered 1) if you sign up for both evening courses 2) if you sign-up together with a friend/colleague. Please get in touch with us to inquire.
For specific questions, please email us and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. <3
about
scholarships
We are happy to be offering two hardship scholarships, one scholarship per course for this 14-week professional program. These scholarships are reserved for women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ who would otherwise be unable to attend due to the cost of the program. Application is below! The deadline to apply is Monday, 22. December. Application below.
meet the profs
Sarah Grant
Media Artist, Educator
Sarah Grant is an American media artist and educator based in Berlin at the Weise7 studio. She is also the Visiting Professor of New Media at the Kunsthochschule Kassel and founder of the interactive media studio Cosmic.Berlin. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Fine Art from UC Davis and a Masters in Media Arts from New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program.
Her teaching and arts practice focuses on the electromagnetic spectrum and computer networks, considering these media as artistic material, habitat, and political landscape. Since 2015, she has organized the Radical Networks conference in New York and Berlin, a community event and arts festival for critical investigations and creative experiments in telecommunications. She is currently a Digital Fellow at the Weizenbaum-Institut in Berlin.
Grayson Earle
Contemporary Artist, Activist
Grayson Earle is a contemporary artist and activist from the United States. His work deals with the role that digital technologies and networks play in protest and political agency. He is known for his guerrilla video projections as a member of The Illuminator, a guerrilla video projection collective, and Bail Bloc, a computer program that posts bail for low-income people. His art and research has been presented at the Whitney Museum of American Art, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, and the Singapore Art Museum.
He is currently an artist in residence at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig and a scholarship holder at The New Centre for Research & Practice.
studio@graysonearle.com | @prismspecs
Rachel Uwa
Artist, Educator
Rachel Uwa is an artist and educator with a background in audio engineering and visual effects. She founded the School of Machines, Making & Make-Believe in Berlin, Germany in 2014, an independent school hovering at the intersection of art, technology, design, and human connection. Rachel specializes in working with communities and through her work aims to make the technical sector more diverse and inclusive. She uses technology as a catalyst to encourage others to become more critically-minded, and more deeply engaged with their surroundings and with themselves.
