What is the 0x Salon? At the Salon we are working tirelessly to unlearn any possible answer to this question. New beginnings are our end, and openness is our means. The Salon is a meeting point for methodologies, a site for distinct disciplines and epistemologies to connect, however casually, for conversation among friends.
Discursive knowledge sharing and production is a key aim for salonniers and organisers. One could think of it as an epistemological skunkworks where nothing is forbidden and nothing is required beyond a spirit of enquiry. Since 2020, the 0x Salon has been meeting at Berlin’s storied Trust workspace, itself a haven for artists, designers, and technologists striving to move in new directions beyond their disciplines. Trust provides the backdrop for the broad and encompassing discussions that the Salon fosters. As the Salon seeks to provide a minimally prescribed forum for intellectuals from various disciplines to think freely without formality and the often siloed approach of academia, we employ Chatham House Rules for every salon, ensuring anonymity to all involved so that participants can have the confidence to question all answers (and even all questions) without fear or favour.
Salonniers are a very diverse group of thinkers and creators. They include the editors of scholarly journals, hackers, writers, designers, philosophers, artists, and other curious spirits moving along their own paths. While organisers have experience in both traditional and avant garde knowledge production settings, ranging from convening academic conferences to publishing zines, curating events ranging from arts festivals to academic conferences and warehouse raves, the imperative to constantly open and renew discursive pathways supersedes all methodological shibboleths.
Salon topics are selected in discussion between fellows, residents, and conveners. Technology, spirituality, cryptography, and political and philosophical topics have all been the subjects of Salons in the past, and we will always be looking toward the horizon, and beyond it, to examine the forces and ideologies that shape the contemporary world. Salons usually involve a mixture of moderated peer discussion with informal presentations and provocations brought by Salon organisers. In the aftermath of Salons, we write up and publish overviews of key themes and insights (always respecting Chatham House anonymity). Examples of recent Salon topics can be found here.
We are proud of the active, vibrant community of researchers, theorists, thinkers, over thinkers, and assorted minds that have made up the Salon community to date. We regularly publish work here on our website from community participants. These have included poetic, memetic, theoretical, satirical, and even scriptural outputs. We are always inspired to see the directions participants in the Salons have taken the ideas incubated there. If you are interested in becoming part of the community drop us a message at the0xsalon [at] gmail [dot] com, bump into us on Twitter or Instagram, or keep up to date with our monthly newsletter Sweeping Statements.
