Center for Technological Pain (CTP) is a mock company created by Dasha Ilina that offers DIY and Open Source solutions to health problems caused by digital technologies, such as smartphones and laptops. CTP questions the negative effects of technology on the human body through physical objects, self-defense techniques against technology and yoga moves, as well as workshops. Among some of the objects proposed by the center are mechanical glasses that prevent eyestrain, a headset that liberates your hands when using your smartphone, thus eliminating neck pain, and a headband that regularly pours eyedrops in your eyes to avoid dryness.

Center for Technological Pain offers multiple practices for eliminating tech pain. The objects are tangible solutions, made to quickly prevent the pain that can be caused by technology, while genuinely solving the problems they address. Instructions on how the objects proposed by the center are built, help to ensure that anyone with the right materials at home is able to recreate the objects. Simultaneously, workshops organized by the center allow for a guided exchange of skills and ideas, as well as a critical discussion about the negative effects of technology on the body. As a further means of investigation into the subject of addiction to technology, CTP proposes Self- Defense Moves Against Technology. These moves are a set of tactics of resistance against our own digital aids and are based on and adapted from real self-defense practice. For those looking for a less radical solution, CTP also offers Yoga for Healthy Phone Use, a routine for becoming one with your phone. This routine is at once a relaxation tool: a way to meditate and exercise while keeping up with recent updates from your friends; and a way to ridicule our obsessive media consumption by inserting our phones into one of the most solitary activities.

Links: http://centerfortechpain.com/

Special thanks to: Niklas Ayris, Amanda Lewis, Ice Baibolov, Morgan Kim, Jac Capra, Benjamin Gaulon
With support from: Simplon.co

Dasha Ilina (RU) is a digital artist based in Paris. Her work explores the relationship we develop with the digital devices we use on a daily basis, specifically with regard to the human body. Ilina's work centers around the notions of care and technology, DIY practices, and low-tech solutions to examine various issues such as phone addiction, tech-related health problems, and privacy in the digital age. She is the founder of the Center for Technological Pain, a center that proposes DIY solutions for health problems caused by digital technologies. She is also the co-director of NØ SCHOOL.