::Project by Naoto Hieda (Tallinn University)::
The project card.glitches.me, which merges the web technology with embodied dance practices, began its trajectory by evolving the format of collectible cards created as Naoto’s artistic practice since 2022. Initially, these cards resembled trading cards with printed photos, often centered around my autobiographical content and personal memory.
Since I started my journey as a PhD student at Tallinn University in 2024, I started conversations with fellow dancers and artists around the question: how can we co-design an online platform for asynchronous, distributed collaboration in dance? This year, in 2025, I decided to adapt the artistic cards in order to develop the current hybrid format: small, physical blank cards designed for quick, handwritten entries, each featuring a unique QR code to link the physical artifact to an online web counterpart. The system works as follows:
- receive a physical card from me
- write title/content on the physical card
- scan the QR code to visit the upload page
- take a photo of the card and upload it
While the system itself is very simple, this design choice aimed to lower the inhibition of sharing (which is often seen in the dance context), ensure the tool came back to the body, and facilitate asynchronous, distributed collaboration online—bridging the gap between spontaneous studio work and digital documentation. The project progressed significantly during a “probing” phase, transitioning from merely distributing blank cards to the fellows (which failed to gain traction, even among experienced artists) to employing structured workshop formats. Early testing revealed that participants needed clear instructions; for instance, giving a concrete prompt like writing about places, dreams, or even about “breakfast” was more effective than open-ended instructions. This learning informed the in-person workshops conducted at events like the LACE symposium and Annual Symposium of the Society for Dance Research. These sessions formalized a process that started with meditating and listening to the body, moved to observing thoughts, and then developing ideas on the cards. A crucial point was introducing the website during the session, allowing participants to browse content uploaded by previous workshop participants and choose cards that they resonated with or found surprising, encouraging them to contribute back to the online pool. This integration demonstrated how the cards could capture two different strings of memory: spontaneous, immediate impressions and more analytical, ideas stimulated by peers.
Through the workshops, the process has been observed to facilitate the creation of a “collective memory” of a specific moment, such as shared impressions during a symposium. Participants’ individual experiences, when shared and potentially remixed, become embedded in a transindividual memory. Looking ahead, the research aims to facilitate ideation through an iteration of “diverging” (opening up ideas) and “converging” (synthesizing collective understanding) phases inspired by design practices. Future plans involve tracking the process of groups over longer periods to document their creative progress, and potentially adapting the card format for other creative fields.
While the code is in development, it is open-sourced on Github: https://github.com/micuat/card.glitches.me. Also, feel free to reach out to me (naoto at tlu.ee) if you have any questions.
Naoto Hieda
Naoto Hieda is a researcher and an artist from Japan based in Estonia enrolled in the PhD programme at the School of Digital Technologies Tallinn University. With a background in engineering (B.Eng. at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan and M.Eng. at McGill University, Canada), In 2023, Naoto completed Diplom II (master’s equivalent) with distinction from the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, Germany and works internationally for theater productions and in the visual arts. As a full-stack net artist, they question the productive qualities of coding and speculate on new forms, post-coding through neuroqueerness, decolonization and live coding. As a researcher, they fill the gap between dancers and technologists by proposing new tools and methodologies for collaboration.
Naoto was also selected as a MODINA artist in the first cycle (2023-2024).
Link: https://naotohieda.com/
MODINA Research Project
card.glitches.me is a MODINA research project which studies concepts and techniques developed during the MODINA project, led by the Tallinn University research team.