OMS is a project that aims to study the relationships that occur between artistic and design research methodologies, the construction practices of "electronic and digital craftsmanship" and technological innovation processes. To do this, the project looks for case studies (Hangar is one of them) to develop an ethnographic fieldwork during which it is possible to study a specific community and the artifacts that this community produces.
The project studies artists who build and create musical instruments and share:
- Common areas of work, activities and work space.
- A philosophy of shared knowledge, which is implemented through the use of standards (Eurorack) and OSHW Free Hardware licenses.
- An ethic of community that promotes among its members self-construction through DIY and research in the development of sound artifacts.
- A professionalisation of their artistic practices that generates an economic circuit.
OMS dialogues with different academic disciplines: social studies of science and technology (STS), media studies and cultural studies, and sound studies. The project is specially interested in innovative technological practices in the field of sound studies (Pinch, 2001), the special relationship of embodiment that in this field have the interaction between "machines" and people (Nelson, 2015) and the post-industiral processes of distributed manufacturing (Anderson, 2012).