INTRODUCTION: EVERYTHING IS A LAB

Labs are everywhere, and we can’t stop talking about them. Media labs, hacker zones, makerspaces, humanities labs, fab labs, tech incubators, innovation centers, hacklabs, and media archaeology labs: these hybrid spaces, which sometimes bear only a passing resemblance to the scientific laboratories from which they take part of their inspiration, are liminal but increasingly powerful. They appear in universities and colleges, wedged uneasily between traditional departments and faculties. They’re also in basements, warehouses, strip malls, and squats. They are stable to varying degrees; many have long-term addresses and an itinerant roster of occupants. Some pop up in one location for