Design Fiction
22 January 2014 - 1 February 2014
What will the future look like when nobody writes anymore, or when people live on the planet Mars? Students of the Willem de Kooning Academy present future scenario's that glimpse into these possible futures in the exhibition Design Fiction in Het Nieuwe Instituut from 23 January until 2 February. The projects are presented in relation to the event How Do You Do Biodesign where one of the topics is Design Fiction.
Design Fiction is a design method to critically reflect on current trends and speculate on their future effects. By imagining future scenario's and visualising them, design can anticipate and help to build what lies ahead. This exhibition shows two future scenario's that were taken on with a Design Fiction approach by Bachelor students from Rotterdam based Willem de Kooning Academy. These projects are presented in relation to the event How Do You Do Biodesign, a co-production of Het Nieuwe Instituut and the Willem de Kooning Academy.
What if?
Based on the principle of the five typologies of Design Fiction as postulated by researchers Thomas Markussen and Eva Knutz*, 3rd year Graphic Design students were given the scenario What if nobody writes anymore? to react upon.
They were asked to develop a possible outcome of a world without written language through the eyes of a graphic designer. A challenging notion for those that are preparing themselves to work in the field of design, language, information and image. By applying the typologies, each project aims to address this question through speculative design and future scenarios, inspired by contemporary developments in society.
The selected projects exhibit worlds that are not real (yet), nor necessarily realistic. But the various perspectives offer provocative food for thought on whether that future is desirable, what role design might play, and how society might work without written language.
Project Tutors: Roger Teeuwen, Gabrielle Marks, Sandra Kassenaar, Coralie Vogelaar, Rens Muis, Jannetje in 't Veld, Rick Vermeulen, Bart Siebelink, Karin Mientjes
[we're going to] Mars
In the project [we're going to] Mars, this semester fourth year students from the Minor New Frontiers were invited to explore the possibilities for design offered within current research in the exploration and inhabitation of Mars. The focus on Mars brings into question not only our future technological prospects but also the types of socio-cultural constructs we are shaping.
Design of course has a key role to play, not only by providing technical products and systems required for basic survival and exploration, but in probing and reflecting upon human conditions, implied by futures of space exploration and inhabitation. Students were thus required to question their own roles in designing today's future of space exploration and what this in turn means for the human self and technological expansion and invention, not only on Mars, but back 'home' on Earth.
Project Tutors: Susana Cámara Leret & Mike Thompson, Lauran Schijvens, Annekatrien van Meegen, Justien Marseille, Corine Keus.