Speculative Culture and Futuring Through Design Fiction
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The document discusses speculative culture and futuring. It talks about gonzo design which combines science fiction, critical design, and new journalism approaches. It also mentions several speculative design projects like "Policing Genes" and "The Euthanasia Coaster". It argues that speculative culture treats the future as more fluid than typical scenarios and explores futurity through experiential scenarios and a sensitivity to weak signals.
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Speculative Culture and Futuring Through Design Fiction
- 1. “ My radio prefers bacon” Adventures in Speculative Culture Justin Pickard, Superflux @justinpickard
- 3. What is it? I want to talk to you about: speculative culture
- 7. 'GONZO'?
- 8. > crazy, madcap, unwieldy, or anarchic > a style of journalism in which the journalist becomes part of the action > writing with extreme subjectivity > freewheeling or unconventional, esp. to the point of outrageousness > live & first person > taking matters into your own hands GONZO. 'GONZO'?
- 10. DESIGN FORESIGHT GONZO science fiction 'critical design' interaction design design ethnography scenarios design fiction concept art 'new journalism' experiential futures user research prototyping horizon-scanning roadmaps futurescaping culture-jamming
- 13. (C) Russ Garrett
- 19. Policing Genes Thomas Thwaites (C) Thomas Thwaits and Theo Cook
- 20. (cc) cesarharada Protei Cesar Harada
- 23. © Bea Csortan and Dani Pifko
- 24. The Euthanasia Coaster Julijonas Urbonas (C) Julijonas Urbanos
- 28. (cc) brookenovak
- 33. (cc) jmaclynn
- 37. 'Good [science fiction] supplies a plausible, fully thought-out picture of an alternate reality in which some sort of compelling innovation has taken place. A good SF universe has a coherence and internal logic that makes sense to scientists and engineers. Examples include Isaac Asimov’s robots, Robert Heinlein’s rocket ships, and William Gibson’s cyberspace ... such icons serve as hieroglyphs — simple, recognizable symbols on whose significance everyone agrees.' – Neal Stephenson
- 39. 'Twenty years from now is 2031. That year is not Utopia or Oblivion, it’s not made of sci-fi hologrammed tinsel; it’s just another year among many, and most of its working parts are already scattered around.' – Bruce Sterling
Editor's Notes
- Presentation by Justin Pickard ( @justinpickard ) on the theme 'Crazy Futures' Delivered at the APF's V-Gathering, on October 27, 2011
- Accelerated Biography: 1) BA (Hons.) International Relations & Anthropology @ University of Sussex Final-year work on data havens, the political geography of Mumbai, religion in post-crash Thailand, and Guantanamo Bay 2) Community Coordinator on IFTF's participatory foresight project Superstruct Focusing on 'Outlaw Planet' super-threat: http://youtu.be/TbpKA_2tZeg Wrote up my experiences here: http://b.qr.ae/tKbCHo 3) MA in Digital Media: Technology & Cultural Form @ Goldsmiths Theory-heavy programme, with extended work on contemporary US literature, the technological imaginary, cartography, and visual culture 4) Associate at Superflux, focusing on foresight and written communication Superflux = a collaborative, Anglo-Indian design company, based in London, but with roots and contacts in the Gujurati city of Ahmedabad Founded by interaction designers, focusing on the intersection of emerging technologies and everyday life
- Bruce Sterling – SF author, design critic, iconoclast, sarcastic Texan
- Wired Italia as an icon of mainstream – if offbeat – foresight and futurism Ralph Steadman cartoon as an icon of gonzo journalism Eames Lounge Chair as an icon of twentieth-century modern design
- On 'design futurescaping', see our essay in: Blowup: The Era of Objects (pdf) On 'experiential futures', see Stuart Candy's PhD thesis, ' The Futures of Everyday Life '
- Kevin Kelly on Scenius, here .
- The London Hackspace: http://bit.ly/s1taWO
- Robin Sloan's full article: ' Kanye West, Media Cyborg '
- The titular, bacon-preferring radio Designs by Anab Jain (Superflux) and Alex Taylor (Microsoft Research Cambirdge) More on this project: ' Energy Autonomous Devices ' Rhodoferrax ferrireduciens as the substrate for a microbial fuel cell?
- More on Thomas Thwaites' project can be found on his wesbite I particularly enjoyed the accompanying video
- More on Cesar Harada's work can be found on the Protei website See his TEDx talk for a more detailed look at the project specifics
- Further materials from Anab and Jon's 'Pirates of the Danube' workshop can be found here: http://superflux.in/work/pirates-danube
- Play4Power = child labour? Questions about some kind of community social contract Additional workshop outputs can be found here: http://piratesofthedanube.kibu.hu
- More of Julijonas' work can be seen on his website I recommend checking out this interview , from Dublin's Science Gallery
- More on this Superflux project here: http://superflux.in/work/song-machine The finished film , starring Y.T.
- The Fubar Criterion!
- Image from a workshop on Heathcare & Enhancement that Anab ran in Qatar. More details here: http://superflux.in/work/talk-healthcare-qatar Cultural estrangement?
- EEG as a smartphone peripheral, from research being undertaken at the Technical University of Denmark Making the brain/emotions 'legible' Emotiv headset + Nokia N900 The technological sublime?
- The Dremelfuge, a piece of open-source hardware that transforms a handheld electric drill into a lab-spec centrifuge Used by the DIYbio community to separate DNA from samples An elegant example of the opportunities opened by 3D fabrication, that nevertheless leaves me reeling from some kind of scalar futures-vertigo
- Image from 'The Power of Making', an exhibition at London's V&A Museum The first time I encounter a 3D printer, it's in a museum Atemporality? Contextual estrangement?
- Cascio on legacy futures: http://www.openthefuture.com/2008/12/legacy_futures.html
- Neal Stephenson's full article, on the failings of innovation: http://bit.ly/nQqicL
- A selection of contemporary science fiction, all published post-2000, and stuffed with fresh, provocative and relevant hieroglyphs for the future-present.
- Taken from here: http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/twenty-years-fore-aft/