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| future_fabulators:visualizing_the_invisible [2014-07-16 16:58] – maja | future_fabulators:visualizing_the_invisible [2014-07-18 13:12] – alkan |
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| ==== Visualizing The Invisible ==== | ==== Visualizing The Invisible ==== |
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| Design today deals with many complex systems, including politics, economy, society, technology and the environment. Very often design is seen as a means for problem solving. However, designing in and with complex systems means that many of the solutions generate new problems. So how do we design for thinking about problems, without necessarily dealing falling into the trap of solutionism. When thinking about problems, we can also think about future problematics (assumptions, expectations, different perspectives and the trap of prediction). This workshop aims to explore visualizing the invisible in the context of experiential futures, using techniques from scenario building and pre-enactments. | Design today deals with many complex systems, including politics, economy, society, technology and the environment. Very often design is seen as a means for problem solving. However, designing in and with complex systems means that many of the solutions generate new problems. So how do we design to think about problems, without necessarily falling into the trap of solutionism? As we think about problems, we can also think about future problematics (assumptions, expectations, different perspectives, and the trap of prediction). This workshop aims to explore visualizing the invisible in the context of experiential futures, using techniques from scenario building and pre-enactments. |
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| Participants: the students and faculty (and their daughters) of the University of Washington: Alex, Megan, Angel, Stacey, Karla, Devin, Nate, Hillery, Alyssa, Rachel, Adam, Tiffany, Rara, Hannah, Cindy, Saloni, Kate, Katie, Lars, Jon, Ivy, Fiona. | Participants: the students and faculty (and their daughters) of the University of Washington: Alex, Megan, Angel, Stacey, Karla, Devin, Nate, Hillery, Alyssa, Rachel, Adam, Tiffany, Rara, Hannah, Cindy, Saloni, Kate, Katie, Lars, Jon, Ivy, Fiona. |
| //More photos on [[https://secure.flickr.com/photos/foam/sets/72157645683623095/|Flickr]]// | //More photos on [[https://secure.flickr.com/photos/foam/sets/72157645683623095/|Flickr]]// |
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| The workshop was initiated and produced by Stacey Moran and Adam Nocek, It was facilitated by Maja Kuzmanovic and Nik Gaffney of FoAM Brussels and hosted in Amsterdam Midwest, thanks to Cocky Eek of FoAM Amsterdam who found the space. The workshop is a part of the "Visualizing The Invisible: Design and Creativity in The Netherlands", summer course of the University of Washington. Programme brochure can be found [[http://chid.washington.edu/sites/chid/files/study-abroad/amsterdam_program_brochure_2014.pdf|here]] | The workshop was initiated and produced by Stacey Moran and Adam Nocek. It was facilitated by Maja Kuzmanovic and Nik Gaffney of FoAM Brussels and hosted in Amsterdam Midwest, thanks to Cocky Eek of FoAM Amsterdam who found the space. The workshop is a part of the summer course "Visualizing The Invisible: Design and Creativity in The Netherlands" at the University of Washington. The programme brochure can be found [[http://chid.washington.edu/sites/chid/files/study-abroad/amsterdam_program_brochure_2014.pdf|here]] |
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| === Framing === | === Framing === |
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| Foresight and futures studies can be thought of visualisers of the ultimate invisible: the future. Contrary to common belief, foresight is not about predicting the future. It is much more about revealing assumptions and expectations, and about creating sufficient distance from the present to be able to look at our current situation for different vantage points of probable, possible and preferred futures. | Foresight and futures studies can be thought of as visualisers of the ultimate invisible: the future. Contrary to common belief, foresight is not about predicting the future. It is much more about revealing assumptions and expectations, and about creating sufficient distance from the present to be able to look at our current situation from the vantage points of probable, possible and preferred futures. |
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| How are we going to do this? On the first day we begin by identifying a core question, then discuss the present of "visualizing the invisible" - what is known, presumed and unknown. As we move "into the future" we’ll identify a range of change drivers - social, technological, economic, environmental and political forces or trends that can influence where we might be going. Out of the forest of drivers, we’ll intuitively select a smaller set of critical uncertainties - things that are essential for visualizing the invisible, but their outcome is uncertain. Out of two most uncertain and important drivers we’ll create scenario skeletons, projecting the drivers five years into the future. Why five years? A lot can change in five years: it is close enough to the present, not to float off into wild speculation and fairy-tales, in order to keep the scenarios more or less plausible. We will end the first day by answering the core question from the point of view of different scenarios, and we will do so visually in a mood-board. | How are we going to do this? On the first day we begin by identifying a core question, then discuss the present of "visualizing the invisible" - what is known, presumed and unknown. As we move "into the future" we’ll identify a range of change drivers - social, technological, economic, environmental and political forces or trends that can influence where we might be going. Out of the forest of drivers, we’ll intuitively select a smaller set of critical uncertainties - things that are essential for visualizing the invisible, but whose outcome is uncertain. From two drivers - the "most uncertain" and "most important" - we’ll create scenario skeletons, projecting the drivers five years into the future. Why five years? Even though a lot can change in five years, it is still close enough to the present to keep us from floating off into wild speculation or fairytales, and allows us to keep the scenarios more or less plausible. We will end the first day by answering the core question from the point of view of different scenarios, and we will do so visually in a mood-board. |
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| The second day we will dig deeper into the hidden and invisible dimensions of scenarios: examining the worldviews, beliefs, myths and (hi)stories that might influence what needs to be visualized. We will go very broad (to the mythical dimensions of civilisation) and then refocus back on the personal and individual experience. We want to do this to bridge the gap between the "big future" and the "mundane or personal future", that tend to diverge the further we project ourselves in time. We will ask "what do you do in this world? how do you visualize the invisible? Throughout the day, we will move from words to experiences, to find out what it might feel like to be yourself in one or more possible futures. | On the second day we will dig deeper into the hidden and invisible dimensions of scenarios: examining the worldviews, beliefs, myths and (hi)stories that might influence what needs to be visualized. We will go very broad (to the mythical dimensions of civilisation) and then refocus back on personal and individual experience. We want to do this to bridge the gap between the "big future" and the "mundane or personal future", which tend to diverge the further we project ourselves in time. We will be asking, "What do you do in this world? how do you visualize the invisible?" Throughout the day, we will move from words to experiences, to find out what it might feel like to be yourself in one or more possible futures. |
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| What might you get out of these two days? | What might you get out of these two days? |
| * Insight into your own and other people’s assumptions and behaviours | * Insight into your own and other people’s assumptions and behaviours |
| * A range of different perspectives on your topic of inquiry (visualizing the invisible) | * A range of different perspectives on your topic of inquiry (visualizing the invisible) |
| * Experience both fun and tension of co-creation | * Experience both the fun and tension of co-creation |
| * Exercise your analytic, synthetic and somatic thinking | * Exercise your analytic, synthetic and somatic thinking |
| * Get to know how you work together under pressure and how it feels to improvise and work with spontaneity, trusting serendipity to get you where you’re supposed to go… | * Get to know how you work together under pressure and how it feels to improvise and work with spontaneity, trust, serendipity to get you where you’re supposed to go… |
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| You will not get: | You will not get: |
nik