We’ve been working on an intense critical sensemaking activity, charting threads of nested trends and signals across technology, civic infrastructure and governance to explore multiple futures. Hope to share the findings + report soon. pic.twitter.com/qwClLbj7A9
“It is time to acknowledge the limits of anthropocentric capitalism and embrace the burden of a world that is precarious and challenging. To use our deep resourcefulness and imagination to stay with the trouble, and keep the revolt alive.” @anabjainhttps://t.co/UBUc2177WPpic.twitter.com/GiVoy5zNBD
Our indoor perma-farm is thriving! Applying the principles of circular farming, reuse of waste, companion planting and soil health for indoor agriculture 🌱🌾 pic.twitter.com/wzZMAItM41
We live in anxious times, teetering on the edge of conflict, vulnerable to algorithmic manipulation. Our new work ‘TRIGGER WARNING’ looks for peace in this murky conflict.
“A celebration of those who maintain different parts of our world, recognising the often hidden work done in repair, custodianship, stewardship, tending and caring for the things that matter.” Looks great! https://t.co/2t29DIaw8w
Over at Superflux, our work investigating potential and plausible futures, involves extensively scanning for trends and signals from which we trace and extrapolate into the future. Both qualitative and quantitative data play an important role. In doing such work, we have observed how data is often used as evidence, and seen as definitive. Historical and contemporary datasets are often used as evidence for a mandate for future change, especially in some of the work we have undertaken with governments and policy makers. But lately we have been thinking if this drive for data as evidence has led to the unshakeable belief that data is evidence.
“This is the concept behind Uninvited Guests, a short film released last month by design firm Superflux. Commissioned by ThingTank, a research project focused on the design and business of the Internet of Things, the film offers cautionary musings on the future smart home. How will we coexist with the data-gathering, service-oriented objects supposedly designed to make our lives better? As Thomas’ smart bed incessantly relays messages to his phone, prompting him to get to sleep by 10PM, it’s impossible not to feel his frustration. You root for him as he struggles to win his life back, concocting ways to dupe the objects—and his children—into thinking he’s accomplishing his daily goals. Ultimately, however, it’s hard to celebrate his successes as a true triumph of human agency, as he’s now locked into leading a double life: the one he wants to live, and the one his objects demand of him.”