tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27290920.post7801197885057519240..comments2024-01-06T03:54:46.267-05:00Comments on the sceptical futuryst: Future-jamming 101Stuart Candyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847397597090443677noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27290920.post-68412612867402490922010-07-14T19:51:59.039-04:002010-07-14T19:51:59.039-04:00Gabriel, I appreciate your comment. The approach o...Gabriel, I appreciate your comment. The approach of Fiona Raby (and Tony Dunne, et al) in the Design Interactions department at Royal College of Art (RCA) does indeed bear a certain resemblance to what's described above. I was a visiting lecturer at RCA in March '09, at Fiona and Tony's invitation, so we had some opportunity to explore it then (<a href="http://futuryst.blogspot.com/2009/03/killer-imps.html" rel="nofollow">more on that</a>). However, there are key differences too. One is that their students usually produce work for gallery-type settings, rather than for installation "in the wild", which means different audiences, types of output, and circumstances of encounter. Another is that the scenarios behind their objects, videos etc are (as I recall) generally based on one or several "emerging issues", a.k.a. "weak signals". (Both these terms are ones futurists use; I think the catchall term at RCA may be "statistics".) In other words, their "scenarios" are developed from one or a few inspirational, whimsical starting points (e.g., "what if the excrement of giant birds were to become a viable energy source?"). We could say they're produced with an "inductive" logic, that extrapolates from those initial ingredients, whereas the characteristic Dator/Manoa process, using "generic futures", is to flesh out four (usually, though the number can vary) systematically differing alternative futures, working backwards from their narrative arcs (continue, collapse, discipline, or transform) and filling in their features using a process that Dator has called "deductive forecasting". Both ways require a mix of logic and imagination, but they yield stories with different emphases, and the latter approach, being developed as a futures studies method, understandably lends itself to the more systematic exploration of possibility space. The former tends to yield more playful, "arty", literally fabulous outcomes.<br /><br />Anyway it would be great to hear more about the "we" that did the workshop with Fiona Raby, and what you make of the differences, as well as the similarities, that you notice. The video linked is amusing, but to me a little confusing without context -- is the children's book online anywhere? And it would also be very interesting to know what you all learned from the comparison of current trends with images of the future in sci-fi movies...<br /><br />Thanks again for stopping by.Stuart Candyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847397597090443677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27290920.post-33998780321259574952010-07-14T12:38:33.381-04:002010-07-14T12:38:33.381-04:00This reminds me strongly of a workshop we did with...This reminds me strongly of a workshop we did with Fiona Raby in Karlsruhe several years ago. The output was a children's coloring book and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afm2sISwxm0" rel="nofollow">a short video</a>, based on a scenario in the future in which BP focuses its economic activity around biogas generated by giant mutant pigeons (so-called "bigeons"). Hilarious and fun project. <br /><br />See also a class I taught in Berlin in which my students <a href="http://www.cyphoxindustries.com/" rel="nofollow">analyzed current trends</a> which reflect predictions made in scifi films.Gabriel Shalomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00217615877740583938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27290920.post-8301875781839359192008-09-11T15:38:00.000-04:002008-09-11T15:38:00.000-04:00Köszönöm szépen, amigo. The fact that it all went ...Köszönöm szépen, amigo. The fact that it all went so smoothly has everything to do with the countless hours that we've spent working together on similar projects. A goodness upon you, sir.<BR/><BR/>By the way, more critical feedback and questions are welcome. Please let me know if there are any specific aspects of the process that ought to be addressed in more detail.Stuart Candyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847397597090443677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27290920.post-75916017559047729952008-09-11T14:15:00.000-04:002008-09-11T14:15:00.000-04:00THANK YOU for that terrific summary. It was great ...THANK YOU for that terrific summary. It was great to see so many new artifacts I hadn't seen before. The students did a wonderful job. This class was ground-breaking and will be prove to be a seminal model for innovative futures/politics education. Good-f*ing-onya.Jake Dunaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16528268521664914702noreply@blogger.com