Spatial
Matters of Lives | Encounters on the Edge of the Pluriverse
Meta Forte
2022
Kind:
Abstract:
While the future of our species is in increasingly put into doubt, humankind is slowly rediscovering itself as one of the nodes of an intricate mesh, which links the epidermis of our skin to the soil’s geology. This mesh, which spans from the microscopic to the atmospheric scale and harmonizes traditional wisdom with contemporary research, gave birth to a new model of the globe in continuous expansion – the Pluriverse. But how does this new vision of the global ecology connect to design practices? And how do we deal with the forms and aesthetics created by the Pluriverse’s relationships and meshes?
Matters of Lives | Encounters on the Edge of the Pluriverse consists of a series of gatherings which stem precisely from these issues and questions, a shared effort to bring these topics together and stimulate discussion. The encounters will take place during September 3–4, 10–11 and 12–13 at Meta Forte hosting projects by: Clelia Cadamuro, Tocia!, Laura Hyunjhee Kim and Kevin Sweet, Aleksandra Przybysz, Katie Pelikan Baselj, Eléonore Geissler, Faid Ahmad and Georgia Jamieson, HAB, Elisa Piazzi, boglárka lutz and Ilya Martynov.
Resources:
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PEPP¥
GEO—DESIGN: COVID-19
2020
Kind:
Visual
Abstract:
With the spread of COVID-19, narrative structures proved to be fundamental sense-making devices. On one hand political actors used it to interpret and give meaning to the pandemic’s experience, on the other citizens contributed to the creation of narratives that could relieve fears and anxieties. Realized in the form of a video-essay, PEPP¥ analyses two trends in the Italian communication scenario: ‘argutainment’ and political fandom. The research project particularly analyses the political rise of Giuseppe Conte, Italy’s prime minister, whose growth in popularity was supported through the creation of memes, songs, video- games and more by the Italian web community.
Compared to the communication of political actors who shaped the debate around COVID-19, the project shows how the production of digital artifact reflects the crucial role new media play in the creation of today’s political culture, questioning the ever-growing authorship of online users as contemporary political sense-makers.
Resources:
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On Spaces and Places for Political Discourse
HAS Magazine
2022
Kind:
Textual
External link:
Abstract:
While the Western pre-Information Age’s political space often corresponded to an identifiable, tangible, and social dimensionality, the contemporary space of and for politics is now moving toward an ever-changing, more slippery ground. Clearly, this shift did not result from an unequivocal event, but rather took place over the course of many years, and at pace with technological development. Citizens and politicians went from pursuing their political activities in designated places to pursuing them in 'non-supervised' spaces. They went from living democracy in 'explicit' venues, consisting of floors, walls, and ceilings, to 'implicit' venues – places, like social media, not necessarily thought appropriate for politics, and perhaps not even accordingly policy-equipped. But how, and when, did this shift happen?
In Great Tempest
Università IUAV di Venezia
2022
Kind:
Spatial
Abstract:
“Ship without a helmsman in a great tempest” is how Dante, in the sixth canto of Purgatory, defines 14th century Italy - characterised by instability, great changes and weak leaderships. Today, in the information society and in the midst of the process of aesthetisation of political life predicted by Benjamin a century ago, international politics is once again in turmoil, juggling propaganda, populism and data control. The conference In Great Tempest wants to address these issues and open a reflection on the role of design within the dynamics concerning political discourse.
Guest speakers: Metahaven, Silvio Lorusso, Germano Maifreda, Leonardo Distaso
Curated by: Noemi Biasetton, Pierfrancesco Califano
Funded by: Dottorato in architettura, città e design – Curriculum di scienze del design
Resources:
For F☆ck’s Sake
Springer
2021
Kind:
Textual
Abstract:
In the last 20 years, the industry of sex toys has grown exponentially within the Western online market, giving life to new forms of communi-cation regarding topics such as sex and sexuality. However, if on one hand the online sale of sex toys and its related communication allow (once again) the spread of political narratives, on the other they seem to reinforce an individual and self-determining conception of sex and sex-uality which preclude its broader understanding within societal norms and omit forms of collective and shared practices related to such topics.
To understand the consequences of this paradox, the paper will focus on sex toys as carriers of political narratives related to sex and sexuality, reflecting especially on the role of that online communication might have on their diffusion. To achieve this, the paper will take into consid-eration the visual communication of MySecretCase as a case study and analyze it through the visual methodology proposed by Gillian Rose. Through the analysis of the communication design strate-gies adopted by MySecretCase, we aim at interrogating whether – if confined in the virtual space – sex toys can still be considered as carri-ers of political and collective values, reflecting on the role of communi-cation design in shaping the symbolic narrative around these objects.
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Conference:
Resources:
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