AS IF
Friday, September 17, 2010
5 – 7 pm Presentations and Discussion
Wind Tunnel Gallery
South Campus
Art Center College of Design
950 S. Raymond Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91105
FREE TO THE PUBLIC
PARKING ON SITE
Julian Bleecker
Researcher, Design Strategic Projects studio, Nokia Design and Co-Founder, Near Future Laboratory
Norman Klein
Cultural Historian, Author
The Imaginary Twentieth Century
Sascha Pohflepp
Designer and Artist
This panel discussion will consider the value (or perhaps merely the appeal) of a methodology that could be characterized as: assume a set of conditions (abitrary, absurd, speculative), play it straight. Historically, alternate realities have been the realm of literature and film but what might be the effects of such an approach within a field (design) that is conventionally concerned with the cold, hard facts of the real world, of the here and now. And importantly, why does this work feel uniquely relevant NOW? Moderated by Tim Durfee.
“For alternative realities, I see many options in work that I have doing recently: from parallel worlds models to 'wunder-romans' (archival/media novels), to the misremembering of the future, and 'the dismantling of the American psyche'...” —Norman Klein
“I have long been interested in how science fiction has influenced science fact. To me, design fiction encourages peculiar design practices in an attempt to create different sorts of near future worlds. The Made Up project promises to illuminate the future-oriented practice of design and help us understand how design probes imaginatively and materializes ideas, oftentimes through stories.” —Julian Bleecker
Sascha Pohflepp, London-based designer and artist, was a MADE UP researcher-in-residence. As part of the MADE UP theme, he produced the project SUPERCALIFORNIA! which turns the phantom futures of Southern California into compelling design fiction.
www.pohflepp.com/
Julian Bleecker, a designer and technologist, is a researcher at the Design Strategic Projects studio at Nokia Design, and the co-founder of the Near Future Laboratory, a “design-to-think” studio.
www.nearfuturelaboratory.com/
Norman Klein is a cultural historian, critic, and novelist. He is the author, with Margo Bistis, of the multi-media project, The Imaginary Twentieth Century, a historical science-fiction novel built upon a database of 2,000 images. The project has spawned a website and multiple installations worldwide, including an exhibition, in 2012, at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He is also author of the interactive novel/DVD-ROM called Bleeding Through: Layers of Los Angeles, 1920-1986. Norman's other books include The Vatican to Vegas: The History of Special Effects, The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memor and Freud in Coney Island And Other Tales. His forthcoming book is called The Dismantling of the American Psyche: MediaBuzz, Political Branding, and Collective Amnesia: 1968-Present
imaginarytwentiethcentury.com/
image:Ben Hooker and Shona Kitchen