Anthony Dunne

Projected realities: conceptual design for cultural effect

As a part of a European Union sponsored project, we haveproposed a system which aggregates peoples expressions over awidening network of public electronic displays in a massive Dutchhousing development. Reflecting ideas from contemporary arts aswell as from research on media spaces, this is an example of aconceptual design intended to produce meaningful effects on a localculture. In this paper, we describe the methods and ideas that ledto this proposal, as an example of research on technologies fromthe traditions of artist-designers.

The Placebo project

The Placebo project is an experiment in taking design research beyond an academic setting into everyday life. We devised eight prototype objects to investigate people’s attitudes to and experiences of electromagnetic fields in the home, and placed them with volunteers. Made from medium density fibreboard (MDF) and usually one other specialist material, the objects are purposely diagrammatic and vaguely familiar. They are open-ended enough to prompt stories but not so open as to bewilder.

The pillow: artist-designers in the digital age

The Pillow is a treated LCD screen which shows changing patterns in response to ambient electromagnetic radiation, challenging viewers to consider our constant invasion by electronic information. It is proposed as a product for mass-production, one that people would purchase for home use. In this paper, we describe how this admittedly impractical value fiction illustrates some of the ways that designers can pursue research.

A modern role for the village elders

In this paper, the Presence team describes how, by thinking of older people as active participants in society, rather than as needy and dependent, innovative designs have been developed for systems that help elderly people remain part of the community. The team has done this by involving users in the design process by, engaging them in a dialogue with designers that has allowed both sides to influence each other.

United Micro Kingdoms: A Design Fiction (2013), Critical Design FAQ (2007)

The United Micro Kingdoms (UmK) was a design experiment commissioned by the Design Museum, London, UK, from 1st May-31st August 2013.

Revitalizing design: Revital Cohen

I first met Revital Cohen when she was a student of mine at the Royal College of Art, and I was immediately struck by the maturity of her work. Cohen manages to achieve the delicate balance between the believable and complete fantasy—a talent that usually takes years to master. As observers, we’re used to design solving problems or providing answers. But what makes Cohen’s designs interesting is that they pose questions—in this case, about limits to the medical use of animals to prolong human life. “Life Support” uses the seductive language of design and everyday settings to draw us into a space of reflection on the role of biomedicine in our daily lives. The photographs force us to rethink our relationship with assistance animals like guide dogs and ask whether the animals could be transformed from separate helpers into unified medical devices. It’s not meant to suggest how things should be, but to encourage debate about the kind of technologically mediated world we wish to live in. Over the last few years, Cohen, 29, has built up an impressive portfolio of projects applying this design approach to a range of issues, from new ways of producing energy using artificial electricity-producing organs that could be implanted into the body to artificial biological clocks for busy career women that prompt them at the optimum time to become pregnant. Just as engineering can be seen as applied science, this kind of design can be thought of as applied art; it makes use of aesthetics and ambiguity to get people thinking about the social, cultural and ethical implications of new developments in biomedical science and technology.