Block Seminar Design Theory 2nd semester

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The module takes place over 1 week, from 8th to 12th of February 2021, from Monday to Friday, 9.15-17.00 online.

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You may have first read the description of this course on an intranet service or on an email. You have been learning mostly online at least for the past six-eight months, likely on Zoom and may have even used a co-working platform such as a Miro board. You are using WhatsApp or Instagram or Facebook and many other communication apps on a daily basis. This is how you are in touch with your friends, lovers, family… Maybe you even consider yourself “addicted”.

How did we get here? Over the past twenty years, the tech industry has built an infrastructure of communicating at distance and of sharing the most intimate parts of ourselves (even the ones we’re not aware of).

Yet, distant communication interfaces are not new: mail - via horse, train, air and more recently, the telephone have played essential roles in the construction of our interactions. And just as the emergence of the phone and the networks in the 19th century enhanced our communication models, the Internet and its palette of services accommodate distance in our daily relations. Each of these systems have set a range of social behaviours that frame our expectations and boundaries. And with every service, we discover how they can allow us to be in a greater mode of intimacy with each other.

Objectives of the course

The aim of the seminar is to reflect on the ways communication and interaction interfaces have modelled our lives and our expectations of relations at distance. We will look at historical case studies, at the field of human connectedness and at how intimacy, sex, friendships, daily conversations are choreographed by online experiences. The seminar is structured as on-going dialogue and the students will work on certain questions each day. In the end, a short essay & a web app experience should be created to showcase an interpretation of the topic.

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• Assignment 1 (for Tuesday 9.2):
  • Reading response notes: short remarks should be written on the papers provided that capture learning points and possible critiques. See Literature section for the papers.
  • Postcard 
  • Watch S. Turkle Ted Talk (see below in references)
• Assignment 2 (for Wednesday 10.2): 
  • Reading response notes: short remarks should be written on the papers provided that capture learning points and possible critiques. See Literature section for the papers.
  • Pick 3-4 examples of distant communication project or situation (in art, design, game, pop culture, politics, etc) and prepare to present them

• Final Work: The format and platform of the final outcome is decided together with the students- it at the moment I would favour TikTok. It will be an online representation of your reboot ideas (possibly 1-page website, video, or use of hosting platform such as SnapChat, written essay, filmed performance, games, new object). Preferably individual work (the works can be in connection with one another). Your work needs to be in adequation adequacy with the intention and the process. The collection of works from each student will constitute together an online exhibition.
  • +150 words to give context to the piece.
  • 2-3 -5 mn presentation : why you made it, how it relates to the topic
  • reboot ideas: design education, the notion of the future, expanding the design field, exploring the perception of design in the world, specific technologies/designs, biases and stereotypes, fostering inclusiveness and equity, opportunities of undesign/untechnologizefields of application: ...
  • the ideas could represent your position on a topic above or on a case study discussed in class, your new proposal, or your interpretation of an issue
  • potential audience: zett, population of zhdk, design/tech communities, social media users...

• Final presentation on Friday 12.2 afternoon online.

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Any assignment that remains unfulfilled receives a failing grade.  

Timetable