Emerging Futures
Emerging Futures merges science, design, and fiction by exploring futures that we want and do not want. With 4 dioramas inside of plastic museum display cubes, viewers are presented with a choice to either record a message for other participants (“Talk to the future”) or to listen to these recorded messages (“Listen to a message from the future”).
Planning
The project started with an idea to create cities of the future using architectural dioramas. I wanted to use up-cycled, recycled materials to build these cities of the future.
Mood board
Inspiration
More inspiration
The plan to build this art project to be displayed for arts festivals in July.
Prototyping
All of the materials were donated by the ReUseum and purchased in bulk from Idaho Youth Ranch. I selected items that would be easy to modify, take apart, and turn into something new.
The first prototype of the city that was brought out to Burning Man. I played with an infinity mirror effect. Seeing this iteration in action, we wanted to add an interactive element to it.
Final
Using a critical design approach in combination with the use of visual objects, lights, and audio-recordings, the cubes present to viewers how things may be. The future from this point is not a defined point and we, as a society, are presented with a multitude of possibilities, thus plural futures. The goal of this project is to explore the various possibilities that we may encounter as we embrace emerging political ideologies and technologies. Each future is designed as an interactive diorama that asks the question “what if”?
Cities of the Future
-
Authoritarian City
This is a police state, everything is built cold, austere.
-
Circuit City
This city is located in Siberia and your fridge mines for crypto currency. Your apartment is a computer and the heat keeps your warm.
-
Plastic City
The water levels are rising and we don’t care! This city is located someplace along the coast of Florida. People have given up on the future but have made sure that everything is super FUN!
-
Green City
This city has reached bio-harmony with nature. Humans have engineered plants to communicate with them the state of the environment. Plants are able to signal that they are thirsty or if air conditions are poor.
Interactivity
The installation provides participants with a direct interaction. Equipping each city with an audio recorder, viewers can “talk to the future” by leaving a message to the next participant. The next visitor can listen to these messages at random or leave one of their own.
The installation further provides participants with indirect interaction and a shared experience. By combining elements of architecture, sociology, storytelling, and anthropology, the piece stimulates discussion about the kind of future people want or do not want. The stories present viewers with cautionary tales and utopias that open a debate about social and ethical implications of existing and emerging technologies and political futures.
Results
We’ve recorded 3,500+ messages to the future!
What to do with them… tbd ….