hi,
apologies for any cross-posting. Details about the seminar are below, all are welcome.
This will also be webcast from 4pm GMT at:
http://www.materialbeliefs.com/stream/dss3.php
bests,
Tobie
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Design and Social Science Seminar Series 2009-2010
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The Objects of Design and Social Science
Seminar 3 - Speculative and Critical Objects
James Auger, Royal College of Art
Wednesday November 18th
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--- speaker biography:
James Auger (b 1970, Derby, England) has a BA in Product design from Glasgow School of Art and an MA in Design Products from the Royal College of Art in London. Post RCA He worked as a Research Associate for Media Lab Europe, where the main focus of his research was a design-based investigation into technology mediated human experience.
James is currently based at the Royal College of Art in London where he teaches and is a PhD candidate in the Design Interactions department. He is also a partner in the speculative design practice Auger-Loizeau whose projects have been published and exhibited internationally, including MoMA, New York, 21_21, Tokyo, The Science Museum, London and the Ars Electronica festival, Linz and is in the permanent collection at MoMA.
Prior to being a designer, James completed an engineering apprenticeship at Rolls-Royce (aero engines) and worked as a special effects technician for T.V and film.
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The seminar will run from 4:00pm - 6:00pm,
Interaction Research Studio,
6th Floor, Ben Pimlott Building,
Goldsmiths, New Cross, London, SE14 6NW
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--- seminar poster:
http://www.materialbeliefs.com/pdfs/The-objects-of-design-and-social-science.pdf
--- seminar series description:
Common to both design and (parts of) the social sciences is a shared pre-occupation with objects. On the one hand, design is concerned with making and interpreting objects including the finished article (e.g. consumer products), ‘experimental’ design aids (e.g. prototypes), and projective representations (e.g. scenarios). Recently, design has also begun to re-engage with more speculative objects whose ambiguous functionality contributes to the exploration of the social and the material, the political and the aesthetic. On the other hand the social sciences also work with objects, including categorical objects such as race, gender, and health, empirical objects ranging from the mundane to the exotic, and conceptual objects such as the notions social scientists use to understand and theorize the social. Here, the sociology of science and technology has been especially productive, introducing notions such as boundary objects (Star & Griesemer, 1989), epistemic objects (Rheinberger, 1997), immutable mobiles (Latour, 1990), quasi-objects , black boxes (Latour, 1988) to name but a few. Accordingly, a focus on material, empirical and conceptual objects brings into sharp relief overlaps and disjuncture between the two disciplines and a rich space for dialogue.
This seminar series will seek to bring into view and explore existing objects of both design and social science as well as draw out objects of novelty for both disciplines. In doing so we will seek to engage with emerging issues and topics in both disciplines such as the outputs of speculative and critical design, participation, engagement and publics as well as addressing notions concerning heterogeneity, process and event. This series will continue to serve as a platform for opening up interdisciplinary research futures.
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