Li Jönsson: Socioecological Design / experimentations

Welcome to a K3 seminar with Li Jönsson, Associate Senior Lecturer in Design, K3. The title of her talk is:

Socioecological Design/experimentations

The talk will take place on Wednesday, March 6, at 10.15-12.00 in The K3 Open Studio, NIC 0541, Niagara.

Below you will find an abstract for the talk:

In this seminar I will dwell on my past and hint towards design research futures as a way to frame and present myself as a rather new team member at K3.

However, to talk about both past and futures requires that I situate myself right now. Hence, this talk will be focused on my main interest and concern, on the ongoing exploration of what a non-anthropocentric framework in design might be, as well as do. This is consistent with the discussions of a wider turn to experimentation and invention in recent nature–society debate – the view that experimentation is necessary to engender new forms of knowing and dwelling in and with human and nonhuman others. Challenging nature-culture dualism as designers enables, or asks us, to practice how to become posthuman-designers. But, how do we go about doing this – what forms of experimentation might we need to create mutually beneficial relationships and more ecological entanglements between and among this sprawling multiverse?

To question not just arrangements between humans, but to open up to an entirely different universe – or multiverse – of actors I have for a while used the figuration of the ‘event’ as a design exploration. This has allowed me to argue for how human and non-humans ‘equally’ come together in a process and allow for things to become different. One of the important arguments here, is that in constructing new types of collective life (and by that, sustainability) and in conceiving new technologies, we must avoid constantly disentangling humans and nonhumans. I will exemplify how I have in my previous design experiments been dealing with these kinds of issues. However, in continuation of previous work, I would like to discuss some ‘ghosts’ in my research. These ghosts have haunted me for a while, and takes the shape of core feminist arguments around corporeality, materiality, embodiment, affectivity and experientiality, and how we might attended to such sensibilities in humble ways as designers.

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