DESIS Philosophy Talk #5.3 Studio Time @Z33

When:
Friday 20th of April, 11h:00-13h:00

Where:
ALCOVA
Via Popoli Uniti 11/13
20121 Milaan
Metro: M1 Rovereto

Wunderkammer of the Future

In the conversation we will explore how the philosophy of Walter Benjamin can help speculative design and design fictions to look at the future outside of a linear idea of time. In particular, we will discuss how his idea of collection can contribute to this discussion and possibly support critical reflection in speculative design and design fiction, and perhaps power new reflective practices inspired by Benjamin’s insights.

Benjamin’s ideas relate to the logic of the Wunderkammer where elements of the collection are taken out of their traditional context, and therefore become residual fetishes, objects that have become out of fashion, losing their significance. Yet, these fetishes retain a potentiality: they become “dialectical images”, and precisely by taking them out of their known function and meanings creates the possibility to illuminate the present and future from an alternative perspective.

In this conversation we will discuss how Benjamin’s ideas on the collection and the fetish object can be brought in dialogue with speculative design and design fictions’ attention towards marginal, residual elements of our everyday life (objects, but also rituals, stories, etc…) as building blocks for the creation of artefacts questioning a linear idea of history by proposing disruptive futures, allowing the radically new – other than the idea of necessity connected to the linear idea of history – to possibly come.

Conversation hosted by Virginia Tassinari (Assistant Professor LUCA School of Arts & Design Researcher @ Pantopicon)

Panel members (full list tbc):

Jon Stam (NL/CA, designer Commonplace studio)
Tal Erez (IL, designer, researcher, chief curator of Jerusalem Design Week)
Tamar Shafrir (IL, design critic, researcher, Design Academy Eindhoven, Het Nieuwe Instituut)
Francesca Piredda (IT, Assistant Professor, Politecnico Milan)
Aurosa Alison (IT, philosopher, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico I and Politecnico Milan)

Tags: time