‘The Subversion of Paradoxes’ — A 2018 Retrospective: Part II (Ch. 9/10)
Chapter 9— Curatorial & Research Projects on Design, Feminism, Migration, Tech, Arts & Culture
Ahead of the upcoming 5th anniversary edition of IAM Weekend (March 21–23, 2019 in Barcelona), in this 10-chapter retrospective we recap the key learnings, activities and next steps that emerged from our 2018 research theme: The Subversion of Paradoxes. In this chapter we share the curatorial & research projects that IAM did during the year.
As you may noticed from the previous chapters, 2018 was quite a busy year for IAM. Beyond IAM Weekend 18, our annual event in Barcelona, the creative partnerships and strategic consultancy projects, we also gathered hundreds of internet people in London, Copenhagen and Montreal in events that connected ‘The Subversion of Paradoxes’ theme across different research and curatorial projects around topics as design, feminism, migration, tech, arts and culture.
Here the list of events that we organised this year, with an amazing network of partners and hosts:
1. IAM Pop-Ups: Womens Day x FIU @ Barcelona (March)
2. Design Does Forum x Elisava @ Barcelona (April)
3. DEFRAG : IAM x Somerset House Studios @ London (June)
4. Beyond Borders Summit x Techfestival @ Copenhagen (September)
5. Beyond the Echo of Reality x Phi @ Montreal (November)
1. IAM Pop-Ups: Womens Day x FIU
On March 8th, to celebrate International Women’s Day, FIU House invited us to host a small salon event where we presented our research theme for 2018 and had a panel discussion moderated by IAM co-founder Lucy Black-Swan on ‘Feminine Perspective for 2025’ featuring local creatives:
- Lara Costafreda, illustrator & coordinator of Casa Nostra, Casa Vostra
- Nicole Vindel, creative engineer & member of Random Happiness
- Gemma Izumi, founder of SOO Sensitive
- Georgina Capdevila, ambassador of Feminist Internet collective
2. Design Does Forum x Elisava
On April 4–5th, we celebrated the Design Does Forum, an international event commissioned by ELISAVA Barcelona School of Design & Engineering, as part of the Design Does exhibition/project lead by Domestic Data Streamers, co-produced and hosted at/by the Design Museum of Barcelona.
Design Does Forum gathered diverse perspectives coming from relevant intersections between academia, business and science to explore, reflect and debate how the global challenges faced by the planet are shaping the futures of design.
Following an approach influenced by the three guiding concepts of the Design Does project, Amplitude–Complexity–Transdisciplinarity, the programme of the Forum revolved around four pivotal themes, representing a set of scales of design impact which are the backbone of ELISAVA Research: Human, Industry, Society and Values.
Connecting researchers, scientists, academics, strategists, journalists, artists, students, citizens and designers, Design Does Forum aimed to cultivate better questions collectively, fostering conversations that go beyond borders by asking a provocative yet critical question:
What if we go beyond the selfishness of human-centered-design and question collectively the emergence of humanity-centered-design, aiming for a holistic planetary-centered-design?
Line-up curated by IAM:
- Terry Irwin
Head of the School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh - Julius Wiedemann
Executive Editor, TASCHEN
Cambridge - Alexander Scholz
Founder and Creative Director, HOLO Magazine
Contributing Editor, Creative Applications Network
Berlin - Georgina Voss
Co-founder, Supra Systems Studio at London College of Communications
London - Joana Moll
Artist and Researcher
Barcelona/Berlin - Jorge Camacho
(Former) Head of Strategy, Uncommon
Mexico City - Mathilde Marengo
Head of Studies, IAAC — Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia
Barcelona - Gauthier Roussilhe
Designer, writer and student, Goldsmiths University in Design
London - Harsha Vardan
Design Lead, Ustwo Auto
London - Laia Mogas-Soldevila
Architect and Researcher at Silklab,Tufts Biomedical Engineering
Cambridge - Anne Quito
Design Reporter, Quartz
New York - Fabien Girardin
(former) co-CEO at BBVA Data & Analytics
co-founder of Near Future Laboratory
Madrid - Pau García
Founder, Domestic Data Streamers
Barcelona
More info available here.
3. DEFRAG : IAM x Somerset House Studios
On June 5th, IAM went to London following an invitation by Somerset House Studios to curate an event as part of DEFRAG, a series exploring the role technology plays in the development, production and consumption of art and culture.
In four acts, featuring remote, experimental and screen-based presentations, we broke down the topics that shape The Subversion of Paradoxes, in collaboration with DEFRAG curator Jake Charles Rees
Act I: Beyond-Algorithms
Estuary by LaTurbo Avedon
LaTurbo is an avatar and artist originating in virtual space. Their work emphasizes the practice of nonphysical identity and authorship. Many of the works can be described as research into dimensions, deconstructions, and the explosion of forms, exploring topics of virtual authorship and the physicality of the Internet.
Act II: Beyond-Disciplines
Edit Distances by Joana Chicau
Joana is a graphic designer, coder and researcher, currently based in The Netherlands. She runs a transdisciplinary research project which interweaves media design and web environments with performance and choreographic practices. Chicau has been researching the intersection of the body with the constructed, designed, programmed environment, aiming at in widening the ways in which digital sciences is presented and made accessible to the public. She has been actively participating and organizing events with performances involving multi-location collaborative creative coding/algorithmic improvisation, open discussions on gender equality and activism.
Act III: Beyond-Clicks
How to create a ‘click strike’?
Experiment presented by IAM & Ted Hunt
Ted is an independent speculative/discursive/critical designer living and working in London and currently a resident of Somerset House Studios. Ted’s work explores the liminal spaces between our ancient behavioural-driven selves and modern technologically-driven selves. He continually explores non-linear/alternative paradigms and examines the boundaries between subjective, objective and inter-subjective interpretations and perspectives.
Act IV: Beyond-Desires
Skype Interview with Zoë Ligon
Zoë is a Detroit-based sex educator, journalist and artist who is also the proprietor of progressive online sex toy emporium, Spectrum Boutique, where she has made it her life’s work to blast away the stigmas and misinformation that prevent us from having the amazing sex we all deserve. Zoë has a background in social psychology and is currently working towards her AASECT sex education certification.
Note: Check the sketch notes from the event by Elvia Vasconcelos
More info:
4. Beyond Borders Summit x Techfestival
On September 6th, IAM went to Copenhagen to join the program of Techfestival, co-hosting a summit at SPACE10 designed around these questions:
What if when we think about the futures of cities, we define cities as verbs instead of just places?
What if this language-driven approach allows us to think differently about what is probably the biggest challenge (and opportunity) for cities around the globe: migration.
And what if we use the internet and emerging technologies with artistic approaches to embrace the complexity of migration and empower citizens to imagine, create and demand better futures for societies?
In the BEYOND BORDERS Summit, we took a post-technological path to explore the role that arts & internet can play in shaping better futures for cities in relation to the epic challenge (and opportunity) of migration, fostering a more planetary, critical and long-term thinking by interconnecting a alternative perspectives.
Guest perspectives:
- Screening x The One Minutes: ‘Our Soul Isn’t a Border’
- Skype call with Dámaso Randulfe from Migrant Journal
- Perspectives by: Aryanà Francesca Urbani, founder of Imagined Borders, Murat Suner, editor of Fair Planet & Anne Quito, Design reporter of Quartz
- Guest mentor: Rachel Uwa, founder of School of Machines, Making & Make-Believe
More info:
5. Beyond the Echo of Reality x Phi Centre
Finally, on November 8th, IAM went to Montreal to celebrate the final act of ‘The Subversion of Paradoxes’ year with ‘Beyond the Echo of Reality’, an special created in partnership with Phi Centre.
Now that almost everything can be realistically simulated using CGI, the question is how will media outlets, movie studios, filmmakers, game designers and advertisers shape reality in near futures using these powerful tools? Because what happens in the screens is also real, emerging artists are already subverting the paradoxes embedded in the binary nature of digital technologies and platforms, cultivating hope in strange and unexpected ways.
Themes
- The cultural relevance and proliferation of video essays and their evolution in the internet age
- The philosophical, cultural, social aspects of ‘reality’ in the context of VR, CGI, AI and other digital technologies
- The opportunities emerging for media and creative industries, learning and cultural organisations and independent artists and creators in these fields
Guest Perspectives
Nick Briz, who spoke about creative mis-uses of technology as subversive acts, related to his new media & digital literacy courses at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Kevin B. Lee, who joined us via videoconference to talk about the role, evolution and importance of video essays in the internet age
Eva Papamargariti, who shared her latest work created using CGI and 3D animations to reflect and analyse the rapidly transforming relationships between “material and immaterial” matter in our new digital world.
Kay Watson, who presented her perspective as Digital Curator of the Serpentine Galleries, connecting topics as simulation, photography and how the arts can influence the direction of new technologies
A special screening of Alan Warburton’s video essay, ‘Goodbye Uncanny Valley’ was the introduction to the panel conversation ft. Nick, Eva and Kay working as a framework for the conversation around the subversion of the paradoxes embedded in the binary nature of digital technologies and platforms, and the visual narratives and languages emerging from it.
More info:
‘The Subversion of Paradoxes’ — A 2018 Retrospective is a 10-chapter retrospective where we recap the key learnings, activities and next steps that emerged from IAM’s 2018 research theme.
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👉 Join us for IAM Weekend 19, our annual meeting for creative agents of change who care about the futures of the internet(s) where you can discover, be inspired and interconnect with diverse perspectives around our research theme for 2019: ‘The Quantumness of Archipelagos’.
