IAM x UAL Futures: Stories from the Critical Xmas Bizarre Bazaar 2030
Government-issue AI companions helping children learn vital social skills. Coming-of-age gifts paid for with universal data income credits. Interactive mindfulness toys. A playground conversation triggering device to combat social anxiety. Might these be gifts we give in 2030?
At the upcoming IAM Weekend 18 (April 27–29, 2018) we’ll be discussing ‘The Subversion of Paradoxes’ exploring a big question: How do we want to live, work, eat, learn, exchange, design, dress, create, play… in 2025? 👉 Join us!
Imagine five Xmas gifts, for five kids, in five cities, in the year 2030. This was the challenge facing IAM x UAL Futures Studio participants when they hosted a world first Critical Xmas Bizarre Bazaar back in December, at the London College of Communications.
Marking the halfway point in the studio journey, the event was a chance to present work in progress and collaborative research in the form of five critically optimistic futures fictions set in Tokyo, Reykjavik, Bangalore, Glasgow, and Tallinn in 2030, a challenge inspired by the dark-chocolate taste of Black Mirror 🍫
Watch the full 23-min film and each of the five episodes below
Tokyo 2030
Bangalore 2030
Glasgow 2030
Reykjavik 2030
Tallin 2030
Behind the scenes
The films, created collaboratively in sessions over 6 weeks, framed participants playful research around post-technological themes set by IAM — conscious automation; mindful devices; embodied data; post-human realities; inclusive decentralization; alternative internets.
Each episode critically explores the implications of technology on social and cultural drivers such as mental-health, wellness, anxiety, and loneliness, combining research, insights, and trends into rich futures narratives.
The participants, who represent over 25 UAL courses, joined the Futures Studio in November and have been taking part in weekly collaborative sessions with the UAL Futures team and industry learning partners.
Sessions included a masterclass in futures thinking with Andres Colmenares co-founder of IAM and studio visits to The Future Laboratory, Its Nice That, Lecture in Progress, and the BBC.
At the Critical Xmas Bizarre Bazaar event in December, participants were joined by Charlotte Webb (Chief Leopard of Feminist Internet), Kaave Pour (Creative Director of Space 10) and Tobias Revell (Artist and critical designer), who gave feedback on collective work in progress.
The Journey Continues
We’ll join the participants next week in London to continue their collective mission toward a Futures Summit in March and a final showcase at IAM Weekend 18, when they will creative responses that reflect alternative narratives to the ones set by the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030– collectively exploring futures themes to develop narratives for the world we want to live by 2030. One led by youth 💪🔮
Learn more about how IAM is partnering with University of Arts London to empower young people to invent what happens next
