Master Thesis
Countercultural Imagination
The Transhumanist movement posits that our destiny lies among the stars, and that technological progress will lead us to achieve humanity’s greatest purpose. But who gets to decide where we are headed? In my master thesis I explored how speculative design’s commitment to imagination could facilitate an inclusive and critical dialogue about radical technologies. The master artefact is an interactive audio-visual installation inspired by 1960s counterculture, staging a myriad of speculative and alternative future-making.
Art as Philosophy
The rise of technologies with the potential to drastically change the world reveals the necessity for a more democratic dialogue. In the 1960s, countercultural thinkers used design to oppose hegemonic ideologies of progress. Through happenings, communal living, and interactive installations, they sought to shift perspectives by immersing oneself into radically new environments.
Algorithmic Narratives
In my preliminary research, I experimented with different techniques to adapt counterculture’s philosophies to my artefact. I focused mostly on 3D graphics, algorithmic shaders, and AI GAN imagery as an exploration of nonlinear mode of narratives. Nodding to Richard Brautigan’s poem "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace", I produced a series of contemplative videos, with objects ambiguously shapeshifting into new forms, to allow serendipitous interpretations.
Kaleidoscope
I designed the installation as a landscape of life-size kaleidoscopic shards, each surface hosting an abstract window into a possible future. Visually the kaleidoscope reminds us of the 1960s psychedelic light shows, while conceptually it epitomizes the idea of changing your perspective on the world.
Interactive Storytelling
For the soundscape, an auditory collage of conversations about ideas and desires for the future is played. The visuals and the audio are reactive to the audience's movement, creating a fully immersive and dreamlike environment.