Nominated Finalist and Exhibitioner at PRIMER19, The New School, June 2019
It is my firm belief that design should contribute to solving today’s social, environmental, and political instabilities through engaging in critical analysis of the present and posing tough questions for the future. I’m interested in moments where design critically engages viewers by challenging them to question their experiences and realities, and helps viewers access their humanity through the vehicle of empathy.
For my thesis, I chose to play the role of design futurist. Instead of envisioning future products or technologies, I focused on the future of social structures. Through the use of speculative design, I situated my audience in a post-apocalyptic future 300 years in the future where a survivalist colony is thriving. This new society takes the opportunity to reinvent humanity through a code of conduct based on empathy and scientific reason. Through this exercise, I encouraged viewers to contemplate their own role and impact in society, and how we might begin to shift paradigms and structures in order to build a more just and sustainable future.