Who’s Afraid of the Bogeyman? Leonora Jakovljević

WHO’S AFRAID OF THE BOGEYMAN?

36 Leonora Jakovljević, designer and teacher TUNNEL

We live in turbulent times. Only a few months ago we felt that despite the natural disasters, our uncertain destiny and inevitable wars we were still in control of our lives, living in the free little country of Slovenia within a free Europe, enjoying fundamental human rights.

The coronavirus and the global pandemic have changed that, shaking our world and putting a stop to our lives overnight, turning them upside down. But it was only a seeming stop. In return, we were given time – time to think, to finish what we’ve started, talk, appreciate the value of the local, nurture genuine bonds with other people, and enjoy new challenges; time with our nearest and dearest, time for ourselves and the intimate experience of our every day.

But there’s another side to this story. The government has responded by showering us with orders and restrictions, and violating our human rights in the process. Combined with various polemics in the media and speculation about the future this has led to intolerance, anguish, poverty and violence.

As impossible as it may seem, the divide between the interests of the working class, and the capital and automation on the other side is as present today as it was 100 years ago. Even worse, it has become a reality. With the helping hand of 21st-century science (read: corporate capital) the “democratic” authorities in power are now deciding what human life is and what it is not. Which is exactly what they reproach totalitarian regimes for. Today’s governance model, which we call democratic, has nothing in common with what democracy meant in Athens of ancient Greece, where every citizen had his place and was able to express his opinion in public. It was a society where the word of an artist carried particular weight.

Set in 2019, Blade Runner1 was described by Zdenko Vrdlovec in the daily Dnevnik as “fascinating and anxiously

1 Blade Runner, 1982, directed by Ridley Scott.

XXIX 37

prophetic”. Science fiction? A few years ago maybe, but not anymore.

Both scientists and artists believe we are at a turning point in the development of humankind. More than ever we are aware that we’ve reached a point where our lives are about to change dramatically. A point of no return.

Should we fear technology? Of course not! Technological manipulation is what we should be worried about.

Since time immemorial, humankind has been on a determined quest for immortality, and we continue to look for new opportunities to achieve it. Will the “digital human” finally make that possible?

Two human kinds are to evolve in the future: the digital, which will embrace all technological control, and the analogue or natural. The cities of the future will belong to transhumanists.2 China offers itself as an example. Say the wrong thing or buy alcohol and your social credit is downgraded. When your score is too low you start losing access to the social benefits that you have come to depend on in the meantime.

Michio Kaku, one of the greatest minds in theoretical physics of our time, populariser of science and futurist, explains the mechanism behind the android brain when he says that it is no longer the internet that’s in focus, but a brain-net, an enormous community of brains forming a kind of common organism. Today, robots don’t know who they are, but eventually they will become self-aware, and this will mark an even greater turning point. Kaku warns that conscious machines can pose a threat and predicts that “in the future, the robotics industry will be bigger than the automobile industry. In fact, your car will become a robot”.

Despite the grim scenarios that trace the coming

2 Transhumanism as a philosophical movement goes back to the early 20th century, while the present-day meaning of the word is attributed to the philosopher W. D. Lighthall.

38

TUNNEL

technological transhumanism, Sadhguru, an Indian yogi, author, and the founder of the Isha foundation, welcomes artificial intelligence, even to the point of mocking it. Laughingly, he says that it’s needed where intelligence is lacking.

Looking at the way how throughout history the artist and creator flirted with the future, predicted and shaped it, invented it and was critical of it, I can assert that in the new age of transhumanism this role is changing, too. Which is yet another reason for the growing importance of engaged design, a design practice that helps people achieve important goals – to learn, grow and connect with each other by employing engaged psychology as a tool that will facilitate social inclusion. Engaged design rests on the insights from behaviour change science informed by contemporary psychology. This way, we can create the conditions to achieve new experiences, which in turn leads to effective and entrancing products in all spheres of design, claims Amy Bucher in her book Engaged: Designing for Behaviour Change. As I understand Italian design theorist Manzini,3 the “postindustrial metropolis” is a product of information technology, which pushed the forceful growth of violent capital by helping it create a product design system that never ceases to produce, thus destroying both nature and human beings. And the short and non-sustainable product lifecycle resulted in the as yet unsolved problem of waste, excesses and dangerous diseases. The approach behind engaged design works well both in slow and zerowaste design,4 as simply defined by product designer Collin Dunn. Both processes introduce straightforward valuation methods and work procedures within designproduction processes and practices, which nudge the latter towards social,

3 Ezio Manzini is an academic and author known for his work on design for social innovation. 4 “Zero waste design” according to the principles of the Institute for Innovative Products, Cradle to Cradle.

XXIX 39

Quality, “slow” products are definitely opening up increased opportunities for a more environmentallyfriendly, sustainable and ethical understanding of design, both in terms of production and consumption. The obsession with image and novelties can be tamed by careful planning and process focus, and most effectively with zero-waste products.

The incessant quest for a slower-paced, more humane and ethical future that brings durable, long-lasting, authentic, environmentallyfriendly products created with care and regard for local crafts facilitates open communication between the designer, producer and user.

Slow design and zero-waste design are unique, vital and topical expressions of “creative activism”, which can be defined as a kind of meta-activism. They work to engage active citizens in temporary, strategic and transformative interventions, helping them resolve their disputes through better communication and seek out solutions that will change society for the better, while at the same time facilitating self-sufficiency. In the process, they also stimulate reflection and with it behaviour change. Such activism brings new values to design, promoting the shift towards exploring uncharted qualities and sustainability options.5 All this leads us to believe that we can only hope to retain at least some degree of independence and control over our future if we reclaim our own production, both industrial and craft.

What comes at the other end of the tunnel of the future depends not only on external factors, but first and foremost on ourselves, our intelligence and intellect, diverse experience, intuition and, last but not least, our awareness, which is eternal, intangible and capable of taking us on a journey of discovery to hidden galaxies.

5 After writing from professor Silas F. Harrebye, who discusses social change, the impact of globalization on new forms of democratic participation and social innovation.

40

TUNNEL

Publisher Center for Creativity (CfC) Museum of Architecture and Design, Ljubljana Rusjanov trg 7, SI-1000 Ljubljana

For the publisher Dr. Bogo Zupančič, Director, MAO

Head of the Centre for Creativity Anja Zorko,

Editors Mika Cimolini and Jeff Bickert

Texts Jeff Bickert; Federica Sala, Leonora Jakovljević, Maja Vardjan, Matej Feguš, Mika Cimolini

Graphic identity Ivian Kan Mujezinović, Grupa Ee

Product photos Klemen Ilovar, Ansambel

Photo arrangements Dan Adlešič, Ansambel Curation and management Mika Cimolini, Head of Programme, Centre for Creativity

Graphic identity Ivian Kan Mujezinović, Grupa Ee

The Centre for Creativity team Maja Kovačič, Urška Krivograd, Marko Podjavoršek, Zala Košnik, Mirna Berberović, Marin Berović and Saša Žafran.

Social media Zavod Neuropolis

Translations Andreja Šalamon Verbič (ENG>SLO)

Copy editor (SLO) Katja Paladin

Print ABO grafika

Circulation 500 copies

© 2021 MAO / Centre for Creativity, Ljubljana

Texts copyrighted by the authors © photos and other images are the property of the authors

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any way – electronically, mechanically, photocopied or otherwise recorded – without the prior written consent of the publisher.

The project is co-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund) and the Republic of Slovenia. The project is implemented in the framework of the Operational Program for the Implementation of the European Cohesion Policy 2014–2020. The Centre for Creativity program is conceived by the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO).

ISBN 978-961-6669-73-3

Oblikovanje za odločno prodružbeni postapokaliptični svet