Investing in Futures: The Art of Worlding

Catalog description

"Futures studies—also known as futurology—has been used by businesses and the military as part of a strategic planning toolkit. This framework of speculating about the future in systemic ways has been adopted by many contemporary artist collectives and mission-driven organizations, in order to challenge present assumptions about future outcomes. “World-building” encompasses efforts to develop a detailed and plausible world, and think through what constitutes that world, from laws of physics to societal habits and customs. The term originates primarily in science fiction and gaming. Futuring and world-building models are usually based on constraints (design limitations) that can spark wild imaginaries liberated from business-as- usual predictions. In this 7-week course we will create “worlds you want to live in” in the forms of invented artifacts, writing, and storytelling. The features of these futures will draw from Investing in Futures, a constraint-design platform (created by Sarah Rothberg and Marina Zurkow) which explores topics such as governance, living conditions, food, climate, and technology, and whose specific conditions range from possible to absurd. Over the 7 weeks, there will be 3 rounds of world-building, increasing in time length and depth. Students will work in teams of 3-4, and also assume individual roles in each project. Research into historical and contemporary concepts, inventions, and alternative ideologies is a required part of class work. While the class focuses on team worldbuilding, individual artifact-creation, and world-specific research, media references and readings about future scenario design thinking, speculative design, and design fiction will also be discussed."