TEACHING DESIGN METHODS IN CONTEXT OF INTIMACY & TECH w/︎︎︎ALICE STEWART
BERLIN UNIVERSITY OF ARTS / ︎︎︎INSTITUTE OF PRODUCT & PROCESS DESIGN / ︎︎︎DESIGN RESEARCH LAB
MARCH 15-19 2021
Course Description
The past couple of months might suggest: almost anything can be done remotely: studying, drinking coffee, hosting dinners, watching theatre plays and, of course, working. Yet, even in a well connected ‘global village’ the term remote signals what many –regardless of demographic density– might feel: great distance, solitude, even a certain loneliness. ‘Remote regions’ are somewhere in the middle of nowhere, ‘remote islands’ is said of solitary islands in the ocean. While ‘remoteness’ is one way to define a lack of intimacy across a physical distance, the notion of intimacy applies on many scales and levels as a space where the private and public, the social, cultural and political meet (Søndergaard 2018).In this workshop, we will be exploring the theme of Intimate Tech. Taking reflections on our recent personal and collective experiences of isolation, personal health and healing, remoteness and an uncertainty about the future of “togetherness”, we will ask ourselves how we can build technology that better serves our emotional, physical and even spiritual needs.