Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming \ response by Chandler Damrill

Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming \

Chandler Damrill

“They help us think about alternative possibilities–they challenge the ideals, values, and beliefs of our society embodied in material culture.” 

These works of fiction and of alternate realities bring attention to problems people wouldn't be able to fix otherwise. It does not matter whether these art objects can actually solve the problem it was created to resolve, the important function is that it brings attention to a problem mankind needs to fix. The role of the prop maker, whether it be through movies, photography, sculpture or design, is to bring the expanse of “what could be” to the viewer. “The speculative prop designer needs to be skilled at triggering an imaginative response…” There is no set placeholder for these designs and speculative props, that’s what makes these objects stand out. Within this new world that the artist creates, the viewer sets aside all possible things and opens up to the impossible. This is a place for the viewer where I believe the art can truly teach. Shifting the role of the viewer from spectator to having an active role in the piece itself. 

“…Fooling the viewer into believing something is real is cheating. We prefer viewers to willingly suspend their disbelief and to enjoy shifting their imagination into a new, unfamiliar and playful space.” 

To me, when it comes to art objects in this category, a viewer should have the same mentality walking into a gallery space as they do walking into the movie theater. Once the viewer understands that they are entering into a space beyond reality, the artist can communicate at a different level. This space allows the viewer to actively imagine greater possibilities than their own, thus pushing them to wonder away from their own personal belief systems that could potentially hold them back in these situations of viewing art. “They must be plausible but not necessarily believable.” When the artist creates a consistent environment within their pieces, the viewer can enter into the world much like cinema. 

I personally connect and am inspired by Dunne & Raby. The designs engage with the viewer in a truly interactive and imaginative way. The visual language asks the viewer to ponder what the devices could be used for. The artists then use their work in photography with people in the act of using the devices they have created. After seeing these photographs and then being able to see the physical object in front of you truly pulls a the viewer into a dimension of the possibility that these artifacts and tools exist on their plane. Much like the movie goer can see the lightsaber in which Luke Skywalker uses to defeat his enemy. This brings out a sense of excitement because of the investing that certain viewer has done towards Star Wars. In the same way, the works of Dunne & Raby speak in multiple languages, in turn, I believe, creates a deep connection with the viewer.