Fictional Journal FJ.

Launched with an online event as part of Baltan Laboratories' Economia Festival on 17 December, 2020.

We live in a critical limited zone during critical times. Which models can we develop that are in synch with the social and planetary boundaries? How do we want to move into the future, in a world where the economists look at economic value and technologists rely on the promise of technology to fix everything with more technology? We can’t fix our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. A far more multidisciplinary thinking, holistic awareness, and intuition are needed, if we want to be able to grasp the complexities we became intrinsically part of.

Launched at Baltan Laboratories during the Frankenstein Symposium in Eindhoven, Netherlands on 22 October, 2018.

The will to automate material, be it from clay, expired flesh, marble or rubber, has long permeated the social imaginary of humans. Stories of desire and power create a lineage of icarus-like tendencies to form autonomous intelligence from seemingly inanimate materials. The material with which we form - artificial intelligence (AI) — is already in some ways becoming ‘alive’. AI is trained to perceive, seeing what its gaze is directed towards, experiencing the world around it, developing as we develop. Is it becoming difficult to differentiate the creator from the creation?

Launched at Atelier Clerici during Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy, on 4 - 9 April 2017.

Questions of propaganda have become urgent. Propagation of movements, ideologies and opinions is assisted by the development of algorithms, online news media and social media. These contribute to formation of ever-differentiating echo chambers in which information, ideas and beliefs are amplified and repeated in increasingly enclosed systems. How can design interventions respond to the current societal phenomenon and state of propaganda? How does design contribute to the structuring of flows of propaganda? What is the current state of propaganda in the design field? What does design propagate?

Launched at Atelier Clerici during Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy, on 12–17 April 2016.

In situations of abstract fear and non-tangible threat, people can react with distress and worry, but also with positive counteracts of irony, absurdity and conviviality. These reactions can enable joy, hope, distraction and escapism from the immediate present. How can design interventions respond to situations of abstract threat? Can design trigger possible positive consequences, such as joy, hope and solidarity and usurp the status quo?