ELASTIC DESIGN Tools for Alternative Understandings Bettina Marianne Bruder Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Art & Design, The University of New South Wales April 2017 DECLARATIONS Originality Statement ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed: Date: 24.04.2017 Authenticity Statement ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed: Date: 24.04.2017 ii Copyright Statement ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.’ The license of third party imagery is subject to another license arrangement so that CC BY- NC-ND 3.0 is not applicable to this specific material. This means that the respective licensor has to be contacted with regards to licence the third-party material if the republication of these images is intended. These images are marked explicitly. Signed: Date: 24.04.2017 iii Imagine stretching an elastic measurement tape. Unexpectedly, a space for speculative thoughts is genuinely expanding your mind. This practice-based project in speculative design explores possibilities for disrupting everyday constructs of reality, which are apparent in regulations of time, space and matter. These constructs underpin notions of predictability and universal validity. Hybridity and complexity challenge these concepts associated with scientific objectivity, instrumental rationality, and economic efficiency. Both notions are prevalent tropes in art and design practice, pointing out the discrepancy between the rigid order of classical science versus unruly reality. This ideological tension is constructively deployed in eight experimental projects that are located in the field of metrology, the science of measurement. By manipulating measuring devices, industrial standards and protocol compliance attention is drawn to alternative ways of engaging with the world. The practice-based component is a toolkit that consists of reconfigured measuring devices calledTools for Alternative Understandings, which use “elasticity” as a material and conceptual agent to provoke unconventional models of thought. With the intention to reconfigure established modes of knowledge production the toolkit provokes a shift towards material and performative modes of knowing beyond the representationalist thinking within modern Western culture. Such experimentation may trigger a change for more creative and viable futures fostering flexible approaches for meaning making. The practice is framed as an experimental laboratory that interrogates the regulations determined by current systems of measurement and representation. The experiments are guided by a theoretical framework that builds on material-semiotic approaches emphasizing the entanglement between human and non-human agencies as co-productive constituents in the construction of reality. Such ideas are inherent in the work of Karen Barad, Donna Haraway and Bruno Latour. In drawing on Barad’s reconceptualisation of measurement through the indeterminacy found in quantum physics, elasticity is presented as the fundamental component of the project. The application of Elastic Design is discussed using three foci—the unlocking, redirecting and material re-entangling of rational procedures, and ideological concepts to cultivate alternative experiences of reality. Additional strategies associated with new materialism, science and technology studies, conceptual art and speculative design figure as supplements to my research methodology. 24.04.2017 ABSTRACT Elastic Design – Tools for Alternative Understandings Imagine you are stretching a measurement tape, which is made of elastic. You see the rigid intervals of the measuring scale cracking and extending. As a rule, these interstices are unlikely to change. Unexpectedly, you sense a space for speculative thoughts genuinely expanding in your mind. It feels as if multiple possibilities emerge and come into being while you are pulling the device. In this way, the manipulated tool modifies our understanding. Given logic and linear habits of thought are disordered in a playful encounter with some tiny, flexible interstices that wickedly insert themselves between doing and thinking. (Experimental project Elastic Standard Metre) This practice-based project in speculative design explores possibilities for disrupting everyday constructs of reality, which are apparent in regulations of time, space and matter. These constructs underpin notions of predictability and universal validity. Hybridity and complexity challenge these concepts associated with scientific objectivity, instrumental rationality, and economic efficiency. Both notions are prevalent tropes in art and design practice, pointing out the discrepancy between the rigid order of classical science versus unruly reality. This ideological tension is constructively deployed in eight experimental projects that are located in the field of metrology, the science of measurement. By manipulating measuring devices, industrial standards and protocol compliance attention is drawn to alternative ways of engaging with the world. The practice-based component is a toolkit that consists of reconfigured measuring devices called Tools for Alternative Understandings, which use “elasticity” as a material and conceptual agent to provoke unconventional models of thought. With the intention to reconfigure established modes of knowledge production the toolkit provokes a shift towards material and performative modes of knowing beyond the representationalist thinking within modern Western culture. Such experimentation may trigger a change for more creative and viable futures fostering flexible approaches for meaning making. The practice is framed as an experimental laboratory that interrogates the regulations determined by current systems of measurement and representation. The experiments are guided by a theoretical framework that builds on material-semiotic approaches emphasizing v the entanglement between human and non-human agencies as co-productive constituents in the construction of reality. Such ideas are inherent in the work of Karen Barad, Donna Haraway and Bruno Latour. In drawing on Barad’s reconceptualisation of measurement through the indeterminacy found in quantum physics, elasticity is presented as the fundamental component of the project. The application of Elastic Design is discussed using three foci—the unlocking, redirecting and material re-entangling of rational procedures, and ideological concepts to cultivate alternative experiences of reality. Additional strategies associated with new materialism, science and technology studies, conceptual art and speculative design figure as supplements to my research methodology. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My wholehearted thanks to my mentor Dr. Elizabeth Ashburn, Emeritus Professor at the University of New South Wales and to my supervisor Dr. Paul Thomas for their exceptional generosity, continuous encouragement, dedication, vividness, humour and inspiration throughout my research. I feel very honoured to have experienced such a supportive yet critical supervisory and advisory relationship. My appreciation extends to Dr. Shivaun Weybury from the Learning Centre at UNSW and my friends Dr. Ella Dreyfus and Dr. Stefan Müller for loyal encouragement and unlimited support. Appreciation is extended to the University of New South Wales for the scholarship and travel grants and especially the opportunity to realise an essential part of my research during the residency at Cité International des Arts in Paris. I thank Joanna Elliot for her engaged support as postgraduate research administrator. Dr. Petra Gemeinboeck and Dr. Katherine Moline are acknowledged. Thanks also to my examiners Dr. Pia-Ednie Brown from RMIT University and Professor Mike Phillips from Plymouth University.