Media@McGill and the AHCS Speaker Series have invited Anna Feigenbaum, Minute Works, and Gavin Grindon to give a talk, "Cruel Design / Disobedient Design – The Art and Politics of Designing for Social Justice."
The talk will be on Tuesday, March 27, 2018, 5 p.m. in Leacock 232, McGill University, 855 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC.
Paragraphe Books will also be on site to sell copies of Anna Feigenbaum's recent book, Tear Gas: From the Battlefields of WWI to the Streets of Today.
Visit the Verso blog post to read more about the book and hear Anna Feigenbaum discuss it.
Talk partially funded by the Dean of Arts Development Fund.
Free and open to the public.
Abstract:
From drones, border walls and riot control weapons to protest banners and DIY tear gas masks, design practices are used for both social control and social change. In this public talk we explore how design practices are implemented in the creation of objects used for repression and harm. Situating this "cruel design" in relation to acts of disobedience, we take the audience on a journey through the creative processes and critical readings of power that lie at the heart of designing for disobedience. Revealing the tensions between "cruel design" and "disobedient design," we draw on a range of examples. From RiotID infographics to protesting legos, we look at how such objects travel across nations and movements. As repressive and harmful technologies are continually innovated and adapted, people continue to find new modes of resilience. We argue that beyond the creation of individual artefacts, engaging in civic and participatory design can foster infrastructures of resistance, shape social movement cultures, and innovate tactics that spread around the world.
Biographies:
Anna Feigenbaum is a Principal Academic in Digital Storytelling at Bournemouth University where she runs the Civic Media Hub. She is coordinator of the RiotID project that uses participatory information design to train people around the world how to identify, monitor and record the use of riot control weapons against civilians around the world.
Minute Works is a graphic design studio whose projects are defined by an enthusiasm for sustainable practice and social solidarity. They work regularly with Greenpeace and the Green Party, among other campaign groups and non-profits. They are the designers on the RiotID project, featured at Banksy’s Dismaland.
Gavin Grindon is a Lecturer in Art History and Curating at the University of Essex. Gavin recently curated The Museum of Cruel Designs and Guerilla Island at Banksy's Dismaland show. Before this he co-curated the exhibition Disobedient Objects at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, about objects of art and design produced by protest.
As part of their visit to Media@McGill, Dr. Anna Feigenbaum, Minute Works, and Dr. Gavin Grindon will lead a workshop, Infographics for Activism, on Wednesday, March 28, 2018, at 2 p.m. in Arts 160, Faculty of Arts, 853 Sherbrooke West, McGill University, Montreal, QC.
In this hands-on, interactive workshop, participants will be taken through the process of brainstorming, researching, writing, visualizing, publishing and promoting infographics designed for activism and social change. Drawing on our collaborative work for the RiotID project, we discuss how creativity, data literacy and critical readings of power must come together to create effective visualisations. After discussing strategies for how to research past graphics, explore appropriate iconography, engage in data storytelling, and subvert corporate aesthetics, we then turn the workshop over to participants, guiding them through a participatory design project. Using a scenario prompt and associated data and visual materials, participants will work in groups to create drafts of their own infographics for activism.
Biographies:
Anna Feigenbaum is a Principal Academic in Digital Storytelling at Bournemouth University where she runs the Civic Media Hub. She is coordinator of the RiotID project that uses participatory information design to train people around the world how to identify, monitor and record the use of riot control weapons against civilians around the world.
Minute Works is a graphic design studio whose projects are defined by an enthusiasm for sustainable practice and social solidarity. They work regularly with Greenpeace and the Green Party, among other campaign groups and non-profits. They are the designers on the RiotID project, featured at Banksy’s Dismaland.
Gavin Grindon is a Lecturer in Art History and Curating at the University of Essex. Gavin recently curated The Museum of Cruel Designs and Guerilla Island at Banksy's Dismaland show. Before this he co-curated the exhibition Disobedient Objects at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, about objects of art and design produced by protest.