SPECULATIVE EVEYRTHING
Speculative design, as proposed by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby in “Speculative Everything,” offers a captivating approach to design. It extends beyond creating user-friendly and consumable technology, instead using design as a tool to generate ideas, imagine potential futures, and think critically. The speculative design sparks debates and discussions by posing “what if” questions and challenging established norms.
Oftentimes, designers strive to create better products to enhance life, make it more inclusive, enjoyable, etc., whether on a small and individual scale or in large quantities with various and mostly totally different characteristics. By operating in the commercial world, they are also bound to be limited in freedom. Consequently, DnR suggest that design should be decoupled from consumerism to solve this problem.
As their title implies, DnR’s work is held in high regard as science fiction in that it imagines new worlds with often radical scenarios and often aesthetics, and one of the most important points they emphasize is that they are not trying to force a particular future, since they are clearly talking about possible futures, the wide range of totally different multicolor events and actions. It is no longer just about the technologies themselves, but about the consequences and the mundane elements that would make those futures a reality. Thus, it will make us think about different aspects of those possibilities and the implications they have on our values.
It is outside the scope of this essay to even mention, much less extend, some of the contradictions and unresolved terminological and pragmatic questions about the book, but I would like to mention a few of them so that different perspectives can be displayed and/or more thought can be generated.
In the first instance, one might wonder where or from whom support for these speculative products or systems should come from, as well as where and how they might create an alternative(s) for possible futures. Does the goal really lie in creating a sustainable reality that is comprehensive? Or are they just fed by the marketplace of ideas? In one’s mind, these questions even branch into, who will pay for these projects that claim to materialize because they cultivated a novel way of how different possibilities could be brought together rather than just offering solutions for consumers? Who will benefit from them? What impact will their outcomes have on the power structure(s)?
Aside from all the well-intentioned definitions described throughout the book, some assumptions are misused. Examples include “critical design”, “we”, “manifesto for futures”, “design fiction”, “science museums”, “value”, “alternative futures”, etc. However, it goes without saying that this essay aims to organize and share some scattered thoughts around the “speculative design” term created over the last 20 years, not seeking to depress this book through another critic or even a battle, since these are just ideas and may even change over time and in the effect of powerful forces such as capitalism, the economy, social structures, climate crisis, etc. The book needs to be digested in light of the year of its publication, 2013, and the fact that different terms might need refinement over the years in a variety of ways, to make progress and bring about change.
It is disconcerting when, despite most uses of “we” meaning “we, DnR,” many of them are there to invoke humanity in general. The “we” of “We have become a society of individuals … We live in a very different world now but we can reconnect with that [visionary] spirit … But to do this, we need more pluralism in design, not of style but ideology and values” (Dunne and Raby 2014: 8, 9) is obviously not the same “we” as “We coined the term critical design … We feel it is the right moment to offer an updated view of what we think [critical design] is” (Dunne and Raby 2014: 34). But which “we” is the following? (Tonkinwise, 2014).
A lack of diversity in the context is even repeated throughout the projects and speculative products. As an example, the project “Designs for an Overpopulated Planet, Foragers, 2009”, which posits alternative yet radical ways for humans to obtain nutrients from nature, as a result of the food shortage, can serve as an example. It is clear from the project’s objectives that the world we live in is a very different reality from the world DnR tried to design for. There is a huge gap between objective reality and the world DnR tries to create. Although, surely it is not enough for us to evaluate the project only based on its visual narrative, such as the location, the people, aesthetic and visual culture (in general), but it is apparent that other natural landfill sites like deserts, harsh mountains, etc, or some global crises like water pollution, humanitarian crises like war, food and water shortages, and so on, were not taken into account accurately. Although many of these criticisms are valid – much of the work produced by DnR’s speculative everything, does not address many of the larger political, economic and environmental problems – it’s difficult for this to be extended to all experimental practice. “Does our environmental crisis mean that all work should be directed to address this? (speculativeedu.eu, 2019).”
Clearly, none of the crises and many more are based on future fiction or speculation, rather they are all contemporary problems that need to be highlighted to raise awareness and attention to global issues. Therefore, proposing an actual solution is a requirement not only for designers but for anyone or anywhere who has the opportunity to influence change.The problem, of course, is that these tools work for everybody and against everybody (McGrath, 2015). In addition, whether from a functionality or form perspective, there is a strong emphasis on individualism instead of creating a collective possibility(ies) (let’s not call it a solution, although it seems to be one). However, even after all of these ups and downs, the question looms on the horizon of whether all of our practices (designers in the first line, along with other disciplines and peers) must address every aspect of global crises in their imaginations and creations.
As a nutshell and a well-crafted wrapping curtain for this essay, I would like to express the enthusiasm and interest I have had throughout the entire time of reading this book. This novel and charming term intrigues me, but I prefer to remain skeptical, since I believe DnR’s projects were unable to rationally and practically communicate as a means of creating entirely new possibilities without leaving us wondering if their creations are fiction and pieces of art or if they are products powered by rooted in the world’s emergences. Eventually, of course, I am not negating the power of being imaginative and creating radical thoughts by using rational terms, but rather, I am highlighting how design can act as a catalyst to cultivate shifts and actions.
—–
. Anthony Dunne, Fiona Raby. “Speculative Everything” Book Presentation. (2017). [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmibm20UsoA
. Book review: Speculative Everything. Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. (2014, February 5). We Make Money Not Art. https://we-make-money-not-art.com/speculative_everything_design/
. Dunne, A., & Raby, F. (2013). Speculative Everything : Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. Mit Press. https://readings.design/PDF/speculative-everything.pdf
. Heathcote, E. (2014, January 17). “Speculative Everything”, by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby. Financial Times; Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/d9a0f03c-7e9f-11e3-8642-00144feabdc0
. Not Here, Not Now / Professor Anthony Dunne from RCA. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved July 10, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chBiMec7KtM
. robertmcgrath. (2015, October 25). Book Review: “Speculative Everything” by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby. Robert McGrath’s Blog. https://robertmcgrath.wordpress.com/2015/10/25/book-review-speculative-everything-by-anthony-dunne-and-fiona-raby/
. SpeculativeEdu. (2019). SpeculativeEdu | Critical about Critical and Speculative Design. Speculativeedu.eu. https://speculativeedu.eu/critical-about-critical-and-speculative-design/
. Tonkinwise, C. (2014). How We Intend to Future: Review of Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. Design Philosophy Papers, 12(2), 169–187. https://doi.org/10.2752/144871314x14159818597676