IF TECHNOLOGY IS THE ANSWER, THEN WHAT IS THE QUESTION? 

workshop for radar's co-lab
loughborough university, uk 
january 2020

artist: 
sophie huckfield

in applying multidisciplinary approaches, this workshop invited MA and BA industrial design students to compose a production inspired by the fictions employed by science and technology industries, exploring how tech solutionism is used to address complex social issues.

sophie asked participants to work with a range of methods such as moulding and casting, concrete poetry, forum theatre techniques, scriptwriting and performing in order to collectively unpick the language and branding employed by corporations around the ‘techno fix’ and the myths of unlimited growth. participants explored how to subvert these methods, coming up with their own ‘ethics charter’ around technological and design developments.

in doing so, the workshop sought to challenge viewpoints which positioned technological tools as necessary, whilst ignoring the structural inequalities and the environmental impacts they may reproduce and reinforce.