MachinicModernity/24

Machinic Modernity 2024: the artificial & the self

Fridays noon-6pm, in Hooper GC - GC20 A
By appointment: Erik Adigard + Ignacio Valero : cca.zoom.us/j/93500054832

COURSE DESCRIPTION
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To master the forms we produce we must first understand the mechanisms within which we operate. Design making cannot exist without design thinking, just as machinism, modernity and design cannot exist without each other. Together they can lead to progress as well as to unforeseen disruptions. Exploring these perspectives in combination with notions of humanity and more-than-human worlds, we will reference powerful concepts ranging from pre-modern philosophies, mythologies, and religions, to the Bauhaus, science, technology, posthumanism, the artificial, and the self.

We will consider our responsibilities and agencies both as visionaries, creatives, and engineers of possible futures. Through design explorations and visual essays, students will aim to demonstrate how the synergy of theory and form can be a foundation for the making of stories, images, products, architectures, interfaces, services, and systems.

Ultimately, this class is an opportunity to investigate the drivers of our collective and individual practice, to then confront one of the great questions of our times: Why, what and how must we engage our rapidly transforming worlds, to address the redesign of value systems, incentives, environments, economies and social contracts underpinning our daily lives. These are some of the main questions that MFA-level students must address as they progress toward Thesis and later design leadership.

AN INVESTIGATIVE APPROACH
One of the aims of Machinic Modernity is to strengthen your critical thinking capacities both from theory to design and from design to theory. To do so, we will work around five fundamental contemporary notions:
1. Modernity
2. Technology
3. The Living
4. The Object
5. Selfhood

We will relate these five notions through seven transversalities:
The Real – The Imaginary — The Symbolic — Relationality – Asymmetry — Artificiality — Consciousness

Throughout this research we will also take on some of the key design topics of our time, from Bauhaus and post-modernity to the non-human and hypermodernity, along with the questions they invite. We will investigate the rapidly changing status of the design and designer agency in its inherent polarities:
- design as construct vs. designer as creator
- design as socio-economic driver vs. theory as disruptive trigger
- design as solutions vs. design as problems
- design as new worlds vs. the world of non users
- design as representation vs. design as experience
- etc.

These are the core questions that design students must address as they progress toward Thesis.

Why do we choose design as a profession and/or vocation? How does it relate to who we are and how we want to grow throughout life? And how do we want to apply design as a force of change in the world?

Ultimately, these questions will allow us to better understand the essence, the culture, the politics, the ethics, the economies, the epistemology, and the art of design. To take on such a deep research, the class will need to be exploratory, discursive and introspective, that is to focus on our individual sense of self and objectives, and how that relates to the world around us, at a macro level, but also at a micro level, i.e. within our class.

If the class will focus on interpersonal quests, we all will need to share our findings with the rest of the class by using creative techniques.

THE CLASS STRUCTURE is based on a double track each running 3 hrs with breaks.
1. The Theory section will be fully conversational and rely on your reading assignments and your conceptual findings. So that each week:
1) In the first half of this section, one student or student team will formally present their research for the week along with the questions they identified. Immediately afterwards there will be a general Q&A and discussion.
2) In the last 30mn Ignacio will then introduce the following week’s reading/research assignment.

2. The Design section is where we "make sense" of theory from a design perspective. It will be run as a studio with short lectures, assignment reviews and work in progress.

One of our main focus with each design class will be to review your creative interpretations of the assigned text(s) and the pointers and how they contribute to your own design interests.

THE CLASS SET UP is on a simple Google platform which we see as more aligned with industry standards:
- machinicmodernity.com will include all relevant information, along with the weekly programs on one single page
- a Google Folder where the texts, class recordings, presentations and student work are maintained
- class communications happen through email
- we may use a Mural collaborative platform to organize topics and to post questions and comments

So far previous groups have always selected the Google approach, but have the option to migrate to Moodle if the majority of the class prefers.

Program details such as references and specific assignments will be shared with the class progressively. We aim to create an inclusive and accommodating classroom that is responsive to students, so please do send questions and concerns you may have.

CLASS CCA GUIDELINES

Materials & Supplies
The choice of techniques and materials should be dictated by your project needs.

Presentations
It is critical that work is presented in a logical and orderly manner. Consistency of presentation allows us to focus on the work itself, and clearly track the evolution of projects. The documents you present and the files you share must be clearly labeled with your name, project and date, e.g. “smith_project1_21jan18”

Be prepared to formally present and talk about your work at all times. We will have individual desk crits as well as conversations among the entire class when we review your findings. You must organize your process as well as you can. This should include research, sketches, photos, designs, list of references.

Participation
Through discussion of our work and that of others, we develop the ability to articulate our solutions and thought process. This is not only one of the primary ways you will learn from each other in class, but is also a skill that you will rely on heavily throughout your career. Note that comments during critiques must be constructive and should add to the conversation.

The classes are primarily based on presentations by teachers and students. It is paramount for students to know when they must focus on presentations and when they can simultaneously work on their own class project.

Attendance policy
Regular attendance and on-time arrival are required.*
• Three unexcused absences = unconditional fail
• Three late arrivals = one unexcused absence
* The responsibility for making up work missed due to any type of absence rests with the student. Email if you are sick or you must miss a class: eadigard@cca.edu / ivalero@cca.edu. We can schedule individual meetings as needed for you to stay on schedule.

Handing in completed work
Assigned projects must be submitted on time and in due form, i.e. properly named and in the online class folder you will be assigned. It is your responsibility to double check that it has been received.

Evaluation
25% Punctuality, participation & project uploads
50% Research, explorations & conceptual clarity
25% Craft, execution & presentation

Grading scale
A Outstanding performance and participation
B Good performance and participation
C Average performance and participation
D Inadequate, course must be repeated in order to graduate
F Fail, inadequate, course must be repeated in order to graduate

CCA LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
California College of the Arts campuses are located in Huichin and Yelamu, also known as Oakland and San Francisco, respectively, on the unceded territories of Chochenyo and Ramay- ush Ohlone peoples, who have continuously lived upon this land since time immemorial. We recognize the historic discrimination and violence inflicted upon Indigenous peoples in California and the Americas, including their forced removal from ancestral lands, and the deliberate and systematic destruction of their communities and culture. CCA honors Indigenous peoples—past, present, and future—here and around the world, and we wish to pay respect to local elders. INCLUSIVITY STATEMENT
MFA Design is committed to inclusivity, diversity and anti-racism in our community. We aim to establish an awareness, acknowledgment, respect and acceptance for one another and the multiplicity of identities, cultural backgrounds, and sensory abilities of all individuals in our program. We are also committed to creating equitable systems and structures that promote opportunities for all students, faculty, and staff in our community.Student Success Office: https://portal.cca.edu/learning/student-success/Counselling Services: https://portal.cca.edu/thriving/counseling/

Machinic Modernity / Erik Adigard & Ignacio Valero