This series of insightful lectures with Ms. Laura started off with her saying a bunch of words to us which I knew what they meant but I had no idea in this context of design. Situated Epistemologies. On the first day, I understood what she meant by this and how to place myself as a designer, as a tool, as a set of skills, as a person with access, as a woman, as an Indian, as a pansexual person, as a part of the Gen Z, etc. These specific placements provide a clear visualisation of context, resources and self.
This is more or less what we continued to do with our design spaces and over the months, I would say that I feel more certain of my situated-ness.
We had an activity where we collectively situated ourselves as new, fresh-faced learners in Barcelona, with physical personal belongings as anchor points to start. The object I chose to start with is an anklet that I wear as a South Indian traditional Bharatnatyam dancer.
In the next discussion, we spoke about Eugenics and how people predicted the future before us. I learned about the role of philosophy. I love the obsession with questioning everything and explaining everything inside a certain set of constraints. This obsession brought us to today’s age of technology, innovation and creative delusion.
But we do need to acknowledge the lens through which the men of the past viewed their desirable future. We need to see and identify the eugenics and patriarchy that the mindsets were steeped in.
Later, we spoke about the importance of narrative and the power of telling the right story. There is power also, to telling an original story. The story told about it ends up being the most powerful and long-lasting evidence of any said intervention that we make as designers and it is important to be aware of how other perspectives will add to and remove from the narrative.
We were asked to make a simple sketch depicting our individual narrative. I made a spiral. The spiral could be going downward or upward depending on your perspective. it could also be going downward or upward depending on where I am on the spiral. It also denoted constant movement and change. That is the narrative I would like to have about myself. We then did an activity to connect our narratives as a class and then we developed a story collectively to talk about how we can show all of us together.
- Spinoza discusses power in terms of two intertwined notions: Potestas and Potentia. Potestas represents authority, while Potentia signifies the actual force and strength of the collective.
- According to Spinoza, Potentia carries a negative connotation, often associated with restriction and oppression, especially within political contexts.
- Feminist epistemology delves into how gender shapes our perception and acquisition of knowledge. It highlights the ways in which traditional knowledge frameworks may disadvantage women.
- Donna Haraway introduced the concept of
Situated Knowledges in 1988, emphasizing that all knowledge is inherently influenced by the position and perspective of the knower. She critiques the notion of objective knowledge, labeling it as the "god trick" and asserting that true objectivity is unattainable.
- Deleuze's statement that "A body can be anything" suggests a fluid understanding of identity and embodiment, challenging fixed notions of what constitutes a body.
- The phrase "We are in this together but we are not all the same" emphasizes the interconnectedness of individuals while acknowledging the diversity and complexity within communities.
- Wor'l'ding refers to the affective nature of existence, highlighting the dynamic and relational aspects of the world.
- The Anthropocene denotes a geological epoch characterized by significant human impact on the environment, marking a distinct era shaped by human activities.
The introduction to MDEF is exciting and I am looking forward to the year.