John James Marshall thesis.pdf - OpenAIR @ RGU - Robert Gordon ...

There are several variations of critical design. The most prominent of these
variations are: ‘Post-Optimal Design’ (Powell, 2005), ‘Speculative Design’
(Martin and Gaver, 2000), ‘Parafunctional Design’ (Moreno, 2005) and
‘Dissident Design’ (Badke and Walker, 2005, p.291). Most of these are similar
in intent and output and some of the terms for these are derived from Dunne 41 .
Sengers, Boehner, David and Kaye (2005) set out in their paper ‘Reflective
Design’ an argument for a critical design-like approach within HCI research
based on the ‘critical technical practice’ of Agre (1997) to expose the
unconscious adoption of values within conventionalised technological research
methods.
The ‘Device Art’ project launched in 2004 and is supported by a five-year grant
from the Japan Science and Technology Agency. ‘Device Art’ is a concept for reexamining
the relationships between art, science and technology developed by
Machiko Kusahara. Device art is a form of media art that integrates art and
technology as well as design, entertainment, and popular culture targeted at
audiences beyond galleries or museums through mass production and
commercial distribution. Kusahara (2006) in a poster session on ‘Device Art’ as
a developing trend of hardware and object-based media art at ISEA 2006 (Inter-
Society for the Electronic Arts) cites early 20 th Century avant-garde art
movements such as Dada and Surrealism as precursors.
This project seeks to theoretically frame and develop a working model for
producing, exhibiting, and distributing ‘Device Art’ works. These
contemplative, functional and interactive objects are hybrids of products, toys,
and sculpture.
“…perhaps the most powerful factor in its emergence is this new
relationship to audience. With Device Art, the viewer is engaged with
this work in a completely different context. As commercially viable
projects, they can be produced in quantity and easily purchased. In fact,
the term "viewer" is fundamentally inappropriate, as Device Art will
ideally engage its audience through physical interactions with buttons,
41 e.g. ‘Post-Optimal Design’ and ‘Parafunctional Design’.
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