I presented a paper on my practice-based research about wool and more-than-human design, in DRS (Design Research Society) Conference, 2022, in Bilbao.
Citation and link below,
Tarcan, B., Pettersen, I.N., and Edwards, F. (2022) Making-with the environment through more-than-human design, in Lockton, D., Lenzi, S., Hekkert, P., Oak, A., Sádaba, J., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June - 3 July, Bilbao, Spain. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.347
Abstract:
Current climate and ecological crises require questioning currently dominant under-standings and relations to nonhumans. While design is a human-centered field and practice, many intruders or competing theories challenge human-centered ap-proaches and propose ways to include nonhumans in design. This article explores different perspectives for post-anthropocentric design approaches and focuses on how design can approach the notion more-than-human as an intruder to human-centered design. Proposing practice-based studies of making-with the environment as an alternative to human-centered design, it explores how to design beyond ideas of “human progress”. Firstly, more-than-human and related concepts are introduced. Secondly, how human-centered design can be challenged is explained through the concept of core theories and intruders, relating it with “more-than-human” and posthuman theories. Afterwards, traditional knowledge is introduced as a concept to explore more-than-human approaches, and a case study is introduced as a post-anthropocentric making activity. The case study demonstrates that designers should acknowledge and listen to traditional and indigenous knowledges, while shifting to a more-than-human design approach.
Keywords
intrusions to human-centered design, decentering humans in design, practice-based research, more-than-human.
