Thesis Abstract
Segregation lines between disciplines are breaking down; design, as an umbrella term encompassing the parallels of architecture, industrial/product design, graphic communication and its (new) relatives, now edges towards a new paradigm: design existing as an inter-, multi- and trans-disciplinary entity.
Traditional design hierarchies have been subverted by an emergent state — design as a 'meshwork'. From this meshwork new, temporal hierarchies which are shifted by cultural forces and technology advancements have risen, leading to the advent of a new domain of interactions between living beings and emergent technologies.
Digital information and processes are beginning to take on physical forms while artificial environments and beings are being designed that will learn to actively and intelligently respond to human impulses, actions and patterns.
In art, an 'assemblage' is defined as a sculptural technique or form that is comprised of a range of different and unrelated materials and objects that are linked or joined together and composed collectively. In philosophy, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari describe a philosophical 'assemblage' as being made up of multiple heterogeneous components which are loosely connected via certain mechanisms.
This essay will exist as an 'assemblage' of three components: the first regarding the convergence of design-disciplines, the second on the emergence of technologies which have arisen from artificial intelligence (AI) research, and the third which shall build connections between the two.
† Research Tutor: Isabel Löfgren
2009
