Dunne & Raby in Saint-Etienne

What happens when you decouple design from the marketplace, when rather than making technology sexy, easy to use and more consumable, designers use the language of design to pose questions, entertain and provoke – to transport our imaginations into parallel but possible worlds? We are concerned not only with the expressive, functional and communicative possibilities of new technologies but also with the social, cultural and ethical consequences of living within an increasingly technologically mediated society. This exhibition will consist of a number of design proposals presented through models, photographic scenarios, videos and 3D texts. It is absolutely not about prediction, but asking what if..., speculating, imagining, and even dreaming, to create and facilitate reflection on the kind of technologically mediated world we wish to live in. Ideally, one that reflects the complex, troubled people we are, rather than the easily satisfied consumers and users we are supposed to be.

Fiona Raby studied architecture at the Royal College of Art London and Anthony Dunne industrial design. These London designers are using design as a media for discussion and debate amongst designers, industrials and the public around social, cultural and ethical implications posed by emerging technologies. Their projects have been exhibited and published internationally and are part of the permanent collection of many museums including the MOMA in New York, the Victoria Albert Museum in London and the FRAC centre in Orléans. They exhibited at the Science Museum of London and at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Dunne & Raby have notably worked with major companies: Sony, National Panasonic, France Telecom. They have published two books: Black Design (Princeton Architectural Press) and Hertzian Tales (The MIT Press).