Wayne Thomas-Rhoden: Blog 3 – Reflections
Blog 3 – Reflections
In thinking about how the Better Lives themes influenced my project outcome, I focused on the theme of society. This was unpacked in Better Lives lecture 12, delivered by Katelyn Toth-Fejel. In order to define what is meant by the term ‘society’, Katelyn quoted Michael Hughes, who said:
“Each of us is a social being. We are born into a social environment; we fully develop into human beings in a social environment; and we live our lives in a social environment. What we think, how we feel, and what we say and do are all shaped by our interactions with other people”. Hughes. 2008. P.(?)
If anyone is seeking to alter society then it is important to understand how it works (Babbie, 2011). This was my takeaway when I went onto consider my Critical Design workshop project within the Better Lives unit. The workshop explained that, in order to challenge the urgent issues of, say, an ecological crisis, political instability, or economic inequity, designers, thinkers and artists are increasingly using critical design approaches to challenge the narrow assumptions, preconceptions and givens about the role products, systems and services play in everyday life and engage with the uncertainties of the future. Against this backdrop, we were asked to critically engage with a ‘wicked problem’ and create a response using design. A wicked problem was defined by Tim Curtis as ‘a social problem in which the various stakeholders can barely agree on what the definition of the problem should be, let alone what the solution is.’ For example, climate change, sexual harassment, political instability, economic unfairness or social inequality. We were asked to create a small critical design outcome that examines the potential implications of an emerging social, technological or environmental development by offering a vision of what our near future might look and feel like. Further, we had to consider and challenge hidden assumptions about our chosen issue, its impacts and influences. The outcome would take the form of a short trailer and presentation and the vision could be utopian, dystopian or somewhere in between. The main thing was that it had to show evidence of critical engagement. Something that makes you want more/leaves you hanging. Something that asks questions but doesn’t answer them. Something that communicates an atmosphere, engages, or teases.
My wicked problem was black-on-black knife crime and I used the theme of society to help me research the social aspects underpinning this phenomenon, such as racism, broken family structures, surrogate family structures, peer pressure, emulation, drugs and the influence of music. I also wanted to highlight how the social structures of the Windrush generation (who are the grandparents/great grandparents of these black men) differed significantly from what we are seeing today. This contrast was explored in my trailer to make the viewer consider why this very wicked problem ever should have come into existence in the first place. The link to my trailer is attached.
BABBIE, E. (2011) The Basics of Social Research. Belmont, CA. Wadsworth.
HUGHES, M and KROEHLER, J. (2008) Sociology: The Core. 8th Ed. Boston: University Press.