Work/Around
London, London Design Festival
Residency
September, 2023A workaround is a creative improvisation to get to a desired result, usually when there’s something in the way. The obstacle could be a technical fault, a policy or an interface designed to exclude you (deliberately or not). The workaround, often developed over time, in collusion with others who are encountering the same obstacle, is usually unofficial, illegitimate, or even prohibited. Who says workarounds are not permitted? Policymakers, gatekeepers, manufacturers, engineers, and — let’s be honest — designers. But those who come up with workarounds are also designers, sometimes canny, ingenious people with inky or oily fingers, their eyes on the changing conditions of the situation at hand. The workaround is an improvisation because it’s not developed from afar, in a theoretical or abstracted situation: the workaround comes from the frontlines of the problem, where the rubber meets the road, the ink meets the roller, or where the computer says no.
-Design Inquiry Call for Applications
Week-long collaborative workshops in RISO, theory and personal projects.