What If (Dublin)

Raby developed three ‘What If...’ exhibitions with Dunne (RCA), asking what role design can play in imagining possible futures and raising social, cultural and ethical questions, building on 20 years’ practice in Critical Design theorised inter alia in Dunne and Raby’s Design Noir (2001), Hertzian Tales (2005) and Speculative Everything (2013). Raby’s research included concept development, extended collaboration with exhibitors to develop their contributions, and devising the engagement strategy: all three required localised approaches to audiences, circumstances and commissioning hosts. Extensive investigation was needed in synthetic biology, nanotechnology, surveillance technologies and the domestication of natural phenomena, working with scientific partners at Imperial College and Cambridge University. ‘What If…’ Dublin (2009) comprised 29 projects envisioning hypothetical futures and was reviewed in Irish broadsheets (Examiner, Times, Independent), Wired and New Scientist: ‘the exhibits…address questions on scientific or medical ethics that must be asked in our bio-technological age’ (http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2009/12/post-2.html). Exhibits were also shown at the Art Institute of Chicago, Israel Museum, MoMA and Ars Electronica Center. About 1.8 million people pass the windows of the Wellcome Trust building in London annually, making them an important means of science communication. Wellcome commissioned a changing ‘What If…’ exhibition of 15 themes over 15 months (February 2010 – March 2011). Raby reconceived the design strategy with exhibits engaging at different distances, from passing buses to close-up study. The third exhibition, for the Beijing International Design Triennial (2011), explored the impact on future life of novel technologies through 58 projects in 130 exhibits from 36 designers (12 from China), for a diverse audience. The exhibition and related symposium at Tsinghua University were supported by the British Council. The Triennial was visited by approximately 500,000 visitors and featured widely, e.g. China Central Television, People's Daily, New York Times (all 2011) and Zhuangshi journal (2011 and 2012)

EPSRC IMPACT Exhibition

This exhibition was conceived by Dunne (PI) and comprised 16 mixed-media speculative design research projects. It marked the culmination of an EPSRC-funded initiative also partly supported by NESTA. Dunne supervised and then curated the projects by staff, graduates and students of the RCA Design Interactions programme. Each was conducted in collaboration with an external research partner organisation already supported by the EPSRC. The topics covered ranged from renewable energy devices and security technologies to the emerging fields of synthetic biology and quantum computing. Dunne and an advisory panel from EPSRC and NESTA selected themes on the basis of diversity of topic, design opportunities, intellectual and creative challenges, and public relevance. Dunne invited the designers to take a radical, interrogative approach, exploring the social, ethical and political implications of the research. Each designer visited the relevant science lab, consulted with the scientists throughout the project, and participated in a one-day workshop hosted by NESTA between scientists and designers on such forms of collaboration. Designers carried out literature, journal, and project surveys before developing their projects through iterative prototypes. The exhibition, held at the RCA in 2010, was considered by EPSRC to offer a powerful insight into how today’s research might transform our experience of the world. It was reviewed in the Guardian (2010), Wired (2010) and Design Week (2010). Dunne presented ‘IMPACT!’ in conferences including the IDA Congress, ‘Design at the Edges’, Taipei (2011) and at the Wellcome Trust, London (2011). He gave a related lecture to researchers at Microsoft Research Asia, Beijing (2011). Individual exhibits from the project featured in exhibitions: Museum of Modern Art (2011), National Museum of China (2011); Z33 (2010–11); Wellcome Trust (2010–11); Saint-Étienne International Design Biennial (2010); Ars Electronica (2010); The Times Cheltenham Science Festival (2010); and V2_, Institute for the Unstable Media (2010)

The Son of God and Trinitarian Identity Statements

Classical Trinitarians claim that Jesus—the Son of God—is truly God and that there is only one God and the Father is God, the Spirit is God, and the Father, Son, and Spirit are distinct. However, if the identity statement that ‘the Son is God’ is understood in the sense of numerical identity, logical incoherence seems immanent. Yet, if the identity statement is understood according to an ‘is’ of predication then it lacks accuracy and permits polytheism. Therefore, we argue that there is another sense of ‘is’ needed in trinitarian discourse that will allow the Christian to avoid logical incoherence while still fully affirming all that is meant to be affirmed in the confession ‘Jesus is God.’ We suggest a sense of ‘is’ that meets this need

Filled with the Spirit: Wine and Worship in Levitical Light (Ephesians 5.18–21)

This essay argues that the background of the temple, and particular priestly and levitical activities, explain the logic of Eph. 5.18–21. After setting this text in context and addressing various proposed backgrounds, the proposal of this essay is initially examined in relation to the imperative to be filled ἐν πνεύματι in 5.18, which I argue is a dative of content. After seeing how this fits within the temple themes of the letter, the immediate context is explored to show how similar motifs continue to emerge. In particular, the prohibition of drunkenness is seen in relation to the desire for priests to abstain from alcohol while serving in the temple. The worship that ensues in the first four participles (5.19–20) that are dependent on the imperative to be “filled” (5.18) are similarly seen to be inspired by priestly and levitical actions, since singing was primarily relegated to the temple setting and to a particular levitical office within the cult. This is then finally situated in relation to the subsequent Haustafel, which is also grammatically subordinated to the imperative in 5.18. The Haustafel contributes to this scene by highlighting how, in the domestic context of early Christian house churches, the gathering was believed to be sacred space in which the church was a temple made of priests who were filled with the Spirit and praised God. In such corporate settings of worship, drunkenness is not to be permitted.Napełnieni Duchem: wino i uwielbienie z perspektywy lewickiej (List do Efezjan 5,18–21)Autor artykułu argumentuje, że otoczenie świątyni, a zwłaszcza czynności kapłańskie i lewickie wyjaśniają logikę Ef 5,18–21. Po umiejscowieniu tekstu we właściwym kontekście i odniesieniu się do różnych zaproponowanych przesłanek na początku analizowane jest użycie trybu rozkazującego „być napełnionym ἐν πνεύματι” w Ef 5,18, formy, która według autora jest celownikiem treści. Po spojrzeniu na to zagadnienie w relacji do motywów świątynnych listu, analizowany jest najbliższy kontekst, aby pokazać, w jaki sposób pojawiają się podobne motywy. W szczególności zakaz pijaństwa postrzegany jest w łączności z zaleceniem, aby kapłani powstrzymywali się od alkoholu podczas służby w świątyni. Uwielbienie, jakie występuje w czterech pierwszych imiesłowach (5,19–20), które są zależne od trybu rozkazującego, być „wypełnionym” (5,18), jest podobnie postrzegane jako inspirowane przez czynności kapłańskie i lewickie, ponieważ śpiew był uważany za zajęcie typowe dla urzędu kapłańskiego i wiązał się ze sprawowaniem kultu. To zagadnienie jest ostatecznie omawiane w odniesieniu do Haustafel, który jest również gramatycznie podporządkowany trybowi rozkazującemu w 5,18. W tej scenie Haustafel podkreśla, że w kontekście wczesnochrześcijańskich kościołów domowych zgromadzenie uważano za świętą przestrzeń, w której kościół był świątynią stworzoną z kapłanów napełnionych Duchem i wychwalających Boga. W takim zbiorowym miejscu kultu pijaństwo nie ma prawa bytu.

“Nothing Beautiful Hides Its Face”: The Hiddenness of Esther in C. S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces

C. S. Lewis’ last and arguably best novel, Till We Have Faces, is an impressively nuanced revision and recasting of Apuleius’ short tale of Cupid and Psyche, Books 4–6 of The Golden Ass. Although this ancient myth was the main source for Till We Have Faces, inspiration was no doubt gained from many places. One such influence, previously unnoted, was the biblical book of Esther. This study will note some of the key places where the influence of Esther is detectable, in particular Lewis’ choice of the name “Istra.” This is followed by an investigation into why Esther may have been suitable for Lewis’ main concerns in writing Till We Have Faces. Finally, a few scenes will be highlighted to show how these concerns are particularly illuminated through the influence of Esther

New Methodologies in Art and Design Research: The Object as Discourse (Royal College of Art Research Papers, Vol 2, No 1, 1996/7)

A discussion of the methodologies of researchers in art and design: should they adopt and adapt methodologies from other academic disciplines or develop original approaches unique to the quality of discovery in art and design? In the key area of research by project, where the end product is an artefact, the need to develop original research methodologies seems essential. This paper reviews the methodologies of three Royal College of Art-based research-by-project doctoral students - Ian Ferguson, Les Johnson, and Anthony Dunne - who have begun to develop unique research strategies

Between Reality and the Impossible

An illustrated catalogue essay about our contribution to the 2010 Saint-Étienne International Design Biennale

The school of constructed realities

Today we visited a new school of design developed specifically to meet the challenges and conditions of the 21st century. It offers only one degree, an MA in Constructed Realities. Having sat through the presentations for the open day, we were still a little unclear about its distinctions between real realities, unreal realities, real unrealities and unreal unrealities... (Article originally written for Maharam Stories, with permission to reprint

Chiral Extrapolation: An Analogy with Effective Field Theory

We draw an analogy between the chiral extrapolation of lattice QCD calculations from large to small quark masses and the interpolation between the large mass (weak field) and small mass (strong field) limits of the Euler--Heisenberg QED effective action. In the latter case, where the exact answer is known, a simple extrapolation of a form analogous to those proposed for the QCD applications is shown to be surprisingly accurate over the entire parameter range.Comment: 6 pp, revtex, 3 figs; minor changes -- version to appear in PL

Design Frictions for Mindful Interactions: The Case for Microboundaries

Design frictions, a term found in popular media articles about user experience design, refer to points of difficulty occurring during interaction with technology. Such articles often argue that these frictions should be removed from interaction flows in order to reduce the risk of user frustration and disengagement. In this paper we argue that, in many scenarios, designing friction into interactions through the introduction of microboundaries, can, in fact, have positive effects. Design frictions can disrupt "mindless" automatic interactions, prompting moments of reflection and more "mindful" interaction. The potential advantages of intentionally introduced frictions are numerous: from reducing the likelihood of errors in data-entry tasks, to supporting health-behaviour change