Simulacra – risk of wavering certainties
Simulacra is a student project, realized at the Politecnico di Milano.
Simulacra is a research of speculative design between ethnographic research, case studies and a phenomenological approach, that starting from the socio-cultural shift of our contemporary age, investigates the role that emerging technologies, such as synthetic media, play on a social, ethical and aesthetic level. Furthermore, it analyses what correlation there is between these, man and other organisms, showing the need to abandon an anthropocentric point of view, in order to embrace new perspectives of decentralized action, in a new post-human ecology. Particularly, the technologies and tools that we are creating nowadays are changing a fundamental part of our existence: the lenses through which we view and interact with the world. We are literally beginning to see the world through a new set of eyes and ears: things that were previously invisible become visible. The world of today is the world of simulacra, where media are autonomously created, distributed and spread without having a visual respondence in tangible references, acting and existing only in the digital realm, but still creating consequences on the material one. What can now be considered real, or fake? The ethical implications that this research brings with it, namely, the importance of relationships of trust and awareness, are also discussed. The aim is to analyze what are the weaknesses and what are the areas of possible growth. It will be investigated how, consequently, the role of design has to change and adapt: design becomes a bridge between known and unknown. With it is possible to explore the endless possibilities we have in front of us and that we can embrace. Design, we can say, acting as a cultural mediator and enhancer, could become the coordinator of a collective strength and intellect. It has to go beyond the pure rational and logical thought, in order to build beliefs for humans and non humans. Design can build awareness and meaning, it can become the catalyst of a collective consciousness, ready to face what is going to happen in the next future. In particular, the definition and search for a future of meaning and growth, avoiding dystopian futures governed by inhuman technologies and useless hierarchical constructs.
Graphically, the work is all built around constantly changing layout, black and white, emphasizing interconnections between topics and specific elements. For the typography, a single font is used throughout: Self Modern from Bretagne. As the name itself tells, the font merges pretty well a philosophical and literary approach and content, that tells about humanity and the human genre, revisited with a modern key, open towards the future. Self Modern has a well defined personality, it’s versatile and suitable for both long texts and for short titles.
