Velcro City Tourist Board

Month: April 2020

  • sönndagar

  • discontinuity against ubiquity: narrative form and climate crisis

    Lots of food for thought (and suggestions of novels to read) in this LARB dialogue on the topic of “fiction in the age of climate catastrophe” between authors Anne Charnock and James Bradley. It’s all of interest, but the following clips are relevant enough to merit excerpting here for reference purposes: James Bradley: The problem,…

  • the slowdown papers

    Those among you with a more futures-y orientation may already have noticed Dan Hill publishing last week a collection of work that he’s calling “The Slowdown Papers”; this is the header post that bundles them and links them all. I’ve been following Dan’s work for quite some time now. He was always an interesting and…

  • expand our mapping of the space we’re designing for (‘think about the box’, redux)

    The excellent Alexis Lloyd observes that the road to hell has in recent years been paved with “user-centred” design; while well-intended, it’s also pernicious. … in effect, user-centered design ends up being a mirror for both radical individualism and capitalism. It posits the consumer at the center, catering to their needs and privileging their purchasing…

  • defeat the dread

    Good chewy long-read from Cennydd Bowles, starting with a look at the ongoing situation (and a zinger of an opening line), and building out to a measured and respectful but nonetheless pointed dig at the futures industry: For too long we’ve been serving the wrong goals: helping large multinationals and tech giants accrue more power…