Design Researchers Seeing Ghosts

Design research is a discipline with connections to many other knowledge fields. Thus, it can be helpful to seek out contexts that revolve around interdisciplinary work and discussions. One such forum is the Nordic Summer University, which recently held a seminar in the study circle Process, Design and Aesthetics.

By Mads Nygaard Folkmann

From 27 through 29 March 2009, researchers from the Nordic countries and Germany went to Listaháskóli Íslands (Iceland Academy of the Arts) in Reykjavik to take part in the winter seminar on process, aesthetics and design under the Nordic Summer University.

Open and Free Exchange of Knowledge

Representing a range of fields within the arts, the study of music and literature, visual and modern culture, film and design, the 13 seminar participants engaged in a free and open exchange of knowledge and ideas. Thanks to this approach, the debate often ventured into new and unknown territory.

This is in tune with the spirit of the Nordic Summer University, which was founded by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 1950 with the goal of promoting an interdisciplinary debate culture outside the established university setting. Many things have changed since then, but the need for free and unfettered exploration of the border zones between knowledge areas has not diminished. On the contrary, it is a strength in today’s globalised economy with growing demands for flexibility and interdisciplinary thinking outside the box. Thus, a forum such as the Nordic Summer University with its eight continuous study circles is more relevant than ever before.

Material and Immaterial

The Iceland seminar was entitled Future Spectralities – Hauntology and Aesthetics. Ghosts and haunting were used as metaphors for a discussion about aspects of meaning in art and culture.

As the setting for seminar about ghosts and other spiritual phenomena, Iceland was an obvious choice of venue. The nature in Iceland is overwhelming and has given rise to folklore beliefs about spirits living in rocks. These beliefs are still alive today, and road crews will avoid moving a large rock if a spirit is believed to dwell inside. Instead, the road is led around the rock. Tourism poster from Reykjavik. Photo: Mads Nygaard Folkmann

Hauntology is a new word; it was coined by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, based on the idea that when pronounced in French it sounds like the word ontology, knowledge about being. The point is that any being is haunted by something that is not immediately visible. Within this conceptual context, the participants discussed how something that is and something that is not are really two sides of the same coin, and how that which is not may haunt that which is.

Design Is Haunted by Art

Two of the presentations directly related the ghosts that haunt us to design. Troels Degn Johansson, associate professor at The Danish Design School, discussed the role of the artistic basis in design education programmes. He pointed out that although the artistic basis is mentioned in the mission statement for The Danish Design School, it is under pressure because newer design ideologies favour rational problem solving and immaterial conceptualisation. But when the artistic aspect is expelled it haunts us, he says.

Troels Degn Johansson pointed to a new way of incorporating art and artistic processes in design:
“Instead of thinking that we can rationally define a problem, we may use art to describe the problem and develop our understanding of it, in close contact with the material qualities that design springs from,” he explained. “Through art, we can interpret the problem and view it as part of a dynamic reality. Thus, art can once again become part of the way we see design, and we can come to terms with the ghosts from the artistic basis of design,” Troels Degn Johansson said.

The Possibility Space of Design

In the second design presentation, Mads Nygaard Folkmann, assistant research professor at the Danish Centre for Design Research, attempted to introduce a new understanding of the possible in design. Often, the possible in design is seen as something that exists prior to a design product or a design solution, and which disappears when the design finds it final shape, but Mads Nygaard Folkmann posited that the resulting design products too are characterised by an open possibility space of cultural meaning.

In his presentation, Mads Nygaard Folkmann looked at design objects not only as material entities but also as expressions of a dimension of imaginary, immaterial meaning.

One of the incarnations of the imaginary is the invisible meaning underneath the surface. One of the examples in Mads Nygaard Folkmann’s presentation was the web solution Tilbygningen.dk (“the annex”), which the Danish web and design group Oncotype created in 2006 for Thorvaldsens Museum. The web site deliberately emphasises that understanding is always something that arises in the encounter between the user and the web solution’s staged room of imaginary meaning.

“I propose that we use the imaginary as a concept for approaching an understanding of the possibility space of design. The imaginary does not focus directly on the designer’s imagination but rather on its transformation to design objects. Studying the imaginary within design gives us a tool for narrowing down the processes of meaning that lie hidden under material creations. This has the potential of enriching the way in which we encounter, perceive and create design,” he said.

Developing New Research Perspectives

Another study circle, Practice-Based Research in the Performing Arts, also addresses an issue that is highly relevant for the design environment: how to develop a research method based on artistic work and productively envision interaction and exchange between art and research.

This circle too cuts across disciplines, including theatre, dance and architecture, and an anthology is underway. “Within this theme, we look in particular at the expectations that one encounters when approaching research from within a practice-based discipline,” says Carsten Friberg, who is the coordinator of the study circle and an assistant professor at Aarhus School of Architecture.
“For example, what is the craft in research? We have explored this topic openly with the idea that anyone should be able to join the discussion. The freedom inherent in the Nordic Summer University is that here one can do things that one would not dare to do in other contexts. Our approach is academic but, importantly: academic and experimental. For example, in our circle we used alternative presentation forms, where the presentations reflect the practice they spring from,” says Carsten Friberg.