FUTURES. Material and Design of Tomorrow

The Grassi Museum of Applied Arts commissioned the Near Future Laboratory to develop an installation for their exhibition "FUTURES. Material and Design of Tomorrow". Based on our Work Kit of Design Fiction, the installation invites the public attendees to explore ways of imagining grounded futures through the work kit's analog prompt engineering mechanics. During the exhibition, attendees are able to use the work kit to constuct artifacts from the future. The installation is part of the exhibition's first chapter, "WHAT IF...", an invitation to the public to explore the future not as something that we receive but something we actively shape, starting with our an existential gift we all have — our ability to Imagine possibility.

The fascination with ideas about the future, visions and scenarios has always accompanied humanity. In view of the current global challenges, issues such as resource scarcity, the climate crisis and social and economic injustice dominate social perception. Designers and artists are therefore increasingly dealing with aspects of possible "futures". The plural reflects the options, scenarios and also a certain uncertainty with which we look at what is to come.

Design has long ceased to be seen as a discipline of aesthetics and functionality. It looks for possibilities, researches systems and processes and is often open to results. The exhibition shows how design serves as a source of inspiration and can take on the role of networking between research, industry and society. 150 years after the founding of the museum, we want to look at the role of design in the world of tomorrow. The exhibition is divided into three chapters and is devoted to themes of the distant and near future.

The first chapter of the exhibition shows proposals from the fields of art and design, which use speculative methods to make different futures visible and tangible. Symbiotic, post-human, and in- terspecies relationships are the focus. We question the role and responsibility of humans within the ecosystem. The emphasis is on cooperation with microorganisms, cohabitation with animals and plants, or the protection of Martian inhabitants. Visitors encounter not only post-apocalyptic futures, but also positive and desirable ones. Nevertheless, one thing is clear: human behavior must change fundamentally, and swiftly.

With works by: Juliana Schneider, Superflux, Alexandra Fruhstorfer, Institute of Queer Ecology, Pei-Ying Lin, Studio Circology, Nonhuman Nonsense, Bea Brücker & Vincent Goos, Theresa Schubert, Studio Johanna Seelemann, Near Future Laboratory

Some futures are already here. Materials and products on the market today come from an already existing economic circulation. The Berlin office Haute Innovation, which identifies itself as an agency for future materials, has made a selection of samples and products. These materials come from urban and biological waste, agricultural and forestry by-products, and renewable raw materi- als, among other sources. Organic fabrication is another promising design field that promotes the use of and collaboration with living organisms.

With contribution by among others: Charlett Wenig in cooperation with Max-Planck-Institut für Kol- loid- und Grenzflächenforschung, Ecovative: Air Mycelium foam, Blue Blocks: seawood, eco-soft- fibre: Bioschaum, Krill design: 3D-print with fruit peels, Norskin: products from fish skin, Qmilk: Proteinfasern, Golden Compound: bio degradable plant pots, Grown Bio: furniture from mycelia

Research with microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and algae is currently a growing fieldthat offers exciting possibilities. These organisms produce materials with unique properties, through biotechnological processes. Although research approaches at universities and design studios vary, there is a shared goal: rethinking the relationship between humans and the environment. Tradi- tional resources such as plants and animals are finite, which is why it is future-oriented to view liv- ing beings as partners instead of exploiting them. Materials produced in this way can be sustaina- bly returned to the same cycle. In the Material_Lab, visitors can look over researchers' shoulders and follow the process from concept to possible end product.

With contribution by: Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle (Saale), weißensee kunsthoch- schule berlinBerlin, Hochschule Anhalt Dessau, Freie Universität Bozen, Envisions & TextielLab, Studio Klarenbeek & Dros