PEALS CULTURE LAB SEMINAR

PEALS CULTURE LAB SEMINAR 

Wednesday 5th December 2007, 1.00-2.00pm

Culture Lab, King’s Walk, University of Newcastle, Space 7 

Elio Caccavale, Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design 

Design and Bioethics 

From social fiction to hypothetical products: a novel way of thinking about social, cultural and ethical issues surrounding emerging biotechnologies 

The seminar explores how designers might participate in scientific debate and the ways in which science and design overlap. It tries to map out a new territory, offering an alternative vision of design practice that is concerned with the ethical consequences of emerging biotechnologies. In particular I seek to engage with the public by using social fiction scenarios and hypothetical design proposals to generate a novel way of thinking about the social, cultural and ethical issues surrounding emerging biotechnologies. The talk will consider how separate disciplines investigate the hybrid grounds where areas of expertise overlap and it is also hoped that it can serve as a platform for opening up interdisciplinary research futures.   

Elio Caccavale is visiting PEALS on an Arts Council England “Interact” placement. He teaches Product Design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and is visiting lecturer on the MA Design Interactions course at the Royal College of Art. He has presented his work internationally, including at the World Forum on Science and Civilization organized by The James Martin Institute, Oxford University. His work will also be exhibited at the forthcoming Design and the Elastic Mind exhibition to be held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in February 2008. Elio’s work has been published internationally by Phaidon, Die Gestalten Verlag dgv, MIT Press, 5 Continents, Postmedia Books and Centre Pompidou. He is currently a PhD candidate in Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art.

Published: 30th November 2007