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This introduction was part of the ResearchLab kickoff at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. 15 students will work as co-workers in ResearchLab's Dept.Of What If. In the KABK Research Lab, initiated by the dept.of what if (Arne Hendriks & Ronald van Tienhoven) students will envision, investigate and implement speculative design scenarios and integrate them in their creative practises. The research lab consists of writing assignments (website), speculative materials research, the creation of an experimental environment and a talk and a final presentation. Such projections have the power to ignite a powerful artistic practise. Speculation on what could happen if… has become a serious tool to explore alternative realities and turn such fantasy into actual research and product development. If we can imagine something there’s a real chance it will happen. The research lab has a focus on how to turn societal and cultural concerns into personal action. For students applying to this research lab it helps if you have a fair amount of social and cultural awareness and want to think about the BIG challenges that lie ahead of humanity, such as increasing populations, resource scarcity, migration, and longevity. It asks much of the imagination. Partly in conjunction with the national Council for Public Health and Health Care (Raad voor de Volksgezondheid en Zorg) the dept.of what if will explore both challenges and benefits of being old, specifically with respect to the public and semi-public domain. We will not perceive ageing and longevity as a problem but as an asset by means of (re-) defining and questioning the social and physical status quo and future perspectives of elderly people in society. Firstly the dept.of what if will ask the participants to identify with the target group as much as possible through a period of LARP (Life-Acting Role Playing) living, in the vein of the pioneer of LARP research, Patricia Moore. This will be the basis for further explorations into the subject matter and the people involved. What will be primarily addressed during this research is the notion of slowness versus speed, and the way space and action are perceived and bent into a different space-time reality. These explorations will not only be limited to design in the conventional sense of the word: socio-economical research can become just as much the backbone of what if scenarios, situations and products. Students will need to dream hard but they could end up with ways to engage yourself to a society that more than ever needs creative thinkers to help it succeed.
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AGE OF OLD
“Zeami warns the actor who plays the old man’s part against merely imitating the decline in physical appearance, and encourages him rather to express the man’s desire to stay young”. !(Zeami-The Spirit of Nôh, 1418)
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Captain Edward Steichen!by Philippe Halsman, 1959
Former Playboy Bunnies!by Robin Twomyn, 2013
Sun City cheerleader!by Todd Antony, 2013
Llareta shrub, 2000+ years old!by Rachel Sussmann, 2012
“If we take the bonsai principle of making sure one never reaches full potential in order to sustain growth into infinity and apply this to the human body (as supposed vessel for eternal living) perhaps we would need to start growing within ourselves the ‘rosebud’ that will become the next flower, again and again.”.
AGE OF OLD
Jean Cocteau!by Philippe Halsman
Karl Lagerfeld!The Business pf Fahion
Karl Lagerfeld!The Business pf Fahion
Slow Octopus occupied by centenarians!Scenario by Arne Hendriks & Ronald van Tienhoven
GOPRO
REVERSED
SPEED
VERSUS
SLOW
CRYOGENICS
AS
ULTIMATE SLOW
“Zeami warns the actor who plays the old man’s part against merely imitating the decline in physical appearance, and encourages him rather to express the man’s desire to stay young”. !(Zeami-The Spirit of Nôh, 1418)
SETTING
HARDWARE
SCENARIO
SLEEP
AWAKE
NARRATIVE
