ageing from existence
Part of a long-term exploration on ‘survival and design’, this project represents an experimental process of curation and storytelling for a series of interactive audiovisual pieces. Through an open call published during the summer of 2022, projektado collective opened to submissions on the theme of ‘ageing from existence’, of obsolescence, age, deterioration, inattention, apathy. The open call promised to feature all pieces that fit the theme, ultimately bringing 21 artists, activists, and collectives together to coexist and struggle for survival in 4 separate interactive pieces.
designed and curated by projektado collective in 2023
with work from Bruno Pavić, WeirDAO, Michele Monseau, Jessica Moritz, Diana Schuemann, 404 Kefan, Leny Halevy, Susanne Layla Petersen, [ a y s h ], Daniele Bongiovanni, Everything Is Collective, Kenji Kojima, Blobb TV, Cassius Lambert, Kim Jaeik, Einav Mintz, Bahman Salah, Tilly Collins, Julie Meitz, Johannes Christopher Gerard, Sheida Amiri-Rigi.
Serpent 0’31” / 404 Kefan / Germany 2021
Exploring the censorship mechanism of social media, the artist has created a piece that was flagged by community guidelines, leading to questions on the use of image recognition, double standards, and gender-based disparities in content restrictions.
@kefan404
Tapes 0’0″ / Sheida Amiri-Rigi / Iran 2022
Amidst golden rows of wheat, black irrigation tapes weave an intricate web. Water is scarce here, often insufficient for grain growth. After each harvest, trucks laden with used tapes dominate the roads, passing unseen beyond courtyard walls. These life-giving veins have shorter lives than the grain, destined for recycling. Yet, farmers’ inadequate payment disrupts the cycle, leading to mixed soil with buried tapes, resulting in diminishing yields each year.
Orbilux 2’0″ / Ayshia & Daniele / UK & Italy 2021
A journey into a decimated future-ethereality – a collaborative piece between Venice Biennale Artist – Daniele Bongiovanni and intermedia artist [ a y s h ], exploring human transcendence through a combination of virtual and physical realities to become otherworldly light bodies. A merging of tech-based materials, animation and paint.
ayshia.co.uk / danielebongiovanni.com
Aralia pt. 2 3’17” / Blobb TV & Cassius Lambert / Sweden & German 2020-2022
This piece is an interactive 360° journey of the musical artwork Aralia pt.2, instantiated by composer Cassius Lambert. This musical craft reinterprets recorded soundscapes from the Swedish woods through a process called “sonic voicing” and was performed by a 10 piece orchestra. The musical composition was then translated by visual artist Blobb TV into an immersive 360° environment where the visitor can choose how they experience the surrealistic world of Aralia pt.2.
@blobb.tv / kaprifolrecords.se
Ineffable 26’15” / Tilly Collins / UK 2021
Ineffable is a video piece that highlights the overlooked and underappreciated everyday moments in the domestic space. It encourages viewers to find significance in these small moments in their daily lives. Through slow shots of moving light and shadows, the piece challenges viewers to be present and resist the urge for constant access to fast media.
@tillycollinsart / @tillycollinsart
Now 5’00” / Tilly Collins / UK 2022
Now highlights the overlooked present moment. In our fast-paced lives, people forget to appreciate the here and now, feeling uneasy with stillness. The slow-paced video challenges viewers to embrace this discomfort while keeping them engaged with subtle moving text. It’s a gentle reminder to slow down and savour the present.
@tillycollinsart / @tillycollinsart
Pup Tent & Jackass Benches 0’53” / Everything Is Collective / USA 2021
In the US, scenic views hide destructive extraction and the destruction of ecosystems. Part of a larger work exploring how the value of natural landscapes shifted from intrinsic to capitalist, these video vignettes feature a camouflaged form resembling US army pup tents, aiming to represent hidden colonalism and capitalism in our landscapes.
everythingiscollective.com
Pup Tent & Jackass Benches 2’43” / Everything Is Collective / USA 2021
In the US, scenic views hide destructive extraction and the destruction of ecosystems. Part of a larger work exploring how the value of natural landscapes shifted from intrinsic to capitalist, these video vignettes feature a camouflaged form resembling US army pup tents, aiming to represent hidden colonalism and capitalism in our landscapes.
everythingiscollective.com
The Project 10’52” / Johannes Christopher Gerard / Netherlands & France 2021
This work delves into the concept of physical appearance in an era consumed by the pursuit of meaningless perfection, superficiality, and eternal youth. Here, aging naked bodies take centre stage, emphasising the significance of body awareness and our connections with the social and natural world, whilst simultaneously highlighting the vunerability of nakedness that all individuals share. This profound reflection leads us to contemplate the inevitable path we must all eventually tread.
johannesgerard.com
In between lines 6’56” / Leny Halevy / Israel 2021
In this video, walking is viewed as a metaphor for the journey of life, walking on the right line, or maybe if we dare, walking between the lines.
lenyhalevy.com
ECHOLOCATION 9’59” / Kim Jaeik / Republic of Korea 2022
This work depicts the ironic relationship between humans and environments that are shaped by urban structures. The past and present incidents within cities reveal a structural contradiction. The global issue of a distorted environment remains despite changing forms over time. Resolving this task feels destined, as the afterimage of passing years persists in the present.
jaeik.art
The Effect of Cataracts on Late Years Claude Monet 24’15” / Kenji Kojima / USA 2022
Through a musical interpretation of paintings by Claude Monet, the artist has created works containing a binary musical ‘score’ sampled from an algorithically collected grid of binary colours of the paintings themselves. Inspired by the limitations imposed by the pandemic, the artist has sourced all content digitally, and recreated a series of classics through this accessible media, as an exploration of a more commonly utilised base material in art created today, binary code.
kenjikojima.com
Digitizing My Past 1’39” / Julie Meitz / France 2022
In this personal video poem, the artist digitises photographs and videos from their past, from the 80’s until now, reflecting on their former selves and a currently experienced mid-life crisis. As an aging artist, this process has been informed by emotionally uplifting moments counteracted by feelings of obsolescence. Tired of social media and competitiveness, the artist longs for the time when art was still a form personal expression, with this poem acting as a step towards a journey of self-discovery and the desire to reclaim art for themselves.
@juliemeitz / julie.meitz.free.fr
dust 2’10” / Einav Mintz / Israel 2018
This video is part of a series exploring the dichotomy of ‘front’ and ‘back’ spaces. As a former security guard, the artist had unrestricted access to unseen areas, some of them quite surreal in atomsphere. Clips of discarded, redundant objects that are collecting dust, have been woven between distracted moments of mundane life.
@einavmintz
Darling, Work 3’50” / Michele Monseau / USA 2022
A compilation of 40 performative shorts designed for social media, online viewing, and exhibition. They address incredulity, frustration, and anxiety, using humour to tackle the inflexibility that is present within these virtual spaces. The artist’s face is altered in each vignette to deconstruct identity, making the portrayed character relevant and subverting facial recognition.
@mi____mo____ / michelemonseau.com
Goals 3’31” / Michele Monseau / USA 2020
Goals is a satirical video series mocking a tech billionaire’s obsession with colonising Mars, a planet with no atmosphere that is unsuitable for human life. The paradox of focusing on space exploration while neglecting urgent earthly crises is a central issue, with the piece following the protagonist through her uncertain and transformative journey towards her newly promised home.
@mi____mo____ / michelemonseau.com
Inside Out 6’02” / jessica Moritz & Diana Schuemann / Israel 2020
Interested in the ways that movement and gestures are conditioned by urban spaces, the two artists created a choreography that explores physical and emotional limitation, interpretation, and personal expression. Being both from immigrant backgrounds, added layers of interpreting and understanding contexts are inbuilt within their movements and the relationship to the environment.
jessicamoritz.com / @_d_i________
On the Screen 3’45” / Bruno Pavić / Croatia
A big screen streaming St. Peter’s Square, Venice allowed the artist to focus on the details of a crowd of people enthusiastically welcoming Pope Francis, greeting him, and taking photos. In this process, the most important thing is lost – the spiritual dimension.
@bruno.pavic / brunopavic.com
Found fragments 0’15” / Susanne Layla Petersen / Denmark 2021
@glasslabs_art / glasslabs.works
Found fragments 0’22” / Susanne Layla Petersen / Denmark 2021
@glasslabs_art / glasslabs.works
Found fragments 0’27” / Susanne Layla Petersen / Denmark 2021
@glasslabs_art / glasslabs.works
Return 15’17” / Bahman Salah / Iraq/Kurdistan 2022
This short film explores the connection between humans and animals, encouraging a deeper understanding of our positions within and as a part of the natural world. The protagonist, Provi, over time has forgotten fundamental aspects of living, like care, emotions, and social relationships. Through interactions with the local grazing animals, he rediscovers their powerful presence in our lives.
@bahmansallah / @bahmansalah1
Domino 0’10” / WeirDAO
What happens when WHO claims it is not possible to get COVID infections down to 0, but Beijing says it will? Enjoy the COVID party.
@Weir_DAO
Total Immunity 0’18” / WeirDAO
What happens when WHO claims it is not possible to get COVID infections down to 0, but Beijing says it will? Enjoy the COVID party.
@Weir_DAO
this page is currently being updated, you may experience some technical issues, especially on safari. will be fixed soon!
also, this piece was designed to be experienced on larger screens. we recommend you to switch over to a larger device if possible, as on smaller screens this page may present audio/video issues and compromise the overall viewing experience.
2023
with work from Bruno Pavić, WeirDAO, Michele Monseau, Jessica Moritz, Diana Schuemann, 404 Kefan, Leny Halevy, Susanne Layla Petersen, [ a y s h ], Daniele Bongiovanni, Everything Is Collective, Kenji Kojima, Blobb TV, Cassius Lambert, Kim Jaeik, Einav Mintz, Bahman Salah, Tilly Collins, Julie Meitz, Johannes Christopher Gerard, Sheida Amiri-Rigi.
survival / time / obsolescence
we are you: radical friendships and relational realities / interactive storytelling / 2024
an interactive story about friendship and its radical potential in opposition to dominant systems. friendship as a form of system hacking, and hacking as an act of resistance, as an act of care.
traces - tracce / audiovideo artwork / 2023
a monologue exploring the relationship between violence, contact, and the inevitability of leaving traces of influence within and outside of collective practices of living and experiencing reality.
cicadas / video narrative / 2023
a week-long period discussing, relaxing, working, eating, and imagining together. the piece documents the interwoven nature of the collective’s approach to work, life, friendship, creativity, and action. premiered through gudskul and theoneminutes.
recognise radicality / experimental manifesto / 2023
in recognising the potential of what is disordered, experimental, and unstable, this piece proposes an alternative path that sees in friendship a resistance to formality, legality, and profit, capable of destabilising what we have learnt to deem established.
magic 9 ball / issue 2: survival and design / 2023
an interactive narrative fiction that guides the player through unexpected, contradictory, and ambiguous choices and scenarios, in the search for speculative overlaps between utopias and apocalypses, imagination and reality, politics and storytelling.
agitatevi / cheap festival bologna / 2023
responding to the theme "agitatevi", projektado collective designed a set of posters that were printed and installed in the streets of the city of Bologna, Italy, in collaboration with CHEAP Street Art Poster Collective.
ageing from existence / issue 2: survival and design / 2023
a collaborative storytelling project bringing together the works of 21 artists, activists, and collectives under 4 interactive audiovisual pieces. the results of an experimental curatorial process on themes of obsolescence, control, and age.
beyond individual knowledge creation / apria journal / 2022
an informal discussion among projektado’s members on the procedural, collective, and contextual dimensions of knowledge creation and the pervasive issues individualism has imposed in these spaces – produced for Apria’s open call ‘Ways of Knowing’.
in fiamme / cheap festival bologna / 2022
a series of posters designed and illustrated by projektado, and printed and installed by CHEAP Street Art Poster Collective in the city of Bologna, Italy, alongside over 100 contributors responding to the theme “in fiamme”.
references / issue 2: survival and design / 2022
a collection of multimedia and transdisciplinary resources, references, and material that accompanied projektado's exploration through the theme of 'survival and design'.
zines and self-publishing / makeshift tales / 2022
a collection of conversations with six international guests on the practice of zine making, a self-initiated DIY activity with roots in the sharing of stories among subcultures and under-represented communities.
open call / issue 2: survival and design / 2022
projektado offers an experimental approach to the selection of participants within issue 2’s open call: ‘ageing from existence’, an audio-visual project that aimed to include all respondents.
cuban inventiveness / makeshift tales / 2022
an informal discussion with historian Joe Purvis and designer César Beuve-Méry on the context of Cuba, its social and political history, and how over a span of about 60 years this has shaped the behaviours and material culture of its people.
TXTmob / makeshift tales / 2022
a conversation with Tad Hirsch on the creation of a decentralised communication system born out of political dissent in the US in 2004, before the widespread use of smartphones.
spontaneity / makeshift tales / 2021
an informal chat during the summer of 2021 between members of the collective on “what spontaneity is” in reference to makeshift practices – a prelude to the coming podcast series.
prelude / issue 2: survival and design / 2022
an introduction to the macro-theme of 'survival and design', the original intentions and motivations that convinced projektado to embark in this project, and a look into the multifaceted approach issue 2 aims to embrace.
references / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
a collection of multimedia and transdisciplinary resources, references, and material that accompanied projektado's exploration through the theme of 'anonymity in design'.
editorial / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
introducing anonymity and its relationship to design, the editorial expresses projektado’s motivations for this chosen theme, the multifaceted nature of its implications in design and society, and the narrative thread of the pieces that form issue 1.
the good, the bad, and the anonymous / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
an interactive story by projektado featuring several narrative paths that present the intimidating realities of experiencing design as a professional, through the eyes of a recent graduate.
i’m goin on a rant / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
projektado creates a visual narrative documenting the frustrations of finding ways to challenge the overpowering bureaucratic and institutional structures that actively maintains the undervalued and underpaid conditions of young designers within Italy.
radical care: black feminism in architecture / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
Aïssatou Diallo re-evaluates the fields of architecture and design through a black feminist lens as a way to undo the neoliberal, colonial, heteropatriarchal disposition of the profession.
claiming the inbetween / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
Gösta Marsden, through a photographic exploration, documents hidden encampments created by those experiencing homelessness in London, often to be found within the leftover spaces of development and infrastructure.
rethinking libyan placelessness / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
Sarri Elfaitouri enquires into the relationship between the built environment and identity, through an analysis on the effects of the ongoing political and social instability that has pervaded the libyan city of Benghazi for decades.
do refugee camps have authors? / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
discussing with Camillo Boano, Samar Maqusi, and Silvia Aru emerging perspectives on refugee camps which counter the dominant narrative on these forms of life by taking into account their varying sensibilities and subjectivities.
the new tools of war / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
there is a complex relation between surveillance and anonymity. Fernando Silva examines the role of drones in shaping modern warfare by discussing the ways they dehumanise their targets, estranging culprits from a sense of responsibility.
the role of objects / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
projektado, with this brief written exploration, aims to make use of sociological theories on human identity and the self, to try to reassess the relationship we have with objects, their roles, and their identities.
the absurdity of streamlining and lion claws / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
Katharina Pfützner elaborates on the symmetry between the quest for sustainability of designers today, and the social and political conditions that drove professional design work in Socialist Germany.
shenzhen: sharing and shanzhai / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
projektado discusses with David Li alternative views and understandings of intellectual property, ownership, and originality, through the case of the accelerated manufacturing economy of Shenzhen, China.
capitalized / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
through a poem composed by projektado, capitalized reflects on the broader social dynamics that continue to maintain the hierarchical system of two letter cases.
behind the screens / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
a depiction of how excess in adopting inclusivity in graphic design language by industry giants has led to the prevalence of an image of the human figure that represents no one, by Olivia Cheng.
chans: a submissive subversion / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
by delving into the the universe of online anonymous forums 4Chan and 8Chan, projektado question the interests behind anonymous identities and reflects on the meanings of radicality and subversion in these spaces.
(in)evitable / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
through the lens of one of the most iconic works of fiction of the early 2000’s, the Matrix Trilogy, projektado explores notions of control, determinism, and choice in practising design.
open call / issue 1: anonymity in design / 2021
the open call for projektado’s inaugural issue: anonymity in design, a digital flyer that frames the selected theme through a myriad of perspectives.
editorial / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
the editorial of the pilot issue of projektado magazine: how we got here, why we think it’s important to be critical within design, and who has helped us initiate this project.
homogenous homonyms / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
how meaningful is a word when it is represented by countless definitions? This puzzle by projektado visualises and reflects on the issues of definition often associated with the word 'design', and the resulting effects this ambiguity has on practice.
on the relationship between linguistics and design / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
an article by Natalia Meléndez Fuentes exploring how design can transcend language by operating on the border between logic and absurdity.
small talk / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
perhaps you’ve had a conversation like this one...where you get the feeling that your understanding of your discipline doesn’t quite match that of the person you're chatting to. projektado sets this scene, through a short dialogue in ‘small talk’.
this is not a designer / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
a visual narrative by projektado speaking of responsibility, accountability and misconception of the design profession, between written and visual trompe l’oeil.
insurgent designs / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
a collection of free and open online archives curated by Alejandro Torero Gamero to depict Peruvian public intelligence during the November 2020 protests against a legislative coup.
switching channels / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
the scale of usefulness and damage that design can contribute to, from mundane to life threatening, is wide and far reaching. In this video Julius Nobling positions the varying degrees of impact that design has in our daily lives.
discussing presents, rethinking futures / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
Aydam De Paula explores the idea of design in relation to today's social and environmental context, inviting the reader to look into the present to rethink ways our living habitat can be designed for our collective futures.
the catch / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
how is the design industry pushing differently motivated individuals to converge in producing fundamentally equivalent outcomes? projektado reflects through a visualisation of our seemingly predetermined paths.
the city of the others / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
a visual essay advocating for a different and ontological reframing of design as an active, collective, and critical practice, by projektado.
reflections on design and permaculture / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
drawing parallels with design processes and sustainability, biologist Ana Coimbra reflects on the role of permaculture in supporting existing systems to flourish, rather than opposing, ignoring, or redesigning them.
including critics in our circles / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
through this short essay, industrial designer Victor Padilla Figuerola discusses the importance of divergent opinions and intellectual confrontation as a means of individual and collective growth.
my answer / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
in few words, Zhaoxi Huang states his reasons as to why we should discuss design today and why this conversation will always remain open.
étapes / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
a visual narrative of collages created and curated by UX designer and researcher César Beuve-Méry, describing the importance of critical thought in design.
community notice / issue 0: why discuss design today? / 2021
a call to action to continue to critique, dissect and rebuild the field of design through active discussion and collective endeavours.
