Biofabricated futures. The ecopolitical potential of bio-design practices and its facilitation through interactive experiences

Abstract

What is the ecopolitical potential of bio-design and how can material activism facilitate accessibility to a biofabricated future? In the midst of ecological collapse we urgently need to reassess our forms of designing the material world. Biofabrication, interspecies design and material activism point the way to a thriving future.

There is no other solution than to collaborate with the natural world we have for so long plundered and disregarded as inanimate. Research for my thesis project is based on the investigation of material activism and interspecies design and the possibility of exploring these topics through interactive experiences that encourage accessing knowledge through the body’s senses. To finalize my investigation through practical research I created an interactive installation called «Biomapping stories of interconnection»: a biomaterial tapestry encouraging interconnectedness.

My research concludes in my thesis paper with thoughts on the importance of design as an activism tool, the possibilities to spread knowledge and sensitize through sensory experiences and the need of building community to ease change.