Speculative design did become a big curiosity since the beginning of this course. It holds a beautiful mixture of design skills used to portray traits or behaviours in a highly conceptual manner. It does remember me at times of futurist representations used in movies or magazines in the nineties.

Facial micro expressions last less than a second and are almost impossible to control. They are hard wired to the emotional activity in the brain which can be easily captured using specially developed technological devices. Free will is now in question as the science exposes decision-making as an emotional process rather than a rational one. This ability to read emotions technologically result in a society obsessed with their emotional reactions. Emotions, convictions and beliefs which usually remain hidden, now become a public matter. “Belief systems” is a video scenario about a society that responds to the challenges of modern neuroscience by embracing these technological possibilities to read, evaluate and alter peoples behaviours and emotions.

I came across this conceptual work during my reading about speculative design. Bernd Hopfenganter is a Berlin based artist that uses speculative methods in his works. I was thrilled about his vision and about the means he portrays truths on which speculations about the future are created. Most surely deeply inspirational.

“By imagining the possible, the speculative, the non-existent (to quote an old industrial band: what is, is, what is not, is possible), Art and Design can contribute to a broader discourse in a way that is not accessible by purely analytical means. I’m interested in Design as an interdisciplinary intermediary, placed in-between natural science, engineering, cultural and media theory and everyday-life”