Fringe

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DESIGNINART
Art and design have long had a close and contested relationship. Critical issues - intention and function, audience and interaction, method and artifact - are shared and between the disciplines. Today, the incorporation of new interactive and time-based technologies into processes and practices have again challenged and blurred the borders between traditional notions of art and design. Shifts in the cultural and institutional context have also altered perspectives - these days galleries and museums seem to be filled with 'design' exhibitions.

More recently, the emergence of critical design (with much of its roots in conceptual art), new media art, experimental and interaction design suggests to some extent an increased exchange or reversal of roles between the artist and the designer. In these forms of practice, designers are focusing less on solving the problems at hand and more on artifacts and methods for speculation and critique. Various artists, in turn, are focusing on conceptual art practice to work with systems or patterns as 'solutions' in particular situations. Inspirations, methods, and roles are blurred in an emerging territory of creative and interdisciplinary practice, requiring that we re-examine basic notions and foundations.

Perhaps we are exploring new notions of material and immaterial artifacts...
Perhaps we are in a discovery phase with new technologies and techniques...
Perhaps we are at a turning point in societal and cultural aspiration...

DESIGNINART is a series of events exploring these notions in concept and practice arranged by [fringe], a new media and electronic art and design collective initiated by the RE:FORM studio of the Interactive Institute.

Taking the frame of Sweden’s 2005 Year of Design, DESIGNINART aims to surface and experiment with traditional notions – raising new examples, voices and participation in culture of creative practices.

We invite participation from designers, artists, architects, musicians, sociologists, theoreticians, educators and students of art and design, with a special focus on new media and electronic art alongside interaction and critical design.

Themes or questions
·borrowing and cross-fertilizing methods and techniques
·defining ‘quality’ in art and design
·design beyond utility
·new genres and modalities
·art of systems or patterns solutions
·high design & free art
·function and intent
·technological impact and inspiration
·new skills and traditional experience

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for more information contact margot.jacobs@tii.se
www.tii.se/reform
www.tii.se/reform/projects/pps/fringe.htm