Keynote presentation:
Katherine Moline (UNSW Arts and Design)
Abstract
Academic research on transdisciplinary approaches to digital making and co-design is at risk in the current ethics framework when that research involves people and their devices. This paper outlines the national protocols for ethical conduct in human research, through an analysis of workshops titled Myths of the Near Future. The workshops involve improvisation as a modality with which to explore digital communication via mobile telephones and invite participants to reconceptualise their mobile phones as research equipment. Designed to disrupt participant’s assumptions about their mobile phones, the workshop activities also prompt conversations about the ethical implications of sharing information. Reflections on the workshops and ambiguities in art and design research within established protocols draw out further lines of enquiry for experimental research in the co-design of digital cultures.
Bio
Dr Katherine Moline is a Senior Lecturer in research practices and Postgraduate Coordinator: Admissions for Masters by Research and PhDs at UNSW Art & Design. As an artist, researcher and curator, Katherine explores the cross-overs between avant-gardism and experimental practices in contemporary visual art and design. Her recent publications focus on the relationship between experimental art practice, the reformulation of the strategies of historic artistic avant-gardes and the social pacts of design. Current projects include curating a series of exhibitions of international leaders in experimental art and design research (UNSW Galleries, Sydney; RMIT Design Hub, Melbourne; and Griffith University Art Gallery, Brisbane), experimental workshops on social practices with mobile telephones titled Myths of the Near Future, and a number of ongoing systems artworks, including Persons of Interest at Fisher Library, the University of Sydney.
Resources
‘Myths of the Near Future’: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/futuretense/myths-of-the-near-future/6888830
