We explore weapons, lots of them, through different forms, relationships, networks and infrastructures. We try to understand how media works and what people we are following. How is the narrative built? What do you stand for? Are we part of a community? We take a closer look at stones, the symbiotic encounters of minerals and life, objects (possession), things (property) and how they (and we) become everyday viruses. We also try to understand the cloud and its complexity.
VISIONS BY Issue No. 4 features an evolution from its previous format and structure, just as Issue No. 4 and upcoming and future issues will. They are meant to mutate, seeking the best way to explore their self-contained content. Again, there is no specific theme per issue, no specific profile, no specific reader. Our contributors are selected in order to help us understand the cultural implications of materials and their infinite meanings. VISIONS BY people, about Material Cultures.
VISIONS BY Issue No. 4 – Contents
VIRAL WARFARE: THE ROLE OF TIKTOK IN GLOBAL GEOPOLITICAL CONFLICTS
David Varhegyi
DREAMING JEWELS. NOTES ON THE SYMBIOTIC ENCOUNTERS OF MINERALS AND LIFE
Laura Tripaldi
THE VIRUS OF THINGS
Jerome Llorente
THE STUPIDITY OF PROPERTY, POSSESSION AND FIRST AND FOREMOST HUMANS
Masa Stanic
ADVERSARIAL INFRASTRUCTURES
Anna Engelhardt
BEN DITTO.MP3
Ben Ditto, Pau Garcia
CLOUDPLEXITY, INTERNET REPRESENTATIONS DRAWN FROM THE UNITED STATES PATENT DATABASE
Mario Santamaria
About the editors:
Saúl Baeza is DOES Creative Director, VISIONS BY Founder and Editor-in-chief, VIBE content director and Understanding Design curator. While lecturing at Elisava Barcelona University of Design and Engineering he also researches functional and digital identities with the "Future Everyday" Research Group (TU Eindhoven Research) and "Futures Now" Research Group (Elisava Research). He has been visiting professor and lecturer at international universities, educational institutions and cultural venues such as Central Saint Martins and London College of Communication (UAL), Institute for advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), RMIT University Melbourne, Pascual Bravo University in Medellín (Colombia), Sónar+D, Victoria&Albert Museum, CCCB and DHUB, among others.
Laura Clèries is a designer, strategic design researcher, editor and curator in transformative innovation through design research-led strategic foresight and with an additional focus on materials. She holds a PhD and an extensive international academic and work experience in industry (Klockner Implants, Zara Home), academia (UoL, NYU, UAlabama, UToronto, IED, Elisava) and Think Tanks (Pantone Colour Planner, WGSN). Her recent work is addressed at generating content and strategies at international level through management of public and business research projects that bring actionable growth, and through the curation of events and exhibitions (Materiality, Zoom in Design, Design Does, Design Attitudes, Future Woods), conferences (TEDx, Understanding Design, Madrid Design Festival) and publications (Visions By magazine, Temes de Disseny design research journal). She is currently professor and Design Research Director at ELISAVA School of Design and Engineering, as well as director of the Master in Design through New Materials.
