Wednesday, 27 January

There are many reasons behind the choice of theme for the node, Design and Geology. The notion of the Anthropocene is becoming established and used in many contexts to describe our planetary age as a new geological epoch, defined by unparalleled human influence upon the Earth. Evidence for this originates from human activities that leave large-scale impacts on the Earth’s surface such as construction, mining and deforestation.
These activities are directly linked to design in its relation to extractive practices in search for materials, i.e., so-called natural resources. Among the markers of the Anthropocene, we find materials like plastic, visible in sediments forming rocks today, as well as concrete, which has been made in such abundance that it may prove to be the most prevalent trace of modernity. Still, the links between design activity and destructive extractivism are often obscured.
This node will focus on rocks, stones and minerals and their connectedness to design. In this node, invited speakers will share inspirational insights from the geologies of Iceland, Sweden and Italy. The design approaches are rich and broad, spanning from transdisciplinary material explorations of porcelain, to marble as vibrant and poethical materiality, to walking with mineral fossils as a design research method, spanning deep-time transformations of life-death and biology-geology. The two-day workshop is packed with lithic and designerly surprises, and perhaps it will unlock the potentials of becoming stone, the mineral in the human and projected humanities in minerals.

Rocks, stones and minerals have been part of the world since the beginning, forming landscapes and bodies. Design is directly linked to unsustainable extraction of minerals through the materials used to design. In this talk, Petra Lilja will introduce the theme of this node, Design and Geology through an example of her own work, Mineral Mattering(s). By thinking with and though the minerals in a limestone quarry, we will go on a journey, following the mineral through deep time and a walk in the enduring company of the rocks. The aim of the exploration is to allow for other kinds of rock stories, not just those that talk about human productivity, culture and politics, which presupposes that minerals only exist for us… Can we find common ground between human and lithic bodies?
Petra Lilja is a designer, curator and a PhD candidate at Konstfack and KTH. Petra critically examines the connections between design and extractivism through speculative design approaches and curatorial strategies, questioning the constructed boundaries between living and non-living matter.

I Have Become Stone is a lecture that critically explores the current and (im)possible relationships between minerals and humans. It is also an introduction to a workshop, taking place on both Wednesday and Thursday, where we will critically reflect on our current relationship with the mineral world, to give time and space to manifest alternative relations. We will expose ourselves to post-human theories, geological time zones and the perspective of in-animate objects (to name a few). The lecture/workshop will push participants to engage with the subject through various media in order to manifest ponderings, wonderings and experimental thought(s) that will be used to induce collective critical dialogue, discussion and reflection during the workshop.
Garðar Eyjólfsson holds a B.A degree (with honors) in Product Design from Central Saint Martins, London and a M.A. degree (Cum Laude) in Contextual Design from Design Academy Eindhoven. He mixes contextual, critical and narrative research in his work as a means to explore and translate zeitgeist topics. He utilizes a variety of mediums to manifest his voice, ranging from artefacts, scenography, curation, fiction, video, performance, dialog and writing.