Atlas of Weak Signals¶
What I found fascinating about our first exercise with the atlas of weak signals, was the rootedness of the exercise. I have hunted signals for as far as I can remember, unconsciously. My blurting out of random trivia at dinner tables and conversations over coffee has earned me some weird stares and light hearted laughs.
“Did you know that spinach could send emails?” my statement was answered with silence.
Only here, was it observed with awe and surprise. Really? I would love to know more, said one of my classmates. Atop a cliff, overlooking the port of Barcelona, a heterotopia unto itself with moving goods.
Activity¶
We were asked to pick a set of cards, random triggers and areas of opportunity. From this, we had to devlop a scenario that would lead to a new weak signal.
Cards picked
New Card
New Scenario
SESSION 1 (9.12.25)¶
These cards give a nice ground for brainstorming novel concepts at the fringes, emerging from the weak signals of change.
Working with the larger idea of post capitalist care, the sub topics of border regimes, boredom and laziness point to the overarching resistance that we find in the loops of capitalism. These simple non acts could be powerful actions in themselves. It is fighting the status quo of late stage capitalism through a unique kit. The kit is a helpful artefact that can be distributed amongst the masses.
what is there in the Kit?
1 - Dopamine patches
2 - Cryptocurrency share
3 - Vertical farming kit
Through these three artefacts of rest and rebellion, we activated a post capitalist kit that brings back power to the masses.
Connecting weak signals to my research¶
Signals
Interesting how we’ve always played with physical geography as a symbol of hierarchy
I have always been interested in exploring architecture as representational of order, control and power. In my research, I explore the machinic landscapes of data centres as cathedrals of power.
where is internet?
Deconstructing the physical materiality of the digital internet has been one of the core themes of my research.
talking about how waters arrive in the cities/villages
Thinking about what this big pipe in the side of the paved walk is made from, maybe from some “scraps” of works that they re doing here? Could easily build something useful from it
do you know where you water comes from???
The journey of water from source to sink is something I explored last semester and still resonates with me as to how we are aware of the resources we consume and the story that lies behind them This was a driving force behind my game for the Design Dialogues.
love the contrast of gray cement to green plants
What happens when industrial machine landscapes and nature have to coexist? Is it symbiosis or parasitis?
Connected Research
More than looking at the signals in isolation I would like to connect it to my research through their underlying meanings in connection to each other.
The first half of the semester I was researching undergound water infrastructures and how they transferred resources across the city. I reimagined underground worlds as memory industries and used the system as a metaphor for how information travels across.
In the second term, I am taking a closer look at data centers as a centralised archive of human memory and how they require so many resources like land, water and electricity to be maintained. I am also questioning the hierarchies these structures encode within themselves as places of importance. I even compare these spaces to cathedrals because as a machine landscape that stands in stark contrast with nature, they echo the blind faith we have in these black boxes. Thus the above mentioned signals serve as a poetic and conceptual inspiration that ties into my research. And personally for me, that his how weak signals work; not as facts to follow but as sparks of interest and inspiration.
SESSION 2 (10.03.26)¶
New Weak Signals¶
Random triggers¶
Opportunities¶
