Militant Calisthenics

Speculative research, graphic design and exhibition design, 2018-2019

This semester-long project explored the intersection of technological innovation and labor militancy. Who is most served by advances in surveillance and artificial intelligence technologies? What are the hidden ramifications of unbridled innovation? I developed a design research framework to explore these and other questions. The culmination of this research was an immersive installation and participatory event, showcasing the body of graphic, theatrical, and cinematic work I created on this topic.

Problem Statement

How might speculative design help us develop and articulate our stance towards the future of technological innovation? How might we use critical design as a platform for expanding the political horizon of possibility to include the democratic redistribution of productivity afforded by AI and surveillance technologies?

Domain Mapping

I began my design research by selecting housing as a primary topic of interest. I mapped out the domain of housing by situating it within a matrix of interrelated currents: new technologies, social movements, political ideologies, and economic drivers. By cataloging adjacent issues, I was able to determine potential entry points for design fiction.

Guiding Questions

I identified three primary subdomains of housing: climate resilience, labor, and construction methods. I elicited feedback from my peers on the primary change agents affecting each subdomain. The resulting questions based on these change agents guided the next stage of my research.

Refining my Inquiry

Based on feedback from my peers, I delved into current advancements in building site surveillance and algorithmic artificial intelligence. A central theme emerged: escalating innovation with quantifiable benefits for the management sector, with little discussion of its ramifications for workers rights. In particular, I explored the wristband patent that Amazon recently secured, and the Doxel suite of worksite surveillance products, including a mini rover. Granted in 2018, the Amazon patent specifies a wristband which can triangulate the position of a worker’s hans in relation to inventory bins at fulfillment centers. It generates haptic feedback to guide employees more swiftly towards intended inventory for order fulfillment.

Specialist Interviews

I interviewed industrial union members, creative workers and college professors in order to gauge their perspectives on the role of surveillance technology in quantifying their labor, and about their visions for a more democratic application of intelligent systems. A crystallizing question emerged: what might innovation look like if it were within the purview of workers themselves? How might advancements in artificial intelligence be harnessed to redistribute productivity in an equitable fashion?

Interview Insights

The main takeaway from these interviews was that the equity of a given technology is determined by those who own it, and who have the power to determine where productivity is reinvested. I concluded that a work of speculative fiction in this domain would have to take the form of a bureau, a regulatory body overseeing the trajectory of technology as it relates to productivity. I conducted visual research on the graphic standards manual of the US Department of Labor, and used the graphic propaganda of the New Deal-era WPA poster as a jumping-off point in my investigation of institutional aesthetics.

Ideation

I adapted the vernacular of the WPA broadside and the bumper sticker to develop a set of propagandistic mockups that this future governmental body might publish. These sketches reflect demands and slogans for the democratic provision of productivity data. This vision provided the framing for the US Department of Augmented Productivity, a speculative subsidiary of the US Department of Labor.

Future Report & How-To Pamphlet

To ground the US Department of Productivity in a plausible future, I created a 2050 future report in the style of a government handbook. This report outlined the USDAP’s mission, history, initiatives, program roadmap, and a treatise on its commitment to humans in an age of increasingly autonomous robotic entities. I designed and risograph printed a Militant Calisthenics How-To pamphlet outlining each gesture’s connotative meaning and bio-mechanical principles.

Militant Calisthenics Video

An instructional video outlines the mission of Militant Calisthenics, including demos of connotative movements related to worker organizing in a high-surveillance future industrial fulfillment center. Each movement is designed to evade detection by a 2D ultrasonic tracker, the likes of which were referenced in Amazon’s wristband patent.

Exhibition Space

Militant Calisthenics debuted at CCA’s Hubbell Street Galleries in Spring 2019. I created environmental graphics and developed a floor plan to spatially facilitate a narrative experience. I supplied printed propaganda for viewers to take and display in their homes and workplaces. Visitors were invited to engage with the content of Militant Calisthenics through costume and performance.