Unmaking-with AI

Tactics for Decentering through Design

Journal Article (2024)
Author(s)

I. Nicenboim (TU Delft - Materials and Manufacturing)

Marie Louise Juul Søndergaard (AHO - Oslo School of Architecture and Design)

Joseph Lindley (Lancaster University)

Anuradha Reddy (Malmö University)

Yolande Strengers (Monash University)

Johan Redström (Umeå University)

Elisa Giaccardi (Politecnico di Milano)

Research Group
Materials and Manufacturing
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1145/3685275
More Info
expand_more
Publication Year
2024
Language
English
Research Group
Materials and Manufacturing
Issue number
6
Volume number
31
Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Abstract

This article explores the intersections and resonances between unmaking and more-than-human design. We begin by aligning unmaking with decentering, a fundamental practice in more-than-human design, through their shared movement and materiality. Using Lindström and Ståhl’s notion of the double movement in un/making, we analyze a series of workshops focused on designing with AI, annotating what was un/made and de/centered during the workshops’ activities. Through this analysis, we introduce two key contributions that highlight some opportunities in the diffractive alignment between unmaking and more-than-human design: firstly, the notion of “unmaking-with” as an emergent concept to describe a posthumanist unmaking practice, and secondly, three decentering tactics—situating, materializing, and enacting—that instantiate this practice through design. Finally, we discuss how unmaking can enrich more-than-human design and, conversely, how more-than-human design can help define the epistemological scope of unmaking.