Farming the Uncanny Valley 2018-2021 at Berlin University of the Arts, with Stefan Schwabe, Fraunhofer UMSICHT, STATE Studio and YOUSE GmbH

Within the project Farming the Uncanny Valley, feelings of uneasiness towards emerging societal changes in the context of current biotechnological developments are investigated. This research is intended to function as a starting point for initiating an open discourse and exploring new ways of involving a broader public into a process of co-creation.

Technological change is leading to shifts in our values and perceptions. Relevant topics and questions that are characteristic for this are identified in a close dialogue between designers and leading researchers in the field. Through these questions, possible shifts in our values and concepts as a result of technological change are formulated. The possible shift is to be experienced through installations that address the psychological tilting moment and serve as a starting point for a discourse and the development of tools that enable laypeople to articulate desirable life with these technologies.

The methods and tools where developed and tested in a series of workshops with selected target groups in 2019, and then made accessible to a broad public within the final exhibition MACHT NATUR in 2020. The research project is running from 2018-2021 and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Project website
Fraunhofer UMSICHT
State Studio
YOUSE

sponsored by the BMBF