Helena Demaria-Williams

When did we become so obsessed with the future? Is the futurist 2017's version of the alchemist? Is this a dark art or a real science or somewhere in between?    

David Graeber talks about how the future we all expected never arrived, thwarted by bureaucracy, market fears and the pursuit of profit over all else. Is this fixation actually an expression of frustration at where we stand technologically, culturally and politically?    

We are equally obsessed with innovation. Brands and corporate entities always talk up their innovate thinking, approaches, products. Often this just means subtly altered versions of things that already exist, or an exercise in PR applied to stale and ancient corporate services.

Is it all a ruse, as we stand still, faced with great challenges that technology and scientific progress could address? As we sink deeper and deeper into the quick sand with new iPhone models being released perpetually but no rope to pull ourselves out?     

And what about in the creative industries, in fashion, in advertising? Who is still shaking up these modes of working? With everyone so terrified of not being commercial enough, who is actually still taking risks?     

This week we will look at futurism and trend forecasting and ask ourselves, ‘Is there any worth in these activities?’, ‘Are we predicting the future or dictating it?’, ‘What is the role of the designer when the first step in the process is a trend report?’, ‘Is there any space for original thinking?’.     

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXHil1TPxvA)