Guerrilla Futures

Stuart Candy Ph.D. | @futurystOCAD University | Long Now Foundation

Festival of Transitional Architecture (FESTA), Christchurch26.oct.02013

Strategic Foresight

Tactical Media

GuerrillaFutures

Strategic Foresight is “the ability to create and maintain a high-quality,

coherent and functional forward view and to use the insights arising

in [practically] useful ways.”

- Richard Slaughter, The Foresight Principle

Tactical media is “a form of media activism that privileges temporary,

hit-and-run interventions in the media sphere … that engage and critique the dominant political and

economic order.”

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_

media

Hawaii 2050 (2006)

Four “experiential futures”, immersive scenarios

set in Hawaii in 2050, were staged for 500+ participants embarking on a public

sustainability planning process.(Not a guerrilla project, but a starting

point…)

Our view:

Routine foresight lacks impactand

“Experiential futures” showed promise

but Official processes were too timid to

succeed

= If you can’t do it officially,

do it unofficially

FoundFutures:Postcards from the

future (2007)

Postcards from four different versions of Hawaii circa 2030 were mailed out serially

to the homes of over 100 community leaders.

FoundFutures:Artifacts from the future

(2006/07)

Installations of playful and provocative future artifacts in urban places, for people

to encounterin the midst of their everyday lives.

FoundFutures: Chinatown (2007)

Future artifacts from three scenarios for a much-loved neighbourhood. We created the

stories after speaking with residents and business owners in the area

about its history and their latent concerns.

‘Green Dragon’

What becomes of Chinatowns when Chinais the predominant geopolitical

superpower?

FoundFutures: Chinatown

“Green Dragon”

‘The Bird Cage’

How would the community fareif a bird flu outbreak occurred in

Chinatown?

‘McChinatown’

How would it feel for gentrificationto take over the neighbouthood?

Advertising at Copenhagen airport

during COP 15 (2009)

Greenpeace and tcktcktck urged the world’s leaders not to miss an historic

opportunity.

Earthquake awarenessin San Francisco (2007)

The Bay Area Red Cross temporarily placeda double-sided billboard at the bottom of

Market Street in quake-prone San Francisco, vividly visualising seismic destruction and

encouraging disaster preparedness.

New York TimesSpecial Edition (2008)

Culture jamming activists The Yes Men andartist Steve Lambert distributed an idealised

future edition of the newspaper, featuring“all the news we hope to print”.

FoundFutures:The People Who

Vanished(2012)

A participatory experiential scenario (performance + mixed media installations)

was staged with our collaborators in Phoenix for the first ‘Emerge’ festival at Arizona State

University.

Hypothetical Development

Organization (2010)

Rob Walker and collaborators installed fanciful signage in the streets of New

Orleans, suggesting imaginative new uses for disused buildings.

Compare with‘unsolicited

architecture’

“Unsolicited architects do not wait to tackle the big issues often

overlooked by the market. They create briefs where none are

written, discover sites where none are owned, approach clients where

none are present, and find financing where none is available.”

- Rory Hyde

Guerrilla futurescombines strategic

foresightwith tactical media…

…to produce unexpected encounters with possible

worlds.

Guerrilla futures principles:

. Don’t break the universe. The tip of the iceberg

. The art of the double-take. playfully

. collectively

The point is to show,as well as tell, different

stories…

…bringing futures to life in order

to influence how we act today.

Plus it’s fun.

Take back the future!

More at: foundfutures.org

futuryst.com@futuryst

Thanks.