1b. Positioning, tell us what you think about the future and how that has changed through your research, you may refer to movies, television, fiction and exhibitions.

There is a certain contradiction about my perception of the future, as whilst technological advancements suggest a techno-utopia built of smart cities, flying cars and so forth, these ideas are essentially swept under the carpet as the potential for the darker, dystopian future like what Max Max fury road presents seems so much closer. In my opinion I’d argue that the idea of our exploitation of natural resources to fuel this technological drive is in end what ruins our earth.

Figure 1: Townsend O. 2018, journalling, photograph of self directed research into the future Mad Max illustrates

The Mad Max series depicts the extreme effects of a drastic climatic shift which has left the world in a state of savagery and in essence, apocalypse. It follows outlaws, hoarding for fuels, water and anything they can get their hands on as the collapse of civilisation has left the world in a power savvy hierarchy. Landscape is covered in sand, dry of any moisture, distant from any water. The director’s/Miller’s perception of the future, as seen in figure 1, is clearly being influenced by the evidential global warming in today’s society as well as urban growth and the destruction of the natural landscape to clear a path for bigger cities. The more our world continues to exploit its natural resources to regenerate into fossil fuels and hence forth pollution, the more I have been swayed to envision this form of dystopic future, whilst extreme, could be possible.

Figure 2: Mad Max Fury Road, 2015

Similarly dystopian Len Wiseman Total Recall shows a technology driven society living in a heavily polluted world. Parallels between the two films, and the majority of other futuristic set films, are such that the natural climate has been ruined due to those who have not found enough love of the land and such that the people in it are living in a state of civilised collapse, anarchy, or technological overthrow.

In reference to the website for United Micro Kingdoms: A design fictions where they propel an experiment into design futuring for seeing what dependency would be successful for human prosperity. The majority of these futures suggested in films alike Mad Max or Total Recall depict those that are filled with digitarians, those who a compelled to live off digital technology and its many applications, in comparison to the suggest communo-nuclearists or the bioliberals. It begs the questions of what our future would look like if we quite simply loved our planet and made it our first priority? What if our cities no longer revolved around high rise building and cramming millions into the space built for thousands? Why do films never show this form of dystopic, or more so utopic future?

In effect, my position on the future is taking on board influences from the world around me, which ultimately sees a techno-dystopia, built around the fundamental principle of housing city growth and technological hierarchy. Arguably however, I believe this future will come at the cost of the natural environment as suggested throughout science fiction motions pictures, Mad Max and Total Recall included, unless we choose to shift our habits in this age, not later in the future. With this in mind, this is merely a prediction based on the principles of the future wheels; a technique for predicting the future based on the consequences of today. Thus, the future is a temporal landscape, constantly shifting, moulding into something new and hence change. To conclude with a quote from an unknown,

Change is the only constant
The future is unpredictable
There is no alternative
Technology is developing so quickly
It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end
of capitalism

(Unknown, n.d, Week 4 Lecture Slides, Interdisciplinary Lab A)

 

Olivia Townsend 12908671

 

References

Mad Max Fury Road 2015, motion picture, Warner Bros.

Total Recall 2012, motion picture, Carolco Pictures

Class Resources

Week 4 readings
Dunne, Anthony & Raby, Fiona (2012) ‘United Micro Kingdoms: A Design Fiction’ <http://www.unitedmicrokingdoms.org&gt;

Week 3 tutorial notes

Week 4 tutorial notes

Week 4 lecture slides and notes

Inayatullah. S, 2007, The six pillars: futures thing for transforming, Sohail Inyatullah, emerald insight, viewed on the 17 August 2018 <https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/14636680810855991&gt;

Reference for all images
Mad Max Fury Road, 2015, movie stills, filmed by Seale J.