De-Anthropocentrising Ocean Object Relations

Hall, Ashley and Hodson, Elise and Amarala, Carla and Andersona, Paul and Sommer, Bjorn and Ross, Christopher (2024) De-Anthropocentrising Ocean Object Relations. In: P/References of Design. Cumulus conference proceedings series, 1 . Cumulus Association, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest, Budapest, pp. 1131-1148. ISBN 978-952-7549-03-5

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Abstract

The ocean can be seen as a hard-to-reach place for human empathy and tangible connection for inspiring behaviour changes to reduce climate change impacts. A healthy ocean is crucial for essential human activities ranging from transport, food, oxygen, CO2 absorption, recreation, and tourism. For a long time, designers have been engaged with designing for the ocean primarily through recreational and industrial equipment for fishing, tourism, transportation, and leisure. A new climate critical role for design is emerging which requires a strategic systems-based approach combined with more traditional design solutioning methods. We conducted a design research experiment using an AI sensor package installed on a ship to geolocate and identify objects across the Atlantic Ocean on a 6,070 nautical mile voyage between Kangerlussuaq in the Arctic Circle in Greenland and Poole in Dorset, UK. The motivation was to conduct a broad cross-sectional object identification scan using 4k cameras to capture 'everything that isn't the ocean' to begin connecting the intangible ocean for co-designing solutions. The focus of this research is to identify theories and concepts of object-network relations that go beyond anthropocentric concerns to include more diverse stakeholders and multi-species representation and communication in future design work. We draw on a range of theories from Actor Network Theory, Boundary Objects, Suffixscapes and Object Oriented Ontology to compare pre- and post-theorising with applied fieldwork to draw conclusions around liberating conceptual models. We conclude by discussing how we can enhance inclusive representation of 'others' into climate sensitive research and design driven decision-making processes.

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