Everything Happens So Much

We live in an age when political and cultural events happen with increasing speed; a overwhelming wave of stuff, exacerbated in presence, impact, and scale by complex networked technologies. The artists and designers in the Supra Systems exhibition explore how we experience and articulate this intense space in which everything happens – so much! – and the systems which underpin and permit it.

The exhibition was shaped by Donella H Meadow’s observation that systems happen all at once. As designers and artists we face challenges in grasping, materialising, and interacting with complex distributed systems and the affordances which they permit. As educators, we need to create tools to articulate this complexity.

The design of the exhibition was influenced by the standardised symbols and colour schemes of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

This exhibition and series of events was part of Everything Happens So Much, the London College of Communication’s show for London Design Festival 2018.

Participants

  • Paul Bailey
  • David Benque
  • Ben Branagan
  • BBC R&D
  • Demystification Committee
  • Luisa Charles
  • John Fass
  • Gareth Foote
  • Wesley Goatley
  • Joel Karamath
  • Marion Lagedamont
  • Alistair McClymont
  • Tobias Revell
  • Michael Sedbon
  • Eva Verhoeven

Curator

Georgina Voss

Supra Systems: Office Rites

Under the Altarpiece of St George, mystery cults and rituals are channelled through digital tools and processes of a mundane office environment.

In Chthonic Rites Alexa and Siri have been left to their own devices. In this conversation between them they reflect upon hidden histories, both ours and their own, in a process that exposes their capacities and limitations

The Monistic Almanac revisits the almanac as a site for critical making; unpacking some of the history of prediction, and questioning the divide between data science and divination.

Demons, Inc offers a lifestyle, a promise to improve lives; an infernal service questioning whether or not we'd be ready to sell our souls for technology.

Never Stop Never Stopping implores the new head of Goldman Sachs, DJ D-Sol. As the chorus of his breakout hit ‘Don't Stop’ loops, the scrolling columns build a picture of the culture of endless accumulation through song lyrics, intense educational videos and snippets of corporate messaging.

The Alterpiece of St George illustrates the legend of the Christian warrior through different narrative cycles - both the heroic victory against the dragon, and the trials and torture of martyrdom.

Supra Systems: Office Rites was a multi-performance installation work, developed for the V&A Digital Design Weekend, September 2018.

Participants

  • David Benque
  • Demystification Committee
  • Wesley Goatley
  • Marion Lagedamont

Set Design

  • Greg Bailey
  • Georgina Voss

Curator

Georgina Voss

Supra Systems Book

Systems happen all at once

Donella H Meadows

Everything Happens So Much

@Horse_eBooks

Networked technologies are increasingly present across our lives. They manifest in many ways, yet their 'all-at-once' nature makes them difficult to parse. How can we get to grips with the power that these complex systems produce if we can't easily comprehend systems themselves?

In the Supra Systems book, our authors - writers, artists, curators, academics, designers, and researchers - examine what it means to articulate the forces and politics underpinning networked technologies. We look to almanacs, artificial intelligence, artificial tornadoes, data aestheticisation, machine learning, online sex work, parking lots, radical softness, skip diving, speedrunning and more, as we explore ways to experience, articulate, and interrogate the systems surrounding us.

The softcover book is available to purchase for £10:

UAL Shop

A digital version can be downloaded here. Individual essays are available below.

Design

Marion Lagedamont

This book was produced with the support of the Design School Public Program, London College of Communication.