Post truth design: A cabinet of curiosities

Using post-truth dynamics as design methodology

A collection of objects describing a fictional universe accompanied by a catalogue with detailed descriptions and lore of all the objects.

We live in a world where fact and fiction are closely interwoven. Multiple ‘’truths’’ are existing next to each other, it is all about which version of reality you subscribe to.
The intentions behind the traditional cabinets of curiosities were to create an overview of the reality we are living in, a microcosm in a way. This was done by assembling objects from different aspects of the world, from anatomy to science to crafts.
The collection as a whole says more about the owner than about the world they lived in: they collaged the objects to tell the story they are convinced of, and the narratives behind the objects were often glorified to impress the viewers.
There is a link between these collections and the way politicians and the media nowadays cherry pick the facts that suit their narrative.

Using the same process but applying it to designing objects. Starting out by writing texts about a fictional civilisation, the cities they live in, the objects that they encounter in their daily life, the food they eat and so on. From these fictional texts I extract ‘’facts’’ that make the building blocks for designing these objects. The fictional objects becomes the embodiment of these cherry picked ‘’facts’’.