FOUNDFU F FUTURES

th he Ar rt t o of f the Po osSib ibl le e

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FoundFutures injects futures into the present.

It is a multimedia, collaborative project based on the idea that a wider range of possible futures should be made visible and thinkable to people in their everyday lives. It aims to provoke thought, conversation, and action by creating and distributing art, artifacts, images, performances and other media that embody possible worlds to come. Truly useful futures work has always been innovative and provocative, challenging its audience to venture beyond the crackpot realism of the present. Yet it should also be as affective and immersive as possible, engaging the brain, body, and surrounding environment in a full experience of the scenario at hand. Quality foresight -- including for instance the myriad reports on major hurricane risks to New Orleans -- is futile unless it can mobilize timely and appropriate action, at the individual, organisational, and social levels.

A new breed of design-oriented futurists (and future-

oriented designers) is experimenting with groundbreaking methods to bring futures to life. They dont merely describe, but actually manifest, alternative possible worlds in your brain, in your body, and on the streets. Stuart Candy and Jake Dunagan of the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies have teamed with artists, performers, and designers on projects designed to move alternative futures from the distant realm of the mental abstract and into the visceral present. Their cutting-edge FoundFutures initiative has already produced a series of thought-provoking and controversial campaigns in Hawaii.

foundfutures is ...

Getting away from it all

... in the year 02050.

Found: Inhale Cigarettes, Bostons Pizza, Honolulu, August 02007. Who says you cant change a habit?

innovative

A wall of missing notices by the loved ones of bird flu and quarantine victims in 02016.

Participants in an experiential scenario for Hawaii 02050 swear an oath of allegiance to the Democratic Kingdom of Hawaii.

immersive

A bronze memorial plaque dedicated to the victims of Honolulus tragic bird flu epidemic of 02016, corner of Maunakea and Pauahi Streets, October 02007.

t future sent m the t rds from One of four postca y leaders -- here, an community b in s and to busines b economic d by be slands are benighte e islands he the c unrest. and civil co la collapse

Found: posters indicating a sudden takeover of empty Chinatown property by Starbucks, Nuunanu Avenue, October 02007.

affective

Found: at Longs Drugstore, Manoa Valley Marketplace, Honolulu, July 02007.

In the wake of a bird flu outbreak on Oahu, Maui lures tourists to its disease-free shores.

prov0cative

any Useful statement about the futures should appear to be ridiculous.

- Jim Dator

FOUNDFUTURES

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the Art Art of f the PosSible Po P os os sS Sib Si S ib i bl b le

2424 Maile Way Honolulu, Hawaii 9682 2 US tel +1 808 956 2888 fax +1 808 956 6877 info@foundfutures.org