Open Lecture: Saúl Baeza “What if We Kissed under the Watchful Eye of the Surveillance State?”

On October 14 at 16:00 in room A101, Saúl Baeza will give a public lecture titled “What if we kissed under the watchful eye of the surveillance state?”. The lecture is part of the Faculty of Design’s public lecture series “Public Lectures in Design: Adjusting Perspectives,” curated by Stella Runnel and Taavi Hallimäe.

The lecture will explore the creative intersections of algorithmic resistance and material cultures through two projects: DOES and VISIONS BY. Drawing on the work of DOES, Baeza will share his motivations for subverting biometric technologies, addressing matters such as agency, resistance, (dis)empowerment, identity, participation, discipline or desire, tailoring algorithms to suit my own demands, repurposing them for uses beyond their original intentions. Building on VISIONS BY Magazine, he will explore the social impact and perception of materials and their importance in activating and dynamizing cultures and socioeconomic systems through a critical and speculative research lens.

The public lectures are open to students, faculty, as well as anyone else interested in design!

Saúl Baeza is DOES and MAYBE Creative Director and VISIONS BY Magazine Founder and Editor-in-chief. While lecturing at Elisava Barcelona University of Design and Engineering he also researches functional and digital identities with the “Making With…” Research Group (TU Eindhoven Research) and “Futures Now” Research Group (Elisava Research). Saúl is the Co-Director of the Master in Design For Emergent Futures (MDEF), organised by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) and Elisava Barcelona School of Design and Engineering, in collaboration with the Fab Academy. Saúl has been visiting professor and lecturer at international universities, educational institutions and cultural venues such as Harvard GSD, Central Saint Martins and London College of Communication (UAL), Institute for advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), RMIT University Melbourne, Rhode Island School of Design, Pascual Bravo University in Medellín, Sónar+D, Victoria&Albert Museum, BASE, CCCB and DHUB, among others.