Challenge from DesignLab (University of Twente) x ESDiT (ethics of socially disruptive technologies) x Lisa Mandemaker

https://www.lisamandemaker.com/work-1/monuments-for-future-motherhood

Imagine, it’s the year 2050 and artificial wombs are able to carry full-term pregnancies. People born from this will receive an invitation on their eighteenth birthday to visit a monument that exhibits part of the artificial womb.

Many people report that they feel a strong connection to and have memories of the artificial wombs in which they grew. A visit to the monument therefore marks an important life event. Womb monuments give these people a place to return to. They forge a meaningful connection with the machines that gave them life.

The conceptualisation phase was lead by designer Lisa Mandemaker, with active support through co-creation sessions by a design engineering team of DesignLab, where I took the role of fabricating the interactive light installation that hangs central to the artificial womb dome. It comprises half of a sphere, layered with 19 plexiglas circles, each chamfered at 45 degrees and light from the center by individually addressable LEDs. Through custom light programming, an interactive light installation was fathomed, which allowed users to experience and speculate about the notion of artificial motherhood.

Throughout the design and fabrication of this speculative design installation, my focus besides the fabrication of the wooden structure, was oriented around the microprocessor programming, electronics, LED design, and assembly/disassembly procedures.

With this speculative experience, we want to spark new ideas about future reproductive scenarios and family ties. Can we think beyond the current family tree? And how do we experience new forms of kinship and the sense of being part of something bigger than ourselves?

The final installation provides a multi-stages experience to visitors, asking them to critically reflect upon the rising of technologies enabling the artificial birthing of human. At first, users would place mushroom helmets on their heads, listening to the story behind the concept. Having gained a contextual understanding of the installation, they step towards the Artificial Womb arch, representing the technological artefact that ones birthed the visitor, and now rests as a monument to be visited by its artificial children. When stepping closer, the central LED sphere automatically begins its interactive light installation, synced to music and asking the user to immerse themselves within this speculative future.