The randr research institute established Satellite Project’s yearly web exhibition, with the theme of Security & Surveillance this year, for the instructive use of design in political language. Taiwanese designer Rio Jiunyu Chen is in charge of organizing the design group. In addition, it includes Kashmiri designer Sidra Khawaja, Chinese artist Hailing Liu, Italian designer Cinzia Bongino, Taiwanese artist yhW, and Pakistani designers Rahma Shahid (co-founder of randr) and Musa Ghaznavi.
Regional political developments and issues with national security are the main topics of Satellite Project: Security & Surveillance. This project’s original workshop brought designers from all around the world together to examine contemporary societal issues based on regional and cultural diversity. Following the Terrain Biennial 2021 exhibition of Chen’s research project “The Last Tomorrowland,” he started building a website and workshop for it. Randr and Chicago designer Eric Hotchkiss’ online talks and lectures have drawn creators with backgrounds in art, fashion, sculpture, graphic, and product design.
According to Chen, the Satellite Project’s goal is to address societal issues from a design perspective. He emphasized the significance of citizens’ reactions to international sociopolitical events. How the design sector responds to evolving geopolitical dynamics and how people are affected by local and international events must be documented and archived. yhW’s Untitled (our side) was a distorted-symbolic display created with a borrowed object and stolen power. Rahma Shahid’s River City contribution to the exhibition shared her religious perspective on the conflict between local residents and land grabbers in South Asia. Cinzia Bongino’s Satellite Charts explored the modern space infrastructure with a thorough infographic.
Randr Research Institute has been developing an online platform for political design education and career exploration since 2021. Designers can take part in upcoming workshops and public engagements by responding to Satellite Project’s yearly call for applications. The idea has already generated a lot of attention. The Satellite Project, in Chen’s opinion, will serve as a template for future collaborations with designers from around the globe. He recently collaborated with Avsar Gunipar and Cansu Curgen from the Ambiguous Standards Institute in order to start a new conversation about the persisting effects of deeply ingrained colonial ideas in terms of common language and standards. The Satellite Project from the Randr Research Institute seems to be leading the way in the newly emerging discipline of political design.
