Paper short abstract:

Art probing is a way to use art as a creative speculative method and as an instrument of evocation. I have used it combined with ethnographic research and together with various stakeholders. I will present my art probing with Volvo Cars and in a recent research project.

Paper long abstract:

Art probing is a way to use art as a creative speculative method and as an instrument of evocation. I have used it combined with ethnographic research and together with various stakeholders. I will present my art probing with Volvo Cars and in a recent research project.

In a collaboration with Volvo Cars I developed Sparks (2017-2018), which is a series of short audio-visual evocations. The aim was to use art probing as part of workshops, discussions, and design projects. It was used to spark imaginations about automotive futures, and social as well as environmental dimensions of mobility. Sparks was produced as part of the research project Human Expectations and Experiences of Autonomous Driving (HEAD), led by the DUX (Digital User Experience) Development Center at Volvo Cars in collaboration with Halmstad University. Sparks was also used to promote lateral thinking and to provoke affective dimensions related to mobility and the automotive.

As part of the presentation I will also present and discuss an ongoing art probing project called The Mundania Files. It is used as part of the research project Connected Homes and Distant Infrastructures. By using video, sound and electronic music I further develop creative methods to extend my methodological toolbox when researching complex and ungraspable infrastructures and people's experiences of domestic technologies and elemental media.