Happy to find out that my work ‘Future Affair’ has been included in an article about Dutch Design Week ’21 all the way in China. The magazine is called Art and Design”(艺术与设计 in Chinese) and is a monthly cultural publication in China! I cant read it myself but I trust the write it did justice to the work! See the full article in the pictures attached!

Column by Jeroen Junte | DesignDigger.nl

“Designers ask the most existential question: not who, but what are we? Only with this self-examination can we protect our vulnerable bodies against viruses and other harmful invaders.”(…)

Of course, this preoccupation with our own bodies has also been fueled by digitalization. Far too often and for too long we sit in front of screens. Even sex and intimacy become devoid of physical contact. While this intimacy is (almost) as important as eating and sleeping. This is unequivocally confirmed by Laura A Dima’s Future Affair project in the Milk Factory. Visitors can touch each other without physical contact. A soft robotic arm with a very sophisticated push mechanism rubs a person’s arm just as long as another person presses a button. With the eyes closed it feels like a real caress. But if you look at the mechanical hand, the spell is immediately broken. Ultimately, we need not only our own body but also that of the other – no robot can change that (….)”

Probably the funniest interview I ever did, big thanks to Dutch Design Week for the opportunity.

The consent button: ‘touch for permission’ was the highlight, it made it clear that you can only be touched if you give clear permission – You can still watch the whole video online as part of DDWTV originally streamed live on Oct. 21. Click on the link to see the video. My part shows only around min. 47 where it starts by introducing the Manifestations exhibition, which shows artworks investigating the future of technology including my installation Future Affair.

(ENG) A candy machine where you pay with data and a robot hand to hug grandma: do you want that?

AD.nl published an article about a couple of projects shown at Manifestations during Dutch Design Weekend. My project ‘Future Affair’ is mentioned too. I particularly like the writer’s interpretation. I translated this from Dutch “We spend hours on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram and don’t have to pay anything for it. But is it really free? At the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, visitors were made to think about technology. For example, would you like to stroke your grandmother’s hand remotely with the help of a robotic hand?” Funny enough, I never asked my own grandma who is living alone in Romania, if she would like to try it. Maybe in the future!

“The question is to what extent we want to digitize care, says Laura A Dima. She developed an installation with which you can caress another person remotely with a heated robotic hand. It feels real. To the left there is a hub with an object and a screen. By touching the object, the robot hand on the right starts to move, without the two users seeing each other. “I want people to think: do you want this? It has disadvantages and advantages. This way you can touch lonely family members who live at a distance. But do we want to replace human contact with this?”

– My apologies for the poor translation.