Scripted Performances: Or, the Absurd in the Man and the Machine

‘Scripts’ in design and architecture are usually associated with computer-based design programming. However, this narrow usage belies a rich vein of concepts intrinsic to design and authorship.

This presentation poses the script as a useful critical and methodological tool within design, absorbing and reinterpreting ideas from behavioural psychology, computation, dance, immersive theatre, the Absurd, and the Oulipo. The talk is illustrated through a series of projects completed during Palmer’s residency at the Palais de Tokyo, PhD by Design at the Bartlett School of Architecture, and independent work, spanning dance, film, installation and data manipulation.

Ollie Palmer

Ollie Palmer is an artist and designer based in the Netherlands. He holds an AHRC-funded PhD by design from the Bartlett and was artist in residence at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris from 2015-16. His work has been exhibited around the world, including at the V&A Museum, Opera Garnier de Paris, Seoul Museum of Art, and the Royal Institute of British Architects. He is currently Pathway Leader for the Situated Design MA at St Joost School of Art & Design, and has formerly taught in the Bartlett’s Interactive Design Lab, the School of the Art Institute Chicago, and TU Delft.

Hybrid Futures

Hybrid Futures is a public programme of talks with leading-edge practitioners and thinkers delivered as part of the Digital Innovation Season, an exciting and challenging programme of skills workshops, events and critical talks and discussions focused on the cutting edge of digital practice in art, design and performance. Central Saint Martins, in partnership with Three, has launched this season to explore both the theory and practice of techno-digital futures.