A week of Critical Events and Installations
Wondering how our philosophical ideas can work in practice? Through 3 events and installations funded by NTUTORR, we demonstrated engaging applications of the Pitchdrop ideas to start and aid critical conversations.
Back in February, Pitchdrop designed and created 3 events to test out applications of the Pitchdrop philosophical ideas. These events included two installations and a workshop to introduce Pitchdrop themes and topics to new audiences in engaging ways. These events were created in collaboration with NTUTORR and IADT Dun Laoghaire and were hosted on the college’s campus. All about bringing criticality, literacy and above all, starting conversations, the results were spectacular. The following is an introduction to and archive of those projects.
Project 1: Digging Deeper – Critically Analysing News Media
The Installation
10 academics from different disciplines critically analysed a news article published online. We then took their analysis in the form of comments and printed them at scale, with the original article and displayed them in the canteen at IADT for a week. Through displaying their analysis, the academics showed how the audience could critically engage with news media, and gave specific examples of how information can be distorted.
The idea behind the project:
This installation is a novel tool and resource that equips the audience with insights into thinking critically, actively and creatively about the media they consume. The focus is media literacy, and it raises awareness of hidden language framings and thought traps within news media. It does this through leading by example and creating a conversation which is accessible, human and critical.
This project is presented in a space where people relax, allowing the audience to engage, leave and return. This creates a slower pace of conversation and reflection that is virtually extinct in the age of scrolling and 7-second video clips. It is a novel tool for learning that is modular, not site, language or culture-specific and can be brought to countless environments. It is a new way of sharing and starting conversations and a resource for learning about and practising criticality.
Feedback:
“This is a fantastic teaching resource”
“I really enjoyed taking part in this collaboration”
“It’s great to have it where people relax so they can chat about it”
Project 2: Sci-fi Future Storytelling Workshop
The Event:
This is a 1.5 hour long collaborative workshop that uses game-play mechanics to prompt story generation about possible futures. Participants are grouped into teams of 3-6 individuals and work together at tables with pen and paper. Each group is given a variety of prompts and exercises to start conversations with each other and to help them craft stories together.
The idea behind the project:
This workshop introduced new audiences to the concept of speculative thinking. Speculative thinking is a set of tools, resources and guidelines for developing rigorous and fact-based visions of possible futures. It is a vital tool for planning and making educated guesses about future possibilities in a structured and productive way.
However, speculative thinking and speculative futures can be quite technical and hard to get a grasp of. That is why we designed this workshop to be light, fun and playful to balance the technical information about speculative thinking.
Feedback:
“I can’t believe how much fun that was…Can we do it again?!”
“I’m going to do a project on speculative thinking next term and now I can’t wait.”
“Please let me know if you’re organising another one of these events.”
Project 3: Better Brain Domain: A Guide to Some Cognitive Distortions
The Installation
Better Brain Domain displays some of the most common ‘thinking shortcuts’. It covers two strands: Cognitive Biases (errors in thinking) and Logical Fallacies (illogical arguments). It also has visualising values (diagrams of abstract ideas). This installation is a self-knowledge and critical thinking resource. It helps viewers build their criticality by explaining 18 examples. It also has 9 visualisations of abstract ideas relating to the creative process and thought.
The idea behind the project:
As we humans navigate the world, we draw heavily on past experiences and thinking shortcuts to make decisions. Our brains do this to make judgments quickly and easily, and it often happens without us realising. This means that we can often draw the wrong conclusions and make decisions based on biases. It also means that we can be convinced by arguments that contain flawed logic that we may not see.
This installation introduces and explains the most common faulty thinking shortcuts, also known as cognitive biases and logical fallacies. It is a self-knowledge and critical thinking resource that can help audiences improve their problem-solving skills, their self-awareness and give language for common, flawed thinking patterns. These are all vital skills required to have compassionate, nuanced and effective conversations about essential issues like climate change, human rights and global policies today.
Feedback:
“This is excellent, extremely interesting and important.”
“Since I saw this I now see faulty thinking everywhere – I do it all the time!”
“I can’t believe I didn’t know about these before now.”
Interested? Get in touch
If you are interested in any of these events or installations and would like to bring them to your institution, workplace or organisation, you can get in touch with us to discuss at hello.pitchdrop@gmail.com.
