Molly Wright Steenson
Boredom is a key provocation for interaction. But what kind of provocation is it?
Its definitions over the last 2000 years include acedia, dejection, depression, sloth, laziness, and immobility. We characterize it in the same manner as melancholia, tristesse, ennui, annoyance, and wearisomeness. It has its own typology: situative boredom (waiting for someone or taking a train), the boredom of satiety (too much of the same thing), existential boredom, and creative boredom (in which someone is forced to do something new or different). Situative boredom, the momentary ennui presented by a certain state of things, can be shaken off by action.
In this talk, we’ll look at how designers, architects, and cyberneticists play with boredom to spur people to action: Gordon Pask’s 1953 Musicolour Machine, Cedric Price’s proposed Fun Palace and Generator, and contemporary architects and interaction designers like Usman Haque. We’ll see how to strategically deploy boredom as an impetus for interaction.
