Design has a history of violence. It can be an act of creative destruction and a double-edged sword, surprising us with consequences intended or unintended. Yet professional discourse has been dominated by voices that only trumpet design’s commercial and aesthetic successes.

Design and violence is an ongoing online curatorial experiment that explores the manifestations of violence in contemporary society by pairing critical thinkers with examples of challenging design work. For this debate series, spanning four evenings, the curators paola antonelli and jamer hunt have chosen four of the most provocative case studies to further explore the ambiguous relationship between design and violence. In each event, two debaters will tackle an object, taking opposite sides and arguing the faults and merits of the project and the contemporary issues that surround it. A lively group discussion will follow.

Design and Violence Debate: Debate I

Moderated by Design and Violence co-curator Paola Antonelli, the first debate centers upon The Liberator, the world’s first 3-D printed gun. The gun’s designer Cody Wilson and author and journalist Rob Walker, (Yahoo Tech, The New York Times, Design Observer) will deliver debate motions, after which will follow a discussion focused on open-source design, the limits of gun laws and rights, and our assumptions about the ethics of design.

Design and Violence Debate: Debate II

The second debate focuses on the

The second debate focuses on the Menstruation Machine(2010), designed by Sputniko! (aka Hiromi Ozaki) to allow its wearer to experience the pain and tribulation of menstruation, regardless of his or her age or gender. Chris Bobel (author,New Blood: Third-wave Feminism and the Politics of Menstruation) and Mickey Boardman, (Editorial Director,Paper magazine) will deliver debate motions, moderated by Jamer Hunt.

Design and Violence Debate: Debate III

The third debate will center upon Temple Grandin’s “serpentine ramp,” a slaughterhouse design modification that attempts stress reduction and a more humane death for animals. Professor Gary L. Francione (Distinguished Professor of Law, Rutgers, and author, Eat Like You Care: An Examination of the Morality of Eating Animals) and Nicola Twilley (editor/author of Edible Geography.com, co-founder of the Foodprint Project, and director of Studio-X NYC) will deliver debate motions, moderated by Design and Violence co-curator Paola Antonelli.