Teun the Racoon: Is AI the Latest Dumpster Diving of Design Ideas?

Teun the Raccoon is one of the five Creative Voices selected to both preview and review Dutch Design Week 2023 (DDW23) from their own, unique perspectives. Through an Open Call, international creatives were invited to reflect on current issues and the role designers can play in them. Follow Teun, a critical designer from Eindhoven, as it explores the programme narratives "Critical and Independent Design" and "Challenging our Digital Future" during Dutch Design Week 2023. 

This year, AI-mediated projects took center stage in numerous venues across the city. However, the discussion surrounding AI, whether as a topic or its implementation through various tools, remains highly controversial. The question arises: Is AI genuinely independent and unbiased? Will AI design mirror a global consensus and create new ideas? Oor could its use potentially trap designers in a creatively limiting echo chamber? 

Watch Teun's studio visit

Teun (it/its) is a critical designer and researcher based in the Netherlands. Its work unfolds between the binaries of the biological and the manmade. Through an auto-ethnographic perspective, Teun explores and unveils the biopolitical layers that construct our designed surroundings. Teun’s work ranges from performance to upcycled objects and installations.