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by Herman Manson (@marklives) Every year, Design Indaba brings together a group of the world’s top design grads to present their work to conference delegates. The work they present varies greatly, but are generally exciting and thought-provoking. Kathryn Fleming was one of the 2015 group of Pecha Kucha speakers.

Kathryn FlemingBilled as a “multidisciplinary designer exploring the intersections of science, art and technology”, Fleming explores a radical rethink of how we engage with nature in a natural world we have already reshaped radically.

The argument is that human intervention has reshaped the world, and trying to protect species, whose ecosystems we have destroyed, is setting us up for failure and the loss of more species. Instead, they should be allowed, even encouraged, to evolve and adapt to a new, changed environment. We become creators not only of the environment but of the creatures that inhabit it.

Completely out of the box

It’s completely out-of-the-box thinking some delegates might have wished on a sci-fi conference instead, but it’s one of those presentations that question design and its moral complexities — something designers often choose to gloss over. You sit squirming and afterwards apply some of those questions to the kind of product and industrial design Hella Jongerius riled against earlier in the day.

Fleming has reimagined what the new wild might look like. For instance, take her “Bleeding Flower” whose petals change colour “in sympathy to hormonal changes of women in close proximity”.

The Bleeding Flower

Kathryn Fleming: Bleeding FlowerKathryn Fleming: Bleeding Flower - ovulationThe Beaked Porcupine

Kathryn Fleming: The Beaked PorcupineKathryn Fleming: The Beaked Porcupine - field guideThe Superbivore

Kathryn Fleming: The SuperbivoreKathryn Fleming: The Superbivore - profileKathryn Fleming: The Superbivore - field guideFleming holds a bachelor’s degree from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a master’s degree in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art.

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Published by Herman Manson

MarkLives.com is edited by Herman Manson. Follow us on Twitter - http://twitter.com/marklives

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