Useless, not Worthless: Absurd Making as Critical Practice

Abstract

We report on the outcomes of a hackathon organised aroundthe themes of absurd musical interfaces, questionable sonicinteractions and unworkable music designs. At the core of theproject is the intention to explore absurd making as a way tosupport critical and disruptive design practices. We reflect onhow surreal, nonsensical and fragile artefacts can be helpfulto stretch and critique conventional ideas of what is useful andappropriate in technology research and development. Afterintroducing both concepts and methods that shaped the eventwe present a selection of useless interfaces designed by thehackathon’s attendees. These musical artefacts, and the con-siderations around them, are then discussed as a viable meansfor communicating both design concerns and future visions.We also consider two features identified as playing a crucialrole within the event: the discovery of contradictions and theimportance of context-based ingredients.