Beebots-a-lula, Where's My Honey?: Design Fictions and Beekeeping

Liz Edwards; Deborah Maxwell; Toby Pillatt; Niamh Downing

doi:10.1145/2971485.2993924

Beebots-a-lula, Where's My Honey? Design Fictions and Beekeeping

Liz Edwards, Deborah Maxwell, Toby Pillatt, Niamh Downing

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

The honey bee is a powerful cultural motif that remains an important symbol for the future. Their role as pollinators, alongside a myriad of other species, is critical to the continued diets of humankind. This Future Scenario explores a possible near future where human intervention poses new risks to their survival. Drawing on folklore and contemporary beekeeping practices, Mr Shore's Downfall tells a tale of discovery and loss as a young beekeeper is introduced to the world of honey bees. Three imagined artefacts are revealed through the story and discussed with consideration of their cultural context, desirability and relation to socio-economic factors. Themes from Mr Shore's Downfall are examined, and the potential of writing practice for design fiction practitioners is considered.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 9th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (NordiCHI '16).
Subtitle of host publication	Game-Changing Design, NordiCHI 2016
Publisher	ACM
Number of pages	10
Volume	23-27-October-2016
ISBN (Electronic)	978-1-4503-4763-1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/2971485.2993924
Publication status	Published - 23 Oct 2016

Keywords

Beekeeping
Design artefacts
Design fiction
Design methods
Environment
Future scenario

Access to Document

10.1145/2971485.2993924

http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/106823/

Cite this

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title = "Beebots-a-lula, Where's My Honey?: Design Fictions and Beekeeping",

abstract = "The honey bee is a powerful cultural motif that remains an important symbol for the future. Their role as pollinators, alongside a myriad of other species, is critical to the continued diets of humankind. This Future Scenario explores a possible near future where human intervention poses new risks to their survival. Drawing on folklore and contemporary beekeeping practices, Mr Shore's Downfall tells a tale of discovery and loss as a young beekeeper is introduced to the world of honey bees. Three imagined artefacts are revealed through the story and discussed with consideration of their cultural context, desirability and relation to socio-economic factors. Themes from Mr Shore's Downfall are examined, and the potential of writing practice for design fiction practitioners is considered.",

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author = "Liz Edwards and Deborah Maxwell and Toby Pillatt and Niamh Downing",

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doi = "10.1145/2971485.2993924",

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Beebots-a-lula, Where's My Honey? Design Fictions and Beekeeping. / Edwards, Liz; Maxwell, Deborah ; Pillatt, Toby et al.
Proceedings of the 9th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (NordiCHI '16).: Game-Changing Design, NordiCHI 2016. Vol. 23-27-October-2016 ACM, 2016. a79.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

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AU - Maxwell, Deborah

AU - Pillatt, Toby

AU - Downing, Niamh

PY - 2016/10/23

Y1 - 2016/10/23

N2 - The honey bee is a powerful cultural motif that remains an important symbol for the future. Their role as pollinators, alongside a myriad of other species, is critical to the continued diets of humankind. This Future Scenario explores a possible near future where human intervention poses new risks to their survival. Drawing on folklore and contemporary beekeeping practices, Mr Shore's Downfall tells a tale of discovery and loss as a young beekeeper is introduced to the world of honey bees. Three imagined artefacts are revealed through the story and discussed with consideration of their cultural context, desirability and relation to socio-economic factors. Themes from Mr Shore's Downfall are examined, and the potential of writing practice for design fiction practitioners is considered.

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KW - Design fiction

KW - Design methods

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Beebots-a-lula, Where's My Honey? Design Fictions and Beekeeping

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Debbie Maxwell

Telling the Bees

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Beebots-a-lula, Where's My Honey? Design Fictions and Beekeeping

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Profiles

Debbie Maxwell

Projects

Telling the Bees

Cite this