Salil Parekh is a design researcher and creative technologist. He is currently working on creating The Planetary Bureau at The New School, New York.

Retrospective

A retrospective is to look back at events that have taken place in the past. The process of retrospection is a useful one, as it allows me to reflect on my work and try to figure out what I want to be doing in the future. I do not have a profession I can identify with, or a line of work that I know I want to be doing. I like making things, and hopefully this auto-retrospection will allow me, or you, the viewer of this page to glean insights into what I should be making in the future.

This retrospective attempts to capture from my archive the things I have found interesting, enjoyed the process of making, and the important failures. These have been grouped into larger themes or threads: Speculations, Experiential Narratives, Digital Fabric, Design Thinking, and Physical Computing

If you see something, say something at hello@salilparekh.work.

Thread

Speculations

A common thread through my projects is that of speculation, or trying to create something that doesn't exist. Speculative design gives me the license to daydream and try to make the fanciful things that I draw out in my notebook. The license however, doesn't guarantee that you'll do a good job of it, and I've come to realise that although it's easy to make speculative creations, they may not necessarily be successful at telling the stories I want to tell.

Speculative design requires the mastery of narrative gymnastics, a subtle yet effective communication–which is not easy to pull off. Even if I'm not satisfied with the things that I create (like the The Planetary Bureau), the process is always incredibly enlightening as I learn so much while iterating.

The Non-Human Cyborg Movement / The Planetary Bureau / 2022

What is humankind's raison d'être? The Planetary Bureau posits a theory which involves humans giving other inhabitants on Earth additional abilities with the help of machines we've created. What if jellyfish were given the ability to think, and store memories through cyborg augmentation?

Imtehaan / What Does Water Want? / 2021

When was the last time you asked water for forgiveness? 'Imtehaan' is an object which allows for humans to offer an apology to water. 'What Does Water Want?' is a project which explores an alternate reality water had some form of autonomy, a say in the relationship between water and humans. What would that world look like?

"Trial-tested riots are a good base for economic growth" / Helf and Caree / 202

A GPT-2 natural language processing machine learning algorithm trained on a set of headlines from a major news outlet was used to generate headlines, some of which were chosen as writing and illustration prompts for the zine 'Helf and Caree'. The results were deranged and spectacular.

Desk of Henry Dietrich Wolf / Holoplagiaristic Fatalism / 2016

Speculating on the future of art, art movements and the world it occupies through the medium of exhibition and scenography. The office of the founder of the founder of this speculative art movement was created in exquisite detail, allowing viewers to piece together the story as they explore.

Speculative Design Workshops / Speculative Sunday / 2019

A massive speculative design workshop at the EyeMyth Media Arts Festival with about a 100+ participants, 20 practitioners in the center of Mumbai with the intent of visualising radical cultural futures for India. Working with designers, artists and creators from around the world to make this happen was very exciting.

Sunflower Time / Heliotropic Horology / 2022

What would time look like if it were anchored to the beat of a sunflower? Heliotropic Horology explores how timekeeping would change and the various changes we'd need to make in order to live to a rhythm set by another species.

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Experiential Narratives

I studied Exhibition Design, the study of storytelling through physical spaces at the National Institute of Design (NID) while getting my Bachelor of Design. I'll be honest, it's not what I wanted to study but the department at NID allowed me to do so much more than advertised. I learnt how to craft narratives in multiple dimensions, using a wide variety of mediums and storytelling devices. This ended up being incredibly useful in everything I do now: creating virtual spaces in extended reality, facilitating research sessions, hosting workshops, immersive exhibits and so much more.

What started out a side-step, became a very valuable tool in my arsenal and something I deeply enjoying practicing.

If your house could speak, what would it say? / My house is ill! / 2022

We set out to make the invisible, visible. One of the primary reasons we're unable to truly comprehend how polluted our air is — is due to our inability to understand how air works. Beyond an air purifier tucked in a corner, how is our immediate environment supposed to adapt to air pollution?

Traipsing through Mumbai in a virtual taxi / Bambaiyya VR / 2018

Engaging with the culture and heritage of Mumbai through an interactive, narrative based virtual reality experience. The VR experience takes viewers on a taxi ride through Mumbai, introducing them to various communities and cultural spaces.

History of bamboo within design in India / NID Bamboo story / 2016

Telling the story of bamboo as a material within design in India with artefacts from the rich archive of the National Institute of Design.

Speculative storytelling through virtual worlds / Virtual Narratives / 2018-2020

The advent technologies such as game engines and digital photogrammetry have lowered the barrier to entry for many to tell stories in mediums such as games, movies, virtual reality and augmented reality.

How can we make cultural heritage fun to engage with? / Goa Heritage Project / 2018

Documenting and disseminating Goan heritage and culture through emergent art and technology platforms with the intent of making history and culture fun to engage with. This project also attempted to address a lack of Indian digital assets online by creating high resolution digital 3D scans of Goan cultural artefacts using photogrammetry.

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Digital Fabric

I started learning to code in high school and at first, I didn't quite understand how it would be useful. But then I realised I could finish my art assignments rapidly using generative art, and since then I've come to see coding as an incredibly useful skill. The ability to use a computer to do what I want, in the way I want to, is fascinating experiences. Giving instructions to this artificial thinking machine has opened up possibilities for doing things I still cannot fully comprehend.

The ability to code is the ability to influence, change, and play with what I call the Digital Fabric. It has given me the capability to work with almost any kind of digital medium.

Visualise the skies above you / Sky Globe / 2020

The skies above us are usually teeming with activity and even on a clear day, the traffic is usually invisible. 'Sky Globe' uses the opensky-network API and some nifty vector math to show you which aircraft are flying in the skies above.

Alternatives to 'survival of the fittest' / Simulated Life / 2021

Creating an artificial life system is one of the most satisfying things one make with code. The system has a set of rules, but the individual agents have the freedom to evolve in any way they see fit. This model is a fantastic base to run simulations on and observe outcomes.

An ode to myself / Museum of Salil / 2020

Game development is an incredible medium, one of the very few which demands mastery in all forms of digital arts: code, visuals, sound, interaction, and much more. The process of creating this simple game was far more enjoyable and enlightening than the end result.

Lo-fi encryption / Pixelcryption / 2020

As digital surveillance tools become ever more complex and far reaching, the best way to escape the dragnet is to create your own encryption tools. 'Pixelcryption' is a lo-fi custom encryption toolkit which uses pixel level encryption to code messages into images.

Pushing Youtube to its very limits / Gaming Youtube's Algorithms / 2018

I went to war with the Youtube recommendation algorithm and won. In order to understand the workings of the algorithm I created a script to binge watch Youtube for me, with the intent of seeing where the recommendation would take me.

The Future of Art is already here / Future of Generative Art / 2019

I predicted the next dominant art movement will be largely driven by computers in 2019 and everyday that passes by in 2022 is proving me right. I also thought NFTs will never happen.

Finding the forgotten conflicts / Calendar of Conflict / 2020

The news is a deceptive media–it's very easy to miss the forest for the trees. This interactive calendar presents a retrospective of the news from the entire year to find points of conflict that are under-represented.

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Design Thinking

Right after graduating from the National Institute of Design, having studied Exhibition Design, I wanted to get a better understanding of 'Human-Centred Design (HCD)'. So, I started working at Quicksand, a design thinking and innovation consultancy. Very quickly I realised that it was in fact, exactly what I wanted to be doing. The HCD process is a multifaceted one, which is continuously evolving. The entire process, from research all the way to prototyping is incredibly exciting. Not only is there so much to do, but also so much to learn! The opportunity to work with different people, different cultures, and different environments is what makes this so fulfilling.

There are so many projects I'd love to share–but unfortunately, they are confidential.

HCD Toolbox / UNCDF FinLab Toolkit / 2019

HCD Toolkits are admittedly, some of the most un-interesting, and un-engaging documents you can come across. The FinLab toolkit is an attempt at creating an easy to thumb through HCD manual for both facilitators and participants, with the intent of providing accessible and relevant information.

Framework for social impact entrepreneurship / UPSHIFT Social Innovation Curriculum / 2018

UNICEF piloted their social impact entrepreneurship programme in Kosovo and wanted to replicate the same in Tajikistan. In order to do so, they needed to contextualise the content and curriculum in order to make it relevant and set up a system to train new cohorts.

Supercharging ASRH in the digital era / Love in the Time of Digital / 2019

The internet is a space which continues to be very effectively used by advertising and tech companies–what if their ways of working and using the internet and other digital tools and spaces can be leveraged by organisations in the adolescent sexual and reproductive health sector to boost the effectiveness of their platforms and activities?

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Physical Computing

Using a push-button to light up a small LED isn't the most engaging activity and my outlook toward physical computing wasn't great. But I stuck at it, as I was fascinated with the idea of giving physical objects a 'software', or programming something outside the boundaries of a screen. Soon I realised that I could give objects a 'life' and tell stories using these active objects. Working with base level electronics has given me a much better understanding of how digital technology at large functions, and more importantly, how I can make things for myself. Making bespoke tools and objects not only for various custom projects, but also to build hardware and software stacks independent from Big Tech.

Giving life to textile / Responsive Muslin / 2022

Can a textile feel alive and respond to my touch? Muslin is one of the first fabrics I've interacted with, and I love how it feels to touch. But does the muslin feel the way? This piece gives muslin the ability to interact with the person holding it.

Hallucinating curtains / Do curtains dream at night? / 2022

I've always wondered what a life of a curtain is like. Looking out of the window all day and night, what do they think about? What if a curtain that could express its thoughts? What do curtains dream of at night? To do so, I built a curtain that remembers all that it sees outside the window during the day, and hallucinates its memories at night.

Electronic Dark Arts / EMF Controller / 2021

This controller detects changes in the electromagnetic field, which is effectively the language of electronic devices. The device provides an interface to the world of electronic chatter, which is otherwise invisible to humans.

Bubbles! / Bubbles–Connecting Pols / 2016

This installation creates bubbles when people in the room hold hands and make an unbroken chain with the machine. The moment the chain breaks, the bubbles stop. Simple, yet very effective.