Anonymous Materials
Turn Signals—Design is not a Dashboard, Timișoara, Romania
Curatede by Martina Mutzi
The exhibition is a component of the Bright Cityscapes programme, part of the Timișoara – European Capital of Culture 2023 program 2023.timisoara, created by FABER and Politehnica University Timisoara
Timișoara’s distinction as Romania’s pioneer in computer production owes much to the socialist-era investments in its chemical and non-ferrous metallurgy sectors. Yet, what if these mineral materials were not passive objects shaped solely by human history, but rather possessed their own intentions and capacities in intricate human-non-human interactions?
‘Anonymous Materials’ is an assemblage of objects, mineral samples, and geological data, exploring how industrial processes and daily life can be viewed as the outcome of material agency. Under the guidance of Jurca Marius, the samples were selected from the collection of the Faculty of Industrial Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, at the Politehnica University of Timișoara. These were correlated with the Geological Institute of Romania’s cartographic database, to develop the geological map mural. The assortment of everyday objects, discarded items, and fragments of the city were gathered during an artistic residency.
The interplay between scientific and poetic languages, knowledges, and research methodologies makes palpable how material agency might manifest as by-products, traces, non-human scales, or disruptions within complex interconnected systems. The legibility transcends the confines of traditional techno-scientific value creation, and signals the possibilities of alternative value systems.
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Turn Signals—Design is not a Dashboard is an exhibition that explores the collaborative capacities of design to transcend manufacturing conventions and to ignite a transformative trajectory for Timisoara’s creative ecosystem.
Since Romania’s integration into the European Union, its manufacturing sector has surged. Simultaneously, the global manufacturing landscape has undergone a profound shift due to rapid digitalisation and global supply chain integration. Innovation has become pivotal for the country. The needed expertise is evident throughout Timisoara’s industrial parks, specialised labour, technical universities, and engineering excellence. Yet, design’s potential often remains untapped and incidental, concealed within academia, corporate IP, mechanics, tech, and profits—much like the discreet turn signal indicators on vehicles, manufactured in both local and multinational automotive plants in Timisoara. These indicators, intricately woven into engineering and discreetly nestled onto dashboards, exemplify design’s confinement to mechanics and technological complexities.
Demonstrating that design has a wider reach, the Turn Signals exhibition features multidisciplinary design practitioners from Romania and beyond having collaborated with local researchers on projects that bridge global and local perspectives, revealing the city’s products and resources, and connecting diverse places, people, and urgencies across various scales. Turn Signals employs different design media, storytelling, and lexicons to dislocate hidden narratives and untapped potential within Timisoara.
