Stuff that will go on the GA website
An artificial space dedicated to the study of an increasingly artificial world.
GA: This isnt business as Usual
Graffio Arts was founded in 2018 by Steve Barradell and Guy Boyle. We like to solve business problems and we’ve solved quite a few over the years.
We are experienced at moving across disciplines to find the right solution for the right situation. We have worked as Educators, Creative Directors, Data specialists, Marketeers, Mentors and Business Consultants.
We are interested in information systems. Steve's focus is structure, process and the flow of data through business. Guy focuses on the meaning of this information within a company and then wider society as industry communicates within it's culture. This combined approach and our collected experience allows us to tackle work within a variety of fields.
incl TALKS
Inquisitive, irreverent, independent.
As our name suggests we are a creative company and this fundamentally influences our approach to problem solving. We are living through a time of rapid technological cultural and environmental change.
This really isn't business as usual and new approaches are required to face new challenges in industry and beyond as we develop future systems.
We may appear unorthodox, but our approach allows us to tackle seemingly familiar topics with fresh eyes. We foster agency and an environment that encourages us all to question... anything. We do so, unbound by tropes of professionalism, as we investigate potential business solutions from first principles, drawing from a variety of appropriate disciplines.
We cannot sleepwalk into the future. If we are to design fit-for-purpose human centred systems, we need to be wide awake as we do so.
In a time when misinformation, disinformation, virtue signalling, grifting, confusion and polarisation have been normalised, we reject harmful modes of behaviour in favour of misbehaviour that encourages freedom, agency and empowerment."
Better conversations for a better future
The members of Institute Reasearch Lab. are an experienced and passionate collection of individuals. We are often irreverent and sometimes productively contrarian. Our conversations often tackle topics that we feel compelled to cover precisely because we find it baffling that no one else is. It is essential when beginning any investigation of a topic to look at the largest picture possible so that we may find context.
Whenever we get the chance to talk to a group of people we will do our very best to present important, foundational ideas. If we don’t take this approach it is quite conceivable that those people might never be exposed to the kinds of ideas that actually built the world that we now inhabit.
We believe that we should be empowering others to be better than us. That starts with giving them as much generational and historic context as we can muster. This includes facts, information, perspectives and methodologies. If we can do that then we can naturally, safely and conscientiously cover more discreet topics in due course. This is how we move forward with meaningful and productive progress in society and it’s associated industries across ti
From current site
EXPERIENCE
Over the last 25 years we’ve helped a variety of individuals, companies and global brands, including:
Adidas, Barclays, BBC, Bench, The Body Shop, Boots, The British Museum, The Carphone Warehouse, Cartoon Network, Cath Kidston, Clarins, Conde Naste, Daks, The Design Council, The Design Museum, Diesel, Disney Stores, EMI, Esquire Sport Magazine, Exposure, Fate Face, Fred Perry, Givenchy, Gieves & Hawkes, Godiva, Habitat, Halifax, Haribo, Harrods, House of Fraser, Hedkayse, HMV, Kookai, Levis, Marks & Spencer, MGA, National Gallery, NHS, Procter and Gamble, Royal Court Theatre, Selfridges, Schuh, Sony, Superdry, TATE Enterprises, Ted Baker, Three Mobile, Tower Records, TKMaxx, UNIQLO, United International Pictures, Virgin, Vodaphone, Zoological Society of London.
INITIATIVES
If there is one problem to solve we find a solution. If there are 100 problems to solve, we set up an initiative to tackle them on an ongoing basis. Gallery Without Walls, The Culture Delivery service and now Institute (a physical space) and Neotechnic (a virtual space) are examples of some of the frameworks that we have developed.
THE FUTURE
Our future as a business is integrated within our cultural and technological landscape and the implications that this has for industry.
Designing the Future
Combining research with industry experience, Institute Research Lab. approaches complex topics from first principles, helping others to understand the systems that generate, shape and use information.
This understanding provides a foundation for developing the skills required to navigate complexity, make informed decisions and play an active role in shaping a human centred future.
We are looking at new ways to think about and deliver educational and advisory programmes as well as developing frameworks for business to perform it's own internal research as a matter of course.
Information Innovation
We are looking at new ways to think about and deliver educational and advisory programmes as well as developing frameworks for business to perform it's own internal research as a matter of course.
ttttt
"We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning"
Baudrillard, J. (1994) Simulacra and Simulation. Translated by S. F. Glaser. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Developing the skills to Survive the 21st Century
Why are we developing Institute Research Lab?
We are living through the start of a profound new era of technological development.
where our decisions regarding technology have far reaching implications across our cultures. Will we actively build a fit-for-purpose society or will we sleepwalk into a chaotic dystopian future?
We are now deploying synthetic intelligence technologies only previously imagined in Science Fiction. These technologies are barely understood by their creators and are emerging within a social ecosystem not only loaded with communication potential but also measurable harms.
The pace of change is shocking and the future feels inevitable. Inevitability. This feeling, this assumption, this story we tell ourselves...is false. Nothing about this is inevitable.
The future belongs to us and we can shape it to our needs in terms of culture, education and industry. We can create a world that suits our needs. Firstly, we need to decide to. Then we have to define what it actually is and how it should work. Then we have to fight to create it.
What are the skills required to succeed in this rapidly changing world? How do we use, deploy and capitalise on the benefits of artificial intelligence and other emergent technology without losing human agency?
This isn't business as usual. It can't be. Human industry is about to change...... forever.
Institute Research Lab. is an initiative being developed by Graffio Arts to framework our commitment to future skill development for industry. The lab design philosophy echoes the experimental nature of the times we are living through and will take full advantage of emergent technology, including generative AI to deliver and promote educational material.
The boundary between reality and representation is becoming harder to locate.The Lab explores that boundary.
Like the media it investigates, the lab only exists here on your screen.
The lab. is a synthetic representation of a lab, an environment to do..
Welcome to Institute Research Lab. IRL is a virtual environment. Community. Education, consultancy. Learn to see differently, think critically and act deliberately. Skill dev. Agency. time of change. Industry?
Surviving the 21st Century
We are living through the start of a new industrial revolution where our decisions regarding technology have far reaching implications across our cultures. Will we actively build a fit-for-purpose society or will we sleepwalk into a chaotic dystopian future?
Science Fiction Now
We are now deploying synthetic intelligence technologies only previously imagined in Science Fiction. These technologies are barely understood by their creators and are emerging within a social ecosystem not only loaded with communication potential but also measurable harms. The pace of change is shocking and the future feels inevitable.
Shaping the Future
Inevitability. This feeling, this assumption, this story we tell ourselves… is false. Nothing about this is inevitable. The future belongs to us and we can shape it to our needs in terms of culture, education and industry. We can create a world that suits our needs. Firstly, we need to decide to. Then we have to define what it is and how it should work. Then we have to fight to create it. Then we have to fight some more.
We are on the clock. Tick, tick, tick…
Future Skills
Neotechnic is an initiative being developed by Graffio Arts to framework our commitment to future skill development for industry. What are the skills required to succeed in a rapidly changing world? How do we use, deploy and capitalise on the benefits of artificial intelligence and other emergent technology without losing human agency?
This isnt business as usual. It can’t be. Industry is about to change forever.
What are the skills required to succeed in this rapidly changing world? How do we use, deploy and capitalise on the benefits of artificial intelligence and other emergent technology without losing human agency?
This isn't business as usual. It can't be. Human industry is about to change...... forever.
Institute Research Lab. is an initiative being developed by Graffio Arts to framework our commitment to future skill development for industry. The lab design philosophy echoes the experimental nature of the times we are living through and will take full advantage of emergent technology, including generative AI to deliver and promote educational material.
Information
Exploring the developing relationship between technology, culture and industry
Institute Research Lab explores the structure and behaviour of these systems and the ways in which they influence communication, decision-making, capability, and innovation.
Through research, education, and advisory work, we develop clear and practical approaches to working effectively within systems that generate, shape, and use information.
Information, Technology and Society- a blog post?
As societies become increasingly organised around information, our ability to transform information into knowledge, and knowledge into effective action, is becoming a defining challenge of the 21st century. Fundamental characteristics of future societies will emerge through the media systems we design, the information we share and the resulting decisions we make, based on this information.
Media technology is usually created within specific industries with specific financial and cultural frameworks that influence design and deployment decisions. These systems are often developed in response to new technical capabilities rather than being designed to meet clearly defined human needs.
Contemporary media systems often manipulate behaviour, and the information they distribute is saturated with misinformation, disinformation, acronyms and slogans.
While contemporary media provides new opportunities for organisation, expression and communication, our ability to access reliable information, engage in productive conversation and make sound strategic decisions, is often diminished.
Narratives of technological inevitability are increasingly common, encouraging us to see the future as something that happens to us rather than something that we can design and build.
The design and deployment of new technology is not predetermined, and the scale and nature of its use remain matters of human choice. If we want a future that reflects our needs, values and ambitions, we must play an active role in shaping the use of systems that support it.
alt version:
Information, Technology and Society
Institute Research Lab. explores the evolving relationship between information, technology and society, examining the use of mediated information and it's influence on the way people communicate, organise, learn and act.
These relationships are shaping how knowledge is created, communicated, applied, and developed across society.
Yet the mechanisms of this environment are becoming increasingly complex and often designed to manipulate the user. The associated ecosystems are often saturated with misinformation, disinformation, acronyms and slogans.
The result is that our ability to access good information, develop productive conversation and make fundamental strategic decisions is diminished.
Combining research with industry experience, we approach complex topics from first principles, helping people to understand the systems that store, process, and communicate information.
This understanding provides a foundation for developing the skills required to take full advantage of emergent media systems, navigate complexity, make informed decisions and play an active role in designing a human centred future.
From Understanding to Solutions
Our education and consultancy programmes often enable the delivery of bespoke business solutions provided by us or by one of Institute's network of partner businesses.
Understanding Technology
Institute Research Lab. is focused on developing a broad understanding of the nature of contemporary technology, fostering individual understanding and agency in an increasingly complex technological ecosystem. The lab's business programmes nurture the ability to understand business priorities, define objectives and make informed strategic decisions.
Applying Technology
Institute works with business to transform this understanding into fit-for-purpose business systems. We have consistently found that those that have completed an educational or consultancy programme with us can more accurately identify their business challenges and quickly transform this knowledge into results with our solutions partners.
Better understanding leads to better conversations and consistently better results.
Real Life Events at Institute / Open Labs.
We host events at Institute on a regular basis. These include media exhibitions, workshops, networking and seminars.
Institute is located in the town centre and an ideal location for local business to connect. For these events we often open up the studios, provide excellent food and drink and provide an opportunity for broad ranging discussion on a host of topics.
We have been a regular venue for Loughborough Lates events where we have held exhibitions highlighting the projects of our interns as they are forced to justify their work to a broad audience.
We have held regular networking events for our AI+ Digital Innovation programme learners where they had the opportunity to mix across cohorts, discuss similar challenges and find collaboration partners for their projects.
We have recently launched OpenLabs where guest speakers discuss their personal take on aspects of new technology.
Institute is a resource for local business and through its network, a mechanism to find business partners.
Open Labs
Open Labs are community events focused on the developing relationship between technology, culture and industry. These events bring the agenda of the virtual Institute Research Lab into the physical world at Institute in Loughborough.
We have recently launched Open Labs where guest speakers discuss their personal take on aspects of new technology. These events are held at Institute in Loughborough town centre.
By bringing together a community with a variety of speakers we can all get access to different perspective on technology use. Different industries have different priorities and theses events highlight issues and solutions developed in one field that may help another.
Open Labs grew out of our networking events for our AI+ Digital Innovation for Business educational programme and are now open top anyone from any industry.
Big ideas, good conversations and good food and drink.
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Why are we developing Institute Research Lab?
We are now deploying synthetic intelligence technologies only previously imagined in Science Fiction. These technologies are barely understood by their creators and are emerging within a social ecosystem not only loaded with communication potential but also measurable harms.
The pace of change is shocking and the future feels inevitable. Inevitability. This feeling, this assumption, this story we tell ourselves...is false. Nothing about this is inevitable.
The future belongs to us and we can shape it to our needs in terms of culture, education and industry. We can create a world that suits our needs. Firstly, we need to decide to. Then we have to define what it actually is and how it should work. Then we have to fight to create it.
What are the skills required to succeed in this rapidly changing world? How do we use, deploy and capitalise on the benefits of artificial intelligence and other emergent technology without losing human agency?
This isn't business as usual. It can't be. Human industry is about to change... forever.
Institute Research Lab. is an initiative being developed by Graffio Arts to framework our commitment to future skill development for industry. The lab design philosophy echoes the experimental nature of the times we are living through and will take full advantage of emergent technology, including generative AI to deliver and promote educational material.
mndtytyntyand good food and drink.
