"Art presents options, design presents solutions", says Danish artist Thomas Poulsen, who works under the moniker FOS. In his rather cryptic Design Indaba Talk (which included inviting the entire live audience of 1500 delegates to hum their way into resonating with him), FOS shared some of his insight into how he designs the way the human body interacts with space, using examples from his extensive and eclectic projects.
In recent years FOS has created immersive installations for fashion brands including Paris-based Celine and for the Danish Royal Opera. For FOS, design is a tool used to coordinate the way people experience space through sensory perceptions. We predominantely use our eyes to experience our surroundings, but according to FOS, sight is the sense that most removes us from the world. It is through the body, through touch and hearing, that we connect to space. Design should serve all the needs and senses of the body.
Through his work, FOS presents an alternative form of “social design”: design that necessitates an investigation into our human inclinations to interact, mingle and communicate.