Design and Violence is an ongoing online curatorial experiment that explores the manifestations of violence in contemporary society by pairing critical thinkers with examples of challenging design work. Contributors’ weekly essays have been published since November 2013, creating a body of opinion and a set of case studies that spark discussion and bring the ambiguous relationship between design and violence to center stage for designers and the people they serve—all of us.

Design and Violence is organized by Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, Department of Architecture and Design, MoMA; Jamer Hunt, Director, graduate program in Transdisciplinary Design, Parsons The New School for Design; and Michelle Millar Fisher, Exhibition Coordinator, Department of Architecture and Design, MoMA. Talks are in conjunction with the exhibition Design and Violence.

Tickets ($30; $25 members and corporate members; $5 students, seniors, and staff of other museums) can be purchased online or at the information desk, at the film desk after 4:00 p.m., or at the Education and Research Building reception desk on the day of the program.

Open Source: Design and Violence Debate I
Thursday, March 27, 2014, 6:30 p.m.
Bartos Theater, The Museum of Modern Art, 4 West 54 Street
Moderated by Paola Antonelli, the first debate centers upon The Liberator, the world’s first 3-D printed gun. The gun’s designer Cody Wilson and author and journalist Rob Walker (Yahoo Tech, The New York Times, Design Observer, Slate) will deliver debate motions, after which will follow a discussion focused on open-source design and our assumptions about the ethics of design.

Designing Empathy: Design and Violence Debate II
Thursday, April 10, 2014, 6:30 p.m.
Bartos Theater, The Museum of Modern Art, 4 West 54 Street
The second debate focuses on the Menstruation Machine (2010), designed by Sputniko! (aka Hiromi Ozaki) to allow its wearer to experience the pain and tribulation of menstruation, regardless of his or her age or gender. Chris Bobel (author, New Blood: Third-wave Feminism and the Politics of Menstruation) and Mickey Boardman (Editorial Director, Paper magazine,) will deliver debate motions, moderated by Jamer Hunt.

Eating Animals: Design and Violence Debate III
Thursday, April 17, 2014, 6:30 p.m.
Bartos Theater, The Museum of Modern Art, 4 West 54 Street
The third debate will center upon Temple Grandin’s “serpentine ramp,” a slaughterhouse design modification that attempts stress reduction and a more humane death for animals. Gary L. Francione (Distinguished Professor of Law, Rutgers, and author, Eat Like You Care: An Examination of the Morality of Eating Animals) and Nicola Twilley (editor/author of Edible Geography.com, co-founder of the Foodprint Project, and director of Studio-X NYC) will deliver debate motions, moderated by Paola Antonelli.