rootoftwo

rootoftwo is a hybrid design + art studio co-directed by John Marshall (1971, UK) and Cezanne Charles (1973, USA). We have been collaborating since 1998. We make hybrid design projects, social objects, experiences, and works in the public realm. Our experimental objects and experiences challenge assumptions, undermine expectations and reveal conventional behavior.

hybrid design + art

Our work stems from how context informs and transforms behavior, interactions and relationships. For example, in THR_33 we built cute, pet-like robotic appliances that would reward museum visitors by performing in response to the visitor smiling. This was in the context of the Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, Japan during an exhibition reflecting on more than a decade of the Kyoto Protocol. We were exploring the emotional dimension of products to ask “if we enter into a relationship with our gadgets might they be less likely to end up in landfill?” Our works specifically attempt to disrupt and undermine the systems at work through humor, play, interaction and participation. Our works create a condition where we can perceive ourselves, the here and now and the future differently.

We have presented our work in Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, Japan, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Spain, UK and US.

John Marshall, PhD is an assistant professor in the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design and Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at University of Michigan. Cezanne Charles is director of creative industries at ArtServe Michigan.

rootoftwo and daub have been selected for The Center for Land Use Interpretation’s Wendover Residence Program. The Center for Land Use Interpretation is a research and education organization dedicated to the increase and diffusion of information about how the nation’s lands are apportioned, utilized, and perceived. rootoftwo and daub will use the residency this summer to conduct tests for a new project: B.O.L.T.S. (Bug Out Location/Tactical Shelter).

rootoftwo is one word, all lowercase, with no spaces.

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