Futurefarmers is a group of diverse practitioners aligned through an interest in making work that is relevant to the time and place surrounding us. Founded in 1995, the design studio serves as a platform to support art projects, an artist in residence program and their research interests. The group consists of artists, researchers, designers, architects, scientists, and farmers with a common interest in creating frameworks for exchange that catalyze moments of “not knowing.” While they collaborate with scientists and are interested in scientific inquiry, they seek to ask questions more openly. Through participatory projects, Futurefarmers creates spaces and experiences where the logic of a situation disappears—encounters occur that broaden, rather than narrow perspectives, i.e. reductionist science.

Amy Franceschini is an artist and designer who creates work that facilitates encounter, exchange and tactile forms of inquiry by calling into question the “certainties” of a given time or place where a work is situated. An overarching theme in her work is a perceived conflict between “humans” and “nature.” Her projects reveal the history and currents of contradictions related to this divide by challenging systems of exchange and the tools we use to “hunt” and “gather.” Using this as a starting point, she provides new tools for an audience to gain insight into deeper fields of inquiry; not only to imagine, but also to participate in and initiate change in the places we live. Franceschini is one of the main founders of Futurefarmers.

Michael is an inventor and designer working in many media. He is the analog anchor of the studio. Michael has collaborated with Futurefarmers since 1997. Michael is dedicated to working in the community, Swaine’s “Reap What You Sew” Generosity Project involved him pushing an old fashioned ice cream style cart on wheels with a treadle-operated sewing machine on it through the streets of San Francisco. Michael received his B.F.A. from Alfred University in Ceramics and his M.A. in Design from UC Berkeley. Michael is an assistant professor in the 3D4M at the University of Washington, Seattle.