_Infiltration and Tactical Aesthetics_

_Infiltration and Tactical Aesthetics_
As an organization, the IAA is an exercise in tactical aesthetics - we use
the visual and rhetorical devices of sanctioned research organizations in
an elaborate performance aimed at infiltrating engineering culture. By
demonstrating technical competence, we earn the right to speak to
engineers not as activists or theorists, but rather as an "Institute" of
fellow travelers, indistinguishable in many respects from the research
organizations where our audience toils every day. Our projects are
presented as "research findings" at university lectures and technical
conferences, and are reported on in engineering journals and trade
publications. Our critique of engineering practice thus comes from within
engineering culture, and is given material weight by the production of
working artifacts.

While there is a long history of artists and social theorists questioning
relationships between technology and society, there is an equally long
history of engineers ignoring art and social theory. By acting as
engineers who address contentious political issues, we undermine the
normalized ambivalence that characterizes engineering practice. The works
thus act as Trojan horses, carrying our critique through the gates of
detachment that guard engineers against taking responsibility for the
products of their labor. In lieu of ambivalence, we offer the engineering
community the image of an "engaged engineering" that works diligently in
the service of freedom and human dignity, and takes responsibility for the
world it helps create.