Fran?ois-Joseph Lapointe, “Microbiome Selfies” (2014-2020). Image courtesy of Fran?ois-Joseph Lapointe
The complexity of the world today–with emergencies related to climate, health, migration, and more–demands that we bring together all the available tools and disciplines for reflection and action. How can knowledge be interwoven to expand our understanding of the world and broaden our imaginations, to look to the future on an international scale? “Research-creation,” or practice-based research, is a relatively recent field between theoretical and applied research associating experimental, exploratory, and critical approaches and practices while privileging sensorial experience. Through installations, dispositifs, and performances, new methodological tools are being created to access sources of shared knowledge and to explore contemporary transformations aesthetically.
How can we go beyond text in communicating these findings at the intersections of art, design, and science? The traditional methodologies and formats of journal articles are not always adapted to research that explores sensorial and singular forms.
.able Journal is the result of observing this limitation, reinventing the publication form by making research accessible through images. Free of charge and distributed on numerous platforms, media, and devices–including formats specifically adapted for social media–the journal gives immediate access to visual essays and creates multiple entry points for all to access research in the arts, design, and sciences. Centered on the visual, this system makes the text ancillary, overturning the traditional balance between text and image. .able’s publication modalities leverage and circumvent contemporary fragmented reading patterns, allowing transitions between different devices, beginning with smartphones.
A reader checks out “Y?kobo” by Dominique Deuff, Gentiane Venture, Isabelle Milleville, and Ioana Ocnarescu on .able. Image courtesy of Dominique Deuff
As a peer-reviewed journal, .able experiments with the potential of academic publishing, going beyond text-centric conventions to explore the many alternatives and opportunities that multimedia and multiple platforms offer. From the design of sustainable fashion or bioluminescent micro-architecture to the dynamics of bacterial contamination or the exploration of deep sleep, .able combines academic excellence, artistic rigor, and accessibility focused on exploring contemporary sociopolitical and environmental issues in images and putting these challenges into perspective. The journal offers a new space for interdisciplinary research to both the academic community and the wider public. With its radical approach, it aims to reinterpret the traditional publishing process.
Created at the initiative of La Chaire Arts & Sciences of the ?cole Polytechnique, the ?cole des Arts D?coratifs-PSL, and the Fondation Daniel et Nina Carasso, .able journal is published by Actar Publishers and supported by some 30 international academic partners brought together to publish innovative interdisciplinary research.
The free-of-charge, open-access journal is available now at able-journal.org and distributed on social media at @ablejournal.
A print.able issue, printed on demand. Image courtesy of Actar Publishers
Emile de Visscher & Oph?lie Maurus, “Petrification.” Image courtesy of Oph?lie Maurus
Peter Lunenfeld, Denise Gonzales Crisp, and the students of UCLA’s Design Futures 2021, “Solve for (x)Futurisms.” Image courtesy of UCLA Albert Acosta, Zara Aiken, Helena Alcala, Nel Alpysbayeva, Sascha Barnes, and Natalia Beltran
