Module 3
The Parasite
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Simon Höher recommends
The Parasite by Michel Serres
The parasitic relation precedes exchange in general.
There is always a hare in the garden.
There always was a hare […].
The Parasite by Michel Serres is a wild book. Among so many others, there is this story about building a house on the field, next to a forest – and about getting rid of the pesky hare that eats your carrots from the garden. At first glance, the hare here seems like a parasite, some kind of uninvited guest, feeding on our honest and hard work of gardening. If only we could get rid of it. If only we could keep our garden, our world, our plans clean from interference!
But then, on second glance, the hare prompts us to pause. And to ask: Who was here first? Who is the uninvited guest? Who is the parasite, really?’ But – and this is the compelling part about this – it does not stop there. Because the answer is: we all are. We, the hare, the carrot, the forest – we’re all guests and hosts equally. Hosting, harbouring, feeding, interfering. There is no right, no final answer about who the parasite is – there are just perspectives, moments, choices.
There is always a hare already in the garden – and sometimes that hare is us.
Reflections from Simon:
The relationship between this text and Simon:
For me, first and foremost, this is a story about humbleness. Acknowledging that even with all the effort, all the data, all the good intentions we bring, with all learnings of the past – there is always something more, something there already, but also something else to discover, to move to, to shift perspectives. And it’s a story of perpetual and endless change of perspectives, of deep reflection almost to the point of recursion, and of honesty: who or what are we the parasite for? And is that a bad thing? For whom? Maybe we can be benevolent ones, parasites that insert themselves into flows – that ‘sit in the channel’ – but make it more interesting in doing so. To bring variation, to bring expansion, irritation, life?
Why is this relevant?
For design this means designing with the excluded third in mind: what can we not yet see, not yet even anticipate or plan for – but still need to create the conditions for to emerge? How to provide the space, the gardens for benevolent parasites to thrive? That is both, freeing and constraining. For one, you don’t have to design for everything all the time, because you have to deeply yield those ambitions: you cannot, anyway. And yet it is constraining, because asking us to be humble and attentive, to learn to listen, to watch, and to, essentially, become responsible as in: creating the conditions for the other to be able to respond to our plans. For we are both, hosts and parasites of a future to come.
Questions for the students:
- Looking at your street, your neighbourhood, your city – what are the pesky parasites that sit in-between you and where you want to go? And what might they be hosting, benevolently?
- When designing an intervention, how do you ensure that the city can respond to it vividly and surprisingly? And how do you make sure you notice? Where are you listening?
- To create change, what would have to remain just the way it is today?