[[Worldmaking]] practices are about _creating living, adaptive systems_ rather than finished objects. This echoes the philosophical questions of what it means to be a “subject” in a dynamic, networked world—where boundaries between natural, technological, and social spheres are constantly redrawn. **From Objects to Worlds** 1. **Traditional Focus**: Designers once concentrated on discrete objects—self-contained forms meant for display or use. 2. **Emerging Approach**: The emphasis now is on shaping _environments_ or _systems_ that evolve over time. Designers create frameworks or “worlds” in which elements (human, animal, algorithmic) interact in open-ended ways. **From Representation to Simulation and Beyond** 1. **Traditional Focus**: Art and design often aimed to _represent_ external realities—through imagery, products, or spaces that symbolized or interpreted the world. 2. **Emerging Approach**: Designers are instead _simulating_ processes, allowing computational, biological, and behavioral factors to play out in real-time. This makes the work an _active scenario_ rather than a static depiction. **Shifting the Temporal Signature** 1. **Traditional Focus**: A work was typically tied to a fixed moment or final form—once completed, it was exhibited or used as-is. 2. **Emerging Approach**: Projects now _unfold_ across durations, changing in response to conditions, participants, or algorithmic flows. The “temporal signature” is no longer a singular event but an ongoing evolution, emphasizing process over product. **Representation** 1. Traditionally, a representation (like a drawing or a static model) captures or symbolizes some external entity or idea without the capacity for self-driven change. **Simulation** 1. A simulation _dynamically enacts_ processes that usually correspond to real-world behaviors (weather, economies, psychological interactions, etc.). 2. It can display emergent phenomena—unanticipated outcomes that arise from the interplay of components within the model. 3. Even so, it generally remains _anchored to an external referent_ (e.g., simulating physics, traffic, or biological systems). **Beyond Simulation** 1. Here the system’s emergent behaviors, agencies, or realities are _no longer fully explained_ by the external phenomena it was initially meant to imitate. 2. It begins to operate under its own evolving logic or even modifies its foundational rules, so that its activities exceed mere “stand-in” status.