After successful completion of the course, students are able to develop utopian but conceptually thought-out strategies in connection with art and architecture. The discourse on art, society and architecture itself are understood as individual spaces for development. By means of independently developed projects and strategies, a self-understanding of one's own artistic practice as architects is made possible. This is complemented by design competence in the physical confrontation with form and material.
Pierre HUYGHE, Exomind (Deep Water), 2017
fremdKÖRPER
Concept and Sculpture for a non-anthropocentric life situation
Architecture arose from the fundamental need to protect humans and the creatures they domesticated from nature. This was not a problem for a long time, but with sedentarisation and the accompanying agriculture, there was already an overuse of the surrounding nature in many places. In contrast, there are examples where natural resources have been and are being used sustainably (Subak System Bali). With humanism and the dualism that came with it, human beings were fundamentally placed in the centre, and their wishes were from then on always in the foreground in relation to nature. In connection with the increasing human quantity, this leads to alienation, exploitation and thus destruction.
Architecture is a major sign of this problem. Due to the increasingly present climate change, attempts are being made to counteract this with various strategies. For example, with circular construction using renewable building materials and operation with renewable energies. A rapprochement with nature is to take place with green envelopes and the accommodation of non-human life forms (animal aided design). These are basically positive developments, but they do not testify to a fundamental change in anthropocentric attitudes. In this artistic project, we would like to attempt a deeper utopian approach, in which humans are not at the centre in a posthumanist sense, but are a cooperative part of a natural system and a renewable process.
The aim is to create a non-anthropocentric situation in a given environment. There, contradictions between humans and the environment dissolve in the sense of a balanced coexistence; humans and their needs are not given priority. This applies to a self-chosen temporal horizon in which the biomass is subject to a natural process of transformation. Man integrates himself in this space in a posthumanist sense as one of many actors, but as a conscious being he can shape the situation according to a constructive synthesis. This utopian but conceptually plausible situation is conveyed by means of drawings, models, texts or performance and represented by an artistic-sculptural object.
The skills required for the design and production of artistic works are taught through various teaching formats, including vertical lectures, design discussions and practical material and form experiments. We start with a workshop in which we approach the subject associatively, verbally and visually. In the concept phase, we deal with the topic textually, drawing and with models. This is followed by a phase in which individual sculptural works are developed. This is followed by the production phase, in which the works are realised on site using the appropriate materials.
Independent research; workshops; on-site work in the modelling room as well as in outdoor spaces; weekly meetings and feedback sessions; individual and independent development and presentation of concepts, physical prototypes and objects in the field of sculptural artistic design; presentation of results in exhibitions; work in small and larger groups.
Schedule
The course takes place mainly on Thursdays in the Modelliersaal (Main building, Karlsplatz 13, 4 Floor, Entrance through Hof 1 Stiege 10).
A more intensive period will take place in the end of January.
Dates
Introduction 05.10.23, 9:00 am in the Modeling Room (AA 04 62; Institute of Art and Design E264/2 Karlsplatz 13, 4th floor, staircase 10). Supervised every Thursday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Language
The course will be held in German and if necessary in English.
