The (Art-)School of Provisional. Artistic Practice in times of Crises

#interdisciplinary #artisticpractice

"Necessity is the mother of invention", which means art, creativity and catastrophe share the same origin, and improvisation also plays an important role. But what mechanisms are at play? How can we turn them into artistic practices in times of crises?

Necessity is the mother of invention: whether a tennis sock contributes to save the lives of three astronauts or a volleyball helps a stranded person escape from an uninhabited island - almost every situation can offer a multitude of alternative courses of action that have merely gone undetected. It is precisely the forced detour in a crisis, that can lead to the possibility of discovering new options.

With this relationship between limitations and inspiration, accidents, crises and disasters can contain principles of creativity (occasion-related, understandable) that are at the same time effective in artistic processes. The same applies to improvisation, which - as an action-strategy - helps to adapt to unforeseen critical events and at the same time is also an essential component of a wide variety of artistic performances. The approach pursued here is based on this common "origin".

This course focuses on these radical interdisciplinary aspects of art, improvisation and creativity. We are asking: What mechanisms are at play? How can we turn them into artistic strategies? What effect do they have on my own artistic practice?

In a world increasingly marked by unpredictable crises, these mechanisms can demonstrate that artistic practices have a key role to play in developing the knowledge and skills that can devise and advance ideas and preparations for the upheavals that may lie ahead. With a phase of practical work and a phase of theoretical reflection and delivery, group projects, individual tasks, critiques, discussions, research and studio sessions will provide participants with the opportunity to work through problems and ideas while producing and researching art. The emphasis is on experience, discovery, risk, and the unexpected.

Schedule

Monday

10:00 am Introduction into the topic: Times of crisis or crisis of time?