Handson: Mediated Architecture
Frans Evers and Joost Rekveld
KABK PB301
In the history of media art there is a long tradition of artists imagining an ideal architecture in which to present a new medium. Often these projects are visions of a futurist conception of a better life in which art is integrated into our everyday environment. When such projects have been partially realized, it has mostly been in the form of special pavillions at world fairs or events of a similar scale. The reality of everyday is that presentations of media arts are very rarely intrinsically integrated with the architecture of the exposition space, and seem to lag behind the progressive integration of technology into our daily life. These new art forms are often still presented in museums or galleries which were not designed for the purpose of presenting electronic art.
In this seminar a number of examples of architectural ideas for the presentation of the new media arts will be discussed and analyzed, including historic ones such as Wagner's Festspielhaus (1876), Scriabin's Mysterium (1914), Mondriaan's Promenoire (1922), Schöffer's Cybernetic City (1969) and E.A.T.'s Pepsi pavillion in Osaka (1970).
During this course the students will be asked to design and realize a model situation that demonstrates their conception for an ideal environment for the electronic arts.
Dates: 8, 9, 11, 15, 16, 18 september
Credits: 3 EC
Objective: to reflect on the interrelation of new media and physical space
Literature: to be announced in class
Competencies: A1, A2, A3, A6, A7, B1, B2, C1, C2, C3, C6, C7
Location: KABK PB301
Number of Classes: 6 classes of 8 hours each
Examination: small assignments, attendance
Handson: Utopic Architecture
Paul Koek and Horst Rickels
This short and intensive course will work towards a presentation of prototype projects realized in small groups. The starting point will be the themes behind the Veenfabriek production "Light is the Machine" that will take place from November the 15th at Vliegbasis Valkenburg, a disused military airbase close to Leiden. This production is based on a number of radical architectural utopias developed by artists in the course of the twentieth century. A number of composition students will take part in this course, with the intention to kickstart a number of collaborations between ArtScience students and composition students that should result in pieces that will be performed in the Spring Festival at the Royal Conservatoire.
Dates: 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 december
Credits: 3 EC
Objective: to reflect on and realize a project based on utopic architectural concepts
Literature: to be announced in class
Competencies: A1, A2, A3, A6, A7, B1, B2, C1, C2, C3, C6
Location: KC Binckhorst
Number of Classes: 5 classes of 8 hours each
Examination: final presentation, attendance
Handson: Sonic Architecture
Robert Pravda, Edwin van der Heide and Joel Ryan
Traditionally, concert halls have been used to present music performed in front of an audience. The architecture of concert halls is designed to serve musical performances in the best way. During the last decades composers and sound artists have started to explore new ways to present music by distributing musicians and loudspeakers in special configurations throughout the space in order to create specific musical effects related to the architectural performance space. However, what happens when we change our thinking from focusing on sounds in space towards thinking about sounding space? What does it mean to create an architecture out of sound ? How can an audience navigate through a purely sonic environment? What happens when visitors can co-determine the characteristics of such sonic spaces? The research will focus on the question of how musical structures can be applied and extended to create a sonic architecture. The course will work towards a public presentation of the results.
Dates: 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20 february
Credits: 6 EC
Objective: to reflect on and realize a prototype of a sonic architecture
Literature: to be announced in class
Competencies: A1, A2, A3, A6, A7, B1, B2, C1, C2, C3, C6, C7
Location: KABK PB301
Number of Classes: 12 classes of 8 hours each
Examination: small assignments, attendance
The Language of ArtScience
Michael van Hoogenhuyze, Joost Rekveld, Taco Stolk, Joel Ryan and guests
Within the world of contemporary art and also within the ArtScience Interfaculty there are number of distinct views on the possible interaction between art and science. These views partially overlap, but other aspects of these views seem incompatible with each other. The differences between these views manifest themselves most clearly in that the different definitions of artistic research they imply. The aim of this series of meetings is to give an overview of the most important of these views, in order to enable the students to reflect on their own approach and research strategies. The starting point of this course will consist of texts by Dick Raaijmakers, Taeke de Jong and Michael van Hoogenhuyze. Also case studies will be discussed and a number of guests will be invited to present their research and their approach.
Dates: 10, 17 oct, 14, 21, 28 nov, 12 dec, 9, 16 jan, 13, 20, 27 mar, 17, 24 apr
Credits: 7 EC
Objective: an introduction to the most important views on the interrelation between art and science in order to develop awareness of one's own position and methodology
Literature: to be announced in class
Competencies: C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7
Location: KABK PB301
Number of Classes: 13 classes of 4 hours each
Examination: small assignments, paper, attendance
