The April edition of the KABK Research Club was also the Finissage for ‘Touching: An Exhibition of Material Research Samples and Recipes’
KABK Research Display Space, Prinsessegracht corridor + Textiles Workshop
Wednesday, April 13, 17:00-20:00
On Wednesday April 13 we all gathered for the finissage of ‘𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗔𝗻
𝗘𝘅𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱
𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲𝘀’ and what an inspiring meeting it was!
In the company of the curator of the exhibition Laura van Santen, tutor, BA Interior Architecture & Furniture Design
and several of the participating students, alum, and workshop
instructor-researchers we spoke about all the samples that make up the
exhibition, the importance of exchanging research & recipes as well
as the dream & need for a KABK material archive to collect and
preserve material research.
Participant of the exhibition,
assistant to the curator and graduating Textile & Fashion student
Marcos Kueh Sheng Pang welcomed us in the textile workshop to take a
look at his current projects-in-progress. Not only were we introduced to
an abundance of great work and the research that grounds it, but we
were also introduced to the machinery and had the opportunity to give it
a go ourselves.
Thank you to everyone who joined us, we greatly look forward to
the next Research Club meet up!
Even though this event marks the end of the exhibition, the
project continues in the form of a book, an online repository and in
curriculum development across the Academy. We are particularly
interested to find out what sorts of questions researchers within the
KABK ask of the materials they work with and how touch
contributes to alternative modes of knowledge production. If you conduct
research into/through matter and materials — whether you work with
clay, pigment, synthetic spider silk, sunflower-stalk fibres, wood
shavings, or combinations thereof — please stay in touch!
List of exhibitors and material/ process samples:
Cynthia Bruinsma, BA IA&FD: Hempcrete and Rammed Earth Crystallizing
Cara Domscheit, BA IA&FD: Clay Slip Processing
Dolores Hilhorst, 3D Lab: Plywood Kerf-Bending
Youbin Kang, BA IA&FD: Tactile Information Printing
Moe Kim, BA IMD: Electro-Luminescent Wire Weaving
Marcos Kueh Sheng Pang, BA Textile & Fashion: Plastic Fabric-Fusing & Waste Embroidering
Erco Lai, MA Industrial Design: Calcium Carbonate Geopolymerizing
Chiel Lubbers, BA IA&FD: Biomaterial Cooking & Plaster Mouldmaking
Marlot Meyer, BA IMD: Broken Electric Heater Hacking
Marcel van Nispen, 3D Lab: 3D Print Filament Dyeing
Lucie Ponard, MA Industrial Design: Ceramics Fly-Ash Glazing
Courteney Reitz, BA IA&FD: 3D-Printed Magnet Embedding
Jan Sagasser, BA IA&FD: Wood Self-Tensioning Joinery
Leonie Schneider, Metal Workshop: Copper-Surface Hammering
Maria Tyakina, BA IA&FD: Steel Colour-Tempering
Exhibition credits
Curatorial concept / design: Laura van Santen, tutor, BA Interior Architecture & Furniture Design
Production: Marcos Kueh Sheng Pang, Luke Tarleton
Art direction / graphic design: Niels Schrader
Typeface design: Niels Schrader and Martijn de Heer
Design Lectorate coordinator: Martha Jager
Project advisor: Bart Vissers, KABK Head of Technical Services
‘Material breakthroughs require that you put faith in the process of experimentation’.
— Marcos Kueh Sheng Pang, BA Textiles & Fashion
The Research Club is a forum organized several times a year by the Design Lectorate for tutors, heads, (research) staff, workshop supervisors and PhD candidates and students from the KABK and Leiden University. Research can take the form of scholarly investigation into art or design as subject matter, or it can be practice-led, using art or design as the method and means of enquiry.
During these meetings, participants are invited to share their research in progress and engage in discussion about shared points of interest in research such as methods, approaches and references as well as in practical matters such as funding, organisation, publishing and dissemination of research. The aim is to identify and nurture emergent and developing research projects, share findings and best practices and create a network of potential collaborators and mentors.
