In this exhibition, we presented projects developed by the KABK Research Group 2018 which address through a combination of theoretical, historical and practice-based research some of the pressing issues of our time, namely: ecological crisis, digital pollution, surveillance infrastructure, coloniality and affect space.

Whilst some of the artistic outcomes of the research were displayed, the aim of this exhibition was to extrapolate and make legible the research methods that were used to gather, surface and analyse findings. By methods, we mean the ways one goes about doing research.

Some of the methods are derived from the humanities and social sciences, including interviewing, fieldwork and text or image analysis; whilst others, like experimentation with drawing and photography, emerge from the particular sensibilities and material registers of art and design practice.

Some methods are natively digital like internet scraping, gleaning data from satellite imagery and the deployment of AR and Machine Learning systems. Others use tactics from activism, like workshop organization, interventions and public debate; others still use fictional and satirical strategies to defamiliarize and destabilise.

With this exhibition we sought to reveal and reflect upon the normally hidden mechanics and motivations of the research process—the tools and techniques used for gathering, sifting, and evaluating, the references consulted, and the quandaries and breakthroughs experienced. Through doing so, we hoped to contribute to the building of a research culture at KABK that is open and imaginative as well as rigorous and robust.

Presented by the KABK Lectorate Design

Exhibition design: Judy Wetters
Exhibition graphics: Niels Schrader and Martijn de Heer