DOCKING STATION
Docking Station (formerly DOK-project) started as a pilot concerned with the integration of theory and practice in art education. These days, the integration of theory and practice is more than a mere experiment – it is a reality. The purpose of Docking Station is to provide stimulating and new insights into art education and to create innovative educational formats in which practical and theoretical education are fully integrated. The aim is the development of a self-critical, reflexive, independent and inquisitive attitude.
SET-UP
Docking Station aims at thematic, project-based and research-oriented education in workshop format. The focus is on creating an inspiring an intellectual climate. Students’ independence and self-study play a central role. The pairs of tutors (artists or designers and theorists) guide students in an integrated process of thinking and making. Students write a report on their contribution to the project. Docking Station is evaluated each year by the individual departments and discussed in an academy-wide working group chaired by Janneke Wesseling.
Some examples of previous projects in the context of Docking Station: Imitation/Inspiration in the Photography department, on the development of a personal visual language and visual strategy, by means of the interpretation of images by other photographers. The Fine Arts department organised three projects: Transfer, on the issues of exhibiting and presenting the work; The evolving museum, on the contemporary practice of exhibiting; and Performance, on performance art in practice and theory.