Aesthetic Transformation: Inspiration across Disciplinary Boundaries – Part 1

This workshop combines fieldtrips within Berlin with a cross-disciplinary creative practice. A focus lies on idea-generating processes. How does inspiration come about? How do we find ideas? How can we creatively work together with various disciplinary backgrounds? Distinct locations in the city of Berlin serve as a starting point for a journey of transformation of ideas. Sound, performance, dance, visual or conceptual artists, writers, poets, sculptors, designers, architects, and other creative practitioners will respond to a site and develop their own theme(s). Sequential works that act upon multiple interpretative statements of the participants will follow. Individual works will connect to others, and, in this way, a collective, multi-perspective artistic investigation on the chosen sites and topics will unfold. An Aesthetic Transformation process will provide participants with a bounty of ideas and concepts which can prove to be useful for their own creative practice. Studio visits with artists and designers of the Berlin independent art scene will offer the opportunity for conversations, contact and networking. Theory readings and in-class discussions will allow for a critical inquiry of contemporary art practices as well as the participant’s own creative practice.

Course leader

Elvira Hufschmid and Margit Schild