Sebastian Olma

Prof. Dr. Sebastian Olma holds the Autonomy Research Chair at the Centre of Applied Research for Art, Design and Technology (Caradt) at Avans University of Applied Sciences in Breda and Den Bosch, the Netherlands. Alongside his academic work, he has advised policymakers throughout Europe on the facts and fictions of the creative economy. He lives in Amsterdam, where he edits the subcultural magazine Amsterdam Alternative and serves as chairman of the board at the autonomous cultural centre OT301. His recent books include In Defence of Serendipity (Repeater 2016) and Art and Autonomy: Past – Present – Future (V2_ 2018). With Patricia Reed he publishes the online journal Making & Breaking.

Future Learning Design: Academy as Übungsraum

Track 3: Learning Spaces
Date: Day 1 – 12:30
Location: Neufert-Mansion, Gelmeroda
Language: English

When it comes to the great 20th-century experiments in Learning Design (and Art), two schools stand out: Bauhaus and Black Mountain College. In spite of the well-founded objections that researchers have leveled against their practices, the two academies continue to be seen as beacons of an ideal-typical learning environment. While enthusiastically touting their commitment to “innovation”, “disruption” and “creativity”, academies seem to be oblivious with regard to an appropriate Learning Design, i.e., a pedagogic infrastructure out of which the aesthetic and creative avant-garde could emerge that our world so urgently needs. In this opening lecture to the track Learning Spaces, Rob Leijdekkers and Sebastian Olma will discuss some of the ideological obstacles standing in the way of a timely learning design. As a prelude to the workshop of the Dutch collective Young Artists Feed Forward (YAFF), they will propose some preliminary principles of a pedagogy of disruption (“disruption” being intended here strictly in the non-Californian sense of the term). The objective is not to develop a new general model of Learning Design, but to sketch the ethical, political and pedagogic contours of a Future Learning Design that has the capacity to empower the young generation of artists and designers to break through the aesthetic misery of our time.

 

THE PROBLEM REVUE

Conference
Date: Day 2 – 10:45
Location: Notenbank, Weimar
Language: English

Now, what was the problem really? Hiding in the safety of isolation can be helpful when searching for personal principles, but the air gets stale pretty quickly. If you want to get anywhere you have to get out and engage. Engaging means: getting into trouble, seeking out conflict. It also means refusing to solve problems. What we need is people who know how to design problems! “The process as product” is not enough, it’s time for the problem as product. Otherwise, YAFF’s take on the problem is no more than the next iteration in the perpetual commodification of ideas. Or, to put it differently, what’s to be done to not let this happen?

Under the patronage of

Deutsche UNESCO Kommission

Supported by

Thüringen

Organized by

Media and event partners

BauNetz
Bauwelt
Brandeins
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