The artistic seminar is part of a series of three courses (artistic seminar, workshops, exercises) and a collaborative project with the Vienna University of Technology: Cultural Collisions.
The project will be organised together with lecturers from the Vienna University of Technology: Christine Hohenbüchler (Institute of Art and Design), Emanuela Semlitsch (Institute of Spatial Planning), Katharina Tielsch (Office for Architecture and Spatial Planning), Gesa Witthöft (Institute of Spatial Planning / Sociology).

During the course, an exhibition for Vienna schools (opening: end of January 2026, until February 2026 at the TU and the Angewandte) will be developed and implemented.

The artistic seminar should ideally be booked together with the courses  Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Rubbish, Rot, ... Materials Matter - WORKSHOPS and Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Rubbish, Rot, ... Materials Matter - ÜBUNG. In addition, there is the opportunity to take on paid Kunstvermittlungs work for children and young people as part of the "Übung" in February.

The artistic seminar focuses on materials (Matter) and material cycles (Circular Strategies) from an ecological and multifaceted perspective:
-In artistic processes, we experiment with garbage, waste, composT, etc. We test methods and strategies of circularity and re/upcycling, contrasting nature's cycles with capitalism's growth paradigm in practical activities.

-In a practical, everyday sense, we explore possibilities for circular economy in repair initiatives, design, architecture, and building culture. We learn about initiatives for recycling and material experiments (Materialnomaden, Robin Food, etc.) and artistic practices (exhibition visit to Kunsthalle Wien: Ibrahim Mahama; workshop with Jojo Gronostay; visit compost collective) and social initiatives.
-From a social perspective, we close cycles of learning together—starting with materials, but going beyond them—when we acquire knowledge together with specialists in circular strategies (artists, designers, architects, scientists), but also with the materials and objects themselves, and develop and communicate this knowledge for/with students in an exhibition.

Our ideas are based on intersectional environmentalism, which is critical of capitalism and questions colonial contexts. In practical exercises, we find the capacity to act through a philosophy and politics of refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, rubbish, rot ...

- Attendance, participation, initiative in research and project work

- Involvement in group work

- Development / design of a project contribution with a group for the exhibition

Literature:

-Claire Potter, Welcome to the Circular Economy. The next Step in Sustainable Living (Laurence King Publishing, 2021)
-Leah Thomas, The Intersectional Environmentalist. How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to protect People + Planet (Souvenir Press, 2022)
-Seetal Solanki, Why Materials Matter. Responsible Design for a Better World (Prestel 2018)