This Town Is Big Enough I

Miriam Stoney
Institute of Arts and Society, Art and Knowledge Transfer
2026W, Academic Seminar (SEW), 4.0 ECTS, 2.0 semester hours, course number S30517

Description

In this course we will take the city of Vienna as a case study with which to observe, examine and reflect the multi-faceted relationships between built environments and the artistic practices housed in and by them. This semester, we will be looking at the ways in which other-than-human animals are accommodated in and by the city.

Visiting parks, buildings, institutions, exhibitions, collections and archives, we will examine the ways in which animals such as horses, dogs, cats, pigeons, crows, rabbits, rodents and insects manifest and subsequently shape the city – materially, symbolically and ethically. We will consider these relationships with specific reference to Vienna – a former imperial capital whose urban policies have been defined by over a century of social democratic values, inaugurated by “Red Vienna” in the interwar period. We will be studying artistic practices that reflect upon animals as cohabitants of the growing city.

Students are invited and encouraged to find a critical stance towards the city’s infrastructure, which also recognises the inevitable interplay between architectural sites and artistic practices. In doing so, we will hopefully see the broad potential that lies in reflecting the role of the built environment within our own work in and on the arts today.

Examination Modalities

Regular participation and contributions to discussions.

As a discursive seminar requiring no specific prior architectural or art historical knowledge, we will work with diverse textual practices that connect our study of historical/archival/material objects with students' individual practices and their sites. This approach can manifest in any number of ways within a project, including but not limited to: prose and poetry; titles and material lists; slogans, manifestos and statements; concepts and framing; reading and performance; criticism and commentary or more ephemeral text forms.

The form of the submission will emerge from the discussions and tendencies within the seminar.

Comments

Suggested reading:

John Berger, Why Look at Animals?
Jacques Derrida, The Animal that Therefore I Am
Marlen Haushofer, Die Wand / The Wall
Ulrich Raulff, Farewell to the Horse
Jana Volkmann, Der beste Tag seit langem
Clemens Setz, "ULKLÄREN" Dankrede, Büchnerpreis 2021
J.A. Baker, The Peregrine

and more.

Key Words

architecture, literature, context art, architecture related art, text

Dates

Tue, 06 October 2026, 10:00–11:00 Seminar Room 33 (preliminary discussion)
Tue, 13 October 2026, 10:00–14:00 Seminar Room 3
Tue, 20 October 2026, 10:00–14:00 Seminar Room 22
Tue, 27 October 2026, 10:00–14:00 Seminar Room 22
Tue, 03 November 2026, 10:00–14:00
Tue, 17 November 2026, 10:00–14:00
Tue, 24 November 2026, 10:00–14:00
Tue, 01 December 2026, 10:00–14:00 Seminar Room 22

Course Enrolment

From 31 August 2026, 09:00 to 01 October 2026, 09:01
Via online registration

Art Education: study subject kkp (Bachelor): Academic Practice: GO: Seminar, SEw 034/2026UBA-003.10

Art Education: study subject kkp (Bachelor): Academic Practice: FOR: Seminar, SEw 034/2026UBA-003.30

Art Education: subject kkp (Enhancements study): Academic Practice: GO: Seminar, SEw 034/2026UEW-003.10

Art Education: subject kkp (Enhancements study): Academic Practice: FOR: Seminar, SEw 034/2026UEW-003.30

Art Education: study subject dex (Bachelor): Academic Practice: GO: Seminar, SEw 037/2026UBA-003.10

Art Education: study subject dex (Bachelor): Academic Practice: FOR: Seminar, SEw 037/2026UBA-003.30

Art Education: subject dex (Enhancements study): Academic Practice: GO: Seminar, SEw 037/2026UEW-003.10

Art Education: subject dex (Enhancements study): Academic Practice: FOR: Seminar, SEw 037/2026UEW-003.30

Art Education: subject kkp (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 067/2016UBA-003.80

Art Education: subject kkp (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 067/2016UMA-003.80

Art Education: subject kkp (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 067/2018UEW-003.80

Art Education: subject tex (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 071/2016UMA-003.80

Art Education: subject dae (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 072/2016UMA-003.80

Art Education: subject dex (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 074/2017UBA-003.80

Art Education: subject dex (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 074/2017UMA-003.80

Art Education: subject dex (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 074/2018UEW-003.80

Transformation Studies. Art x Science (Bachelor): Focus! Transformation Areas: Social Transformation 162/2025UBA-040.20

TransArts - Transdisciplinary Arts (Bachelor): Theoretical foundations: Theoretical foundations 180/2025UBA-003.01

Expanded Museum Studies (Master): Electives: Art & Knowledge Transfer 537/2021UMA-080.26

Stage Design (2. Section): Kunsttheorie und Kulturwissenschaften: Kunst- und Wissenstransfer 542/2022U00-207.05

Media Arts: Specialisation in Transmedia Arts (2. Section): Wissenschaft, Theorie und Geschichte : Kunst- und Wissenstransfer 566/2019U00-208.14

Media Arts: Specialisation in Digital Arts (2. Section): Wissenschaft, Theorie, Geschichte: Kunst- und Wissenstransfer 567/2019U00-208.14

Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften (Master): Electives Area 2: Art and Knowledge Transfer 568/2021UMA-006.19

Design: Specialisation in Design and Narrative Media (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Fundamentals: Humanities 576/2024U00-203.02

Design: Specialisation in Communication Design (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Basics: Humanities 577/2025U00-203.02

Fine Arts (2. Section): Scientific and Research Practice: Media Theory,Art&Knowledge Transfer,Th. of Architecture,Th. and Hist. of Design 605/2019U00-202.02

Fine Arts (2. Section): Scientific and Research Practice: Free Electives out of Scientific and Research Practice 605/2019U00-202.80

Design: Specialisation in Applied Photography and Time-based Media (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Basics: Humanities 626/2021U00-203.02

Co-registration: possible

Attending individual courses: possible