by Michael Kernbichler -

International Design Discourse 1

Here is an overview of all the lectures from the International Design Discourse 1.

01 Design Lecture – Andrey Sudarikov

Andrey Sudarikov is a Russian designer and the founder of the design studio PlayDisplay. He works mainly in the field of interaction, AR and game design. In his lecture he will present some of his very impressive projects. For someone like me, who can do almost nothing in 3D, it is always fascinating to see what is possible. Especially the project at the airport in Singapore stuck in my mind

02 AbsolventInnen Lecture – Saskia Schmidt

The most interesting lecture for me was definitely that of Saskia Schmidt. The first impression of the video was an extremely positive surprise for me, because she built, visualized and structured the lecture very well. It was really pleasant to listen to her talk about what her path from study to independence looked like.

When things didn’t work out for her in Germany and Holland, she decided to come to Austria and became part of the IND11 course at the FH. But after she failed in programming, Saskia was allowed to do a lap of honor. But this gave her the opportunity to start an internship at En Garde. During this time she could learn a lot and took a lot with her. You can also see that in the projects she shows. At En Garde she designed invitations, brandings like for the Rostfest and a brochure for the children’s program of the playhouse).

Afterwards, Saskia Schmidt had the opportunity to do an internship at Studio Grau in Berlin. Studio Grau works in the field of packaging, branding, book design, etc. What she emphasized as particularly positive – Because Studio Grau is not a big design agency, she quickly got more responsibility and was allowed to realize projects for big clients as an intern. During her time in Berlin she also wrote her bachelor thesis “Museum Friedland”.

After finishing her Bachelor Saskia looked for a job. However, she soon left the agency where she could take over the art direction, because the cooperation just didn’t fit. She reduced her hours at the agency and started to work fluently at another agency (Von K Design), where her tasks included high fashion and branding.

However, the desire for independence did not let her go and she decided to leave her job and take the step into the unknown. But then, very surprisingly, a three-month project with En Garde came up.

After completing the project, which Saskia also presented in the lecture and which I particularly liked because of the Wes Anderson style, she finally wanted to start as a freelance designer. But then Saskia received a call from Berlin and was given the opportunity to represent her then boss at Studio Grau for four months, who was looking for a replacement due to her pregnancy. Saskia suddenly found herself in a different situation – she was not only supposed to design, but also had to take care of customers, employees, organizational matters, etc.

Afterwards she finally managed to become self-employed and Saskia became a freelancer in Graz. When she talks about it, she emphasizes how important the network she had built up was and that this laid the foundation for her self-employment. In addition, she also presents some of her projects and shows various designs (wine bottles, beer mats, a hairdresser redesign, etc.)

Finally she talks about the fact that the most beautiful network of friends is made up of friends – where I can only fully agree with her.

To sum up, I enjoyed the lecture very much, because it is always very interesting for me which path graduates of the FH take.

03 Design Lecture – Astrid Kury

Astrid Kury begins her presentation by asking what constitutes a collective interdisciplinary environment within which one is motivated to actively participate, and she concludes that working with others in a democratic society leads more quickly to unique ideas and the perfect balance between form and content, and also provides social cohesion and equal access.

As a cultural studies scholar and director of the Academy of Graz, she has always been confronted with the challenges of interdisciplinary work in the course of her career – it took some time for everyone to understand what someone from a particular discipline meant. It was difficult to find a generally understandable way of expressing herself, as everyone had an understanding of the respective subject area within the framework of her or his discipline and on the basis of her or his own previous knowledge. This is where the example of modernity came in. After this hurdle was overcome, the collaborative work developed into a self-runner, many new insights were gained through the networking of the different disciplines and the process offered more and more room for creativity.

The question of whether we want to enter into a dialogue and work together with experts from other disciplines is the same as the question of which world we would rather live in – a selfish, competitive one or a generous one, in which sharing ideas leads in the best case to joint success and a good cause. I agree with her, but with the reservation that it can of course also lead to conflicts, especially since interpersonal friction can often arise when many different people with different educational backgrounds meet, especially since these encounters are not organic.

What I find very exciting about her collaborative approach is that projects can be implemented that would be extremely time-consuming and challenging for a single person. Different approaches to a particular topic can paint a more coherent picture, just as collected data, as it increases, comes closer and closer to a normal distribution.

What also appeals to me personally is Astrid’s attitude to the fact that everyone can make a creative contribution to something. She encourages people to become aware of this and to contribute generously. She believes it is easier to generate innovative ideas when several brains are involved in their development. The advantage of collaboration is therefore that there is mutual exchange, it brings coherence to complexity and it benefits from sharing ideas and knowledge.

04 Design Lecture – Florian Doppel-Prix

In his lecture “Is it art or can we toss it?” Florian Doppel-Prix will talk about projects in the field of exhibition design. His various works gave a good insight into the world of exhibition installations. Since exhibition design is not something I deal with intensively, it was very interesting for me to learn more about this field and the work in it.

05 Designmonat Graz – Burcin Cem Arabacioglu

In his talk about sustainability in life and design, Burcin Cem Arabacioglu hits the nail on the head for me. He talks about how sustainable design can influence a sustainable life and that it is a responsibility of designers to bring sustainability to people. I think it’s a pity that it was difficult to follow the lecture because the tone was not ideal.

06 Designmonat Graz – Sylwia Ulicka

The topic of sustainability is also taken up in the lecture by Sylwia Ulicka. She will once again address another aspect of this topic – our consumer behaviour. The researcher, designer and professor from Mexico presents her views in a very understandable way and I agree with her on many points.

07 Designmonat Graz – Ursula Tischner

Ursula Tischner also talks about the importance of sustainability. She also addresses the lifespan of products that clearly contribute to our consumer behaviour. In her talk it becomes clear that the consumption of all these people contributes enormously to the consumption of resources.

08 Klanglicht Lecture – INNOCAD/13&9

In their lecture, Anastasia and Martin Lesjak will present their product design studio (13&9) and their architectural office (Innocad). What particularly impressed me is the office they designed and planned themselves, which is divided into different working areas (architecture/research/product design/sound design).

In their presentation, they present two projects that I would like to go into more detail about.

1 Solar Innovation Center

The Solar Innovation Center is a solar power plant in Dubai. The architecture of this building fascinates me and the interplay of light and color moods is incredible. For example, different architectural ideas and the use of mirrors and foils create different color spectra depending on the position of the sun (thus depending on the angle of incidence of the light and the time of day). As a result, the interior of the building shines in different subtle colours at any time of the day. The decision to keep the interior design and the walls of the Solar Innovation Center mostly plain white was a very good idea, as this makes the colour spectacle even more effective.

Another “feature” of the solar power plant is the sound system. Special sensors are used to create sound compositions to match the individual colors.

2 Architectural Fashion

For an exhibition in Berlin, Anastasia and Martin Lesjak have newly realized and interpreted three of their projects. The theme was the transformation of product design and architecture into fashion. Thus they presented the above-mentioned projects as pieces of clothing, or more precisely, dresses. They work with the different textures of materials and use haptics to turn their projects into unique pieces of clothing.

The lecture by Anastasia and Martin Lesjak was very interesting for me.

09 Design Lecture – Wolfgang Schlag

In his lecture “Radio Work” Wolfgang Schlag talks about the emergence of radio and how radio was able to establish itself as a mass medium. He also gives an insight into his experiences as a radio journalist.

The history of radio begins on November 2, 1920, the day on which the first radio program ever was broadcast in Pittsburgh. In the beginning, about 40,000 people listened to the radio. But within two years, this figure rose to 500,000 people.

In Austria, the career of radio began in 1924, when the first RAVAG programme was broadcast. National Socialists used the radio for propaganda purposes during the Second World War.

In 1967 another form of radio finally started in Austria. The radio stations Ö1 and Ö3, which we still know today, started. In this year, Woodstock was one of the events held. Ö3 focused at that time on playing different genres and jazz, for example, was spread throughout the country via the radio station. One program called “Music Box” was very special – provocative and radical – as Wolfgang Schlag, who himself became a member of Music Box in 1986, describes it. A special feature of the format was, for example, playing a record for a whole hour.

In his lecture, Wolfgang Schlag gives an insight into his time at Music Box and talks about his tasks and experiences as a radio journalist.

In 1990 Ö3 and Ö1 developed into the radio stations we know today. It was decided to dedicate Ö3 to modern pop music and to fill Ö1 with world music and socially critical and political topics.

For me it was especially exciting when Wolfgang Schlag spoke about his own experiences, for example during the time of Corona, and shared his own opinions about the “radio of the future”. I can only agree with his opinion that radio will not die out. Personally, I cannot imagine being without radio, something I only became aware of in the course of this lecture. I also believe that research work, summarizing the essence of information and journalism are pillars of our society, even if we are often not so aware of it.

by Carina Rieder -

Papier, der Held des Recyclings?

In Europa musste man mit den hier verfügbaren Materialien auskommen. So bestand Papier bis Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts vor allem aus den Fasern von Leinen und Hanf. Da die wertvollen Rohstoffe zunächst zu Kleidung verarbeitet wurden, entwickelte sich eine erste Recyclingkultur.

Der weltweite Papierverbrauch betrug im Jahr 1974, 8,7 Millionen Tonnen. Wenn man damit das Jahr 2018 vergleicht, liegt der Verbrauchswert allein in Deutschland bei über unglaublichen 20 Millionen Tonnen. Die heutigen Maschinen sind bis zu 300 Meter lang und erzeugen bis zu 1.500 Tonnen pro Tag. 1850 betrug die Papierproduktion weltweit nur etwa 100.000 Tonnen pro Jahr, heute sind es 325 Millionen Tonnen jährlich! Diese Vergleiche zeigen deutlich, dass die weltweite Papierproduktion noch steigen wird. 

Zwar wird in den meisten Teilen Europas das Altpapier recycelt, jedoch kann das recycelte Papier nicht unseren Bedarf decken. Ein weiteres Problem des Recyclingpapier ist, dass die Papierfasern während dem Prozess immer kürzer werden. Das heißt, dass bei hochwertigen Papieren ca. 80 bis 85 Prozent Zellstoff zugegeben werden muss. Holz ergibt auf mechanischem Weg zerfasert den sogenannten Holzstoff und auf dem chemischem Weg wird Holz zu Zellstoff. Allein für eine Tonne Zellstoff benötigt man bis zu 2,5 Tonnen Holz. 

Gibt es Auswege aus dem Überfluss? Eines ist klar, es ist ökologisch notwendig unseren Papierverbrauch zu senken. Doch technische Alternativen gibt es schon länger. Jüngere Entwicklungen wie das E-Book wirken dem schon entgegen, dennoch wird zu viel Papier verbraucht. Papier ist zu einem Wegwerfprodukt unserer Gesellschaft und ein Problem für unsere Umwelt geworden.

by Fiona Tatschl -

Lecutre #08 Anastasija & Martin Lesjak

Innocad (Architektur) + 13&9 (Produktdesign)

Der Sitz von Innocad und 13&9 ist im Golden Nugget in Graz. Das Gebäude wurde von ihnen selbst geplant. Das Team ist transdisziplinär: Architektur, Interior Design, Produkt Design, Sound Design und Research in einem machen vielfätige Lösungen möglich. Ihr Philosphie lautet »New Holism«, sie gehen Projekte immer ganzheitlich an. 

Projekt »Solar Innovation Center«

Das Solar Innovation Center ist ein Museum in einem Solarkraftwerk in der Wüste. Für das Museum wurde ein Gebäude aus verdrehten Quadratischen Grundflächen, die sich immer kleiner werdend spiralförmig in den Himmel ranken. In der Mitte des Gebäudes befindet sich ein Atrium. Ein beweglicher Spiegel projiziert das Licht immer genau zur Spitze des Turmes und von dort durch das Atrium nach unten. Auf die Fenster des Turmes sind verschiedenfärbige Folien geklebt. Je nachdem durh welche Fenster die Sonne scheint, ändern sich (nach Tageszeit) die Farben im Gebäude. 

Projekt »Architectural Fashion«

Für die Ausstellung Architectural Fashion wurde Architektur und Produktdesign zu Mode transformiert. 

Objekt 1: Als Grundlage für den ersten Entwurf dient ihr Büro, das Golden Nugget. Dieses ist nicht nur farblich golden, sondern baut auch auf dem goldenen Schnitt auf. Als Basis für den Modeentwurf dient ein Pentagon, das ebenfalls auf dem goldenen Schnitt aufbaut. Aus einem Band wurden zwei verdrehte Pentagone geknotet, wodurch ein Kleidungsstück entstand. Das Material des Kleidungsstück sind 3d-gestrickte Metallfasern. 

Objekt 2: Als Grundlage für den zweiten Entwurf, dienen ihre Skulpturen in der Kanonenhalle im Zeughaus, die an die Murnockerl angelehnt sind. Als Kleidungsstück, wurde eine zeitgenössische Rüstung kreiert, die elliptisch (wie ein Murnockerl) angeordnet ist. Das Material nennt sich Stone Veneer und ist Schieferstein, der auf eine Hintergrundfläche gelegt wurde – es fühlt sich an wie Stein. 

Objekt 3: Als Grundlage für den dritten Entwurf dient ihr sogenannter »Moving Floor«, ein Boden, der sich zwar nicht wirklich bewegt, aber je nach Blickwinkel sein Aussehen verändert. Das Kleidungsstück besteht, ähnlich dem Boden, aus Quadraten. Durch das Verdrehen von Stoffstreifen wird eine gewisse Dreidimensionalität erzeugt. 

Location der Ausstellung: Durch das gezielte Aufstellen von Spiegel entsteht eine Art der Unendlichkeit. Bei jedem Kleidungsstück, werden unterschiedliche Sounds erzeugt (Stein, Metall & Stoff), die die Wirkung der Materialien zusätzlich verstärken. Neben den Austellungsstücken befinden sich Screens, die den Prozess von der Architektur zu, Kleidungsstück veranschaulichen. 

by Madeleine Haider -

Von Dokumentarfilm, gekreuzt mit Musikvideo, über den Heimatbegriff zu Musikologie zurück zum Dokumentarfilm-Musikvideo-Hybrid.

Ja, das beschreibt meine Recherche-Reise wohl am besten. Das erste Semester begleitete mich das Genre Dokumentarfilm, dem ich gepaart mit einem Musikvideo als eine Art Hybridwerk näher nachgegangen bin, im Hinterkopf die praktische Arbeit, die Teil meiner Masterarbeit werden soll. Da mich das nicht unumstrittene Thema Heimat persönlich interessiert, war ein Gedanke, dies in einem Kurzfilm (aus eben beschriebener Kreuzung Doku und Musikvideo) zu verarbeiten. Für die theoretische Arbeit konzentrierte ich mich auf den Heimatbegriff in der Musik – Heimat als Kommunikationsmittel moderner Musikschaffender. Einige Monate und gefühlt unzählige durchforstete Artikel etc. später finde ich das Thema nach wie vor spannend. Allerdings bin ich zur Erkenntnis gekommen, dass ich meiner Einschätzung nach stark in die Musikologie eintauchen müsste – zu stark für eine Design-Masterarbeit.

Nach dem Gespräch mit einer Freundin und Musikologiestudentin, Pia, bin ich auf einer neuen, alten Fährte: Für ihre Masterarbeit betreibt sie Feldforschung zur rituellen Musik der Gnawa, eine ethnische Minderheit in Marokko, mit einer Geschichte als Sklaven, die Heimatverlust erlebten. In den 60er- und 70er-Jahren wurden damalige Musikgrößen wie Jimi Hendrix von den repetitiven, tranceinduzierenden Klängen inspiriert. Pia hat bei ihrem ersten Besuch in Marokko Kontakte zu Gnawa-Musikern geknüpft und würde im kommenden Jahr direkt nach Marokko reisen und Musiker*innen vor Ort begleiten. Für mich ist das Thema insofern interessant, als dass ich den Prozess des Forschens gerne dokumentarisch begleiten würde, sowie dortigen Musikern eine Bühne in Form von Bewegtbild geben kann. Andererseits schließt sich mit der Gnawa-Musik der Kreis, denn sie stellt auch die Frage nach Identität, Heimat und Geschlechterrollen.

Inwiefern lässt sich somit das Genre Musikvideo um eine dokumentarisch lehrende und informierende Dimension erweitern? Umgekehrt, welche Qualitäten erhält das Medium Dokumentarfilm, wenn ein musikalisches Element Menschen und deren Emotionen zusätzlich portraitiert?

https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/gnawa-01170

http://www.heimatliederausdeutschland.de/choere-und-bands/la-caravane-du-maghreb.html

https://de.qantara.de/inhalt/einflusse-der-gnawa-musik-auf-jazz-und-pop-eine-trance-zendente-vereinigung

by Felix Franz -

#02 WORK WORK BALANCE – SASKIA SCHMIDT

Saskia Schmidt spricht in ihrem Video über das Zusammenspiel von Arbeit Universität und ihrem Interesse für Design in auf ihrem Weg von der Berufsschule bis heute. Ihr Weg lässt sich nach ihr in 9 Module aufteilen die Sie zu der Designerin geformt haben, die sie heute ist.

„Ein guter Gestalter kennt die Regeln und setzt sie außer Kraft.“ Station 1 Ausbildung

Angefangen mit der Berufsschule hat sie schnell gelernt das die Berufsschule nur der Anfang in das Thema Design ist.

Deutschland, Holland, Österreich Station 2 Studium Begins

Nach dem Studium hat Sie sich mehr in dem Bereich vertiefen wollen und suchte sich dafür ein Studium. In Österreich an unserer FH wurde sie 2011 angenommen und dort lernte sie auch ihren ersten Arbeitgeber für ein Praktikum kennen.

„Paper is good for you“ Station 3 Praktikum Studio Grau und En Garde

Über ihre Praktika in Österreich und Deutschland erzählt sie, dass

„Du kannst nicht auf alles scheißen und dich dann wundern wenn’s stinkt „Station 04 erster Job in Graz, Erwartung trifft Realität

In ihrer Zeit bei ihrem ersten Job hat ihr das Arbeiten nicht gefallen und sie hat sich dementsprechend weil sie mit dem Arbeitsplatz nicht klar kam umorientiert und für eine andere Agentur angefangen zu arbeiten.

Station 5 fast selbstständig

Durch ihre Arbeit bei den Agenturen entwickelte sie den Wunsch sich selbstständig zu machen und eigene Projekte anzunehmen und leiten zu können.

Station 6 Ein Anfangsprojekt

Bevor sie die eigentliche Selbstständigkeit erreicht hat übernahm sie zuerst ein Designprojekt für eine Agentur bei der sie eigentlich nur dieses eine Projekt leitete.

Station 7 Praktikum Extended

Durch die Möglichkeit eine Chefin einer Agentur zu vertreten in der sie gearbeitet hat hatte sie das erste Mal die Möglichkeit mit einem Team zu arbeiten und herauszufinden wie die Selbstständigkeit wirklich ist.

Netzwerk. Mehr wert als Millionen: Station 8 endlich Selbstständig

Durch ihr Netzwerk vom Studium und die Arbeitsplätze die sie besucht hat haben sich für sie einige Kunden ergeben auf die sie direkt nach der Umsetzung ihrer Selbstständigkeit zurückgreifen konnte.

Station 9 Das schönste Netzwerk besteht aus Freunden.

Am Ende im Heute angekommen hat sich für Sie der Punkt am besten herausgestellt, wenn sie für Freunde oder mit Freunden arbeiten kann. Dadurch ist nicht nur ihre Motivation am höchsten, sondern sie kann hier sich auch am meisten entfalten und ihr kommen dabei die sinnvollsten Ideen und es kommen dabei die besten Projekte zustande.

Abschließend ist es genau dieser Punkt das arbeiten mit Freunden und das Netzwerk der Universität den ich am signifikantesten finde. Neben den praktischen Skills vermittelt das Studium auch immer die Möglichkeit mit anderen Beziehungen aufzubauen die dann auch später nach dem Studium noch bestehen. Ich glaube das darin auch der größte Wert neben den Skills in einer Hochschule besteht.

by Laura Aschbacher -

Lecture #8 INNOCAD and 13&9

INNOCAD and 13&9 are both transdisciplinary companies that specialize in architecture, sound design, interior design, research and product design. Their corporate philosophy is about acknowledging diversity. Through this, they can design holistically and have innovative ideas. One of their projects was to design the interior of the solar innovation centre in Dubai. This is a museum for solar energy in the desert. The building is a helix-like tower, which has an atrium in the middle. Heliostats project sunlight into the building and through other mirrors to the bottom of the building. In their cellar, INNOCAD experimented with dividing light into spectral colours. They also realized that there is a direct connection between light frequencies and sound frequencies, so they installed sensors to create sound for the light show. I believe that it is especially important to experiment with the elements first – as they did – because you can refine your idea and concept this way.

INNOCAD were inspired by the golden ratio and their formerly golden logo and designed their head office, the “golden nugget”, accordingly. They also designed a dress which was inspired by the golden ratio. It consists of a band which is folded according to the golden ratio. The dress was 3D printed and made of  3D knitted metal fibres. I find this idea to use the same design approach for fashion design interesting. However, the dress lacks functionality and is, therefore, more like a piece of art.

Rolling Stones was a project, where INNOCAD designed the interior of the armoury museum in Graz. The element they used throughout the project was “Murnockerl” to create a holistic design, which is connected to the city of Graz. In the visitor centre, they designed a unique shelving system, inspired by the “Murnockerl”. Additionally, they made a modern armory sculpture made of laser-cut stone veneer. In another project, they designed dynamic floor tiles by creating a relief that looks different depending on where you position yourself in the room. Afterwards, a dress was designed using the dynamic tile as a core element. These three elements were then exhibited in Berlin. In each room within the exhibition, there is a mirror, a screen (showing the making of) and a sound installation. The soundscape was inspired by each object and its material. I watched the video they showed at the end of the lecture and what I saw was a well-designed exhibition with great sound design and it actually inspired me a lot.

by Laura Aschbacher -

Lecture #6 Questioning Material Culture

Sylwia Ulicka, a designer from Puebla, explains that there have to be global actions to save our ecosystem because the regulations that are in place now are not sufficient. Millennium goals were not accomplished. There are three major aspects that need to be considered when it comes to sustainable development: the ecological, economical and social dimensions. This is called the triangle model of sustainable development. It aims to maximize economic gain while minimizing or eliminating environmental and social damage. I think the triangle model of sustainable development is helpful and can be used to save our ecosystem in the future if we use it properly.

The eco-efficiency approach comprises three main principles: reduce, reuse and recycle. We’ve convinced ourselves that these principles (and new technologies) help us to be more eco-friendly, but this is not always the case. Carbon dioxide emissions continued to grow and increase by almost 60% between 1970 and 2010 while global biodiversity decreased by 30% between 1970 and 2008. The growth of the population and the increase in consumption are the two main causes of this loss. 

In his book, Alastair Fuad-Luke describes three types of design that typically play out at three levels. At the first level, there are social design or user-centred design. At the second level are gender design and design for social innovation. These first two levels are usually economically viable. Third level designs are speculative design or radical design, which are outside of the paradigm. Walker S. proposes that for a candle holder you could just use a potato and a fork, but this is not aesthetically pleasing to us, so we have designed candle holders. Design is not only a problem-solving activity. Personally, I agree that aesthetics are just as important as functionality. A product can work perfectly, but not look appealing and therefore nobody wants it. 

Sylwia Ulicka has worked with students on objects of discomfort and describes them as being radical, critical and speculative. We cannot talk about sustainable design without questioning the status quo. (www.objetosincomodos.com) I found the project “casa de campagna” especially interesting. In 2019 there was an earthquake in Mexico with a magnitude of 8.2, which destroyed thousands of homes. There was a proposal to help with the reconstruction of the most damaged estates by donating about 20% of the campaign budget, but this, unfortunately, did not happen. Therefore, students decided to make a tent out of posters of the campaign.

by Laura Aschbacher -

Lecture #2 Work Work Balance

Saskia Schmid decided to study “Information Design” at FH JOANNEUM in Graz and she completed her internship at EN GARDE which is a design agency in Graz, Austria. The office had lots of open space and you don’t have a fixed desk area where you are supposed to sit, which Sakia thinks was good. Personally, I think that this is a cool feature that can be beneficial in a lot of situations but it can also be challenging if you have no space to put your stuff for more than one day.

Saskia Schmid then worked at Studio Grau and Wednesday Paper Works, which belonged together at the time. The project “Museum Friedland”, which is the name of a place where a big refugee camp was situated, became the main topic of her bachelor thesis. After she had finished her bachelor’s degree she started to work at a company where she was about to become creative director, but it didn’t work out as expected and after this job, she worked at two other agencies, where she could do what she loved. It can be challenging to have a lot of responsibility. Working on many projects at the same time is exciting, but also energy-draining as I know from having to work and study at the same time. Of course, doing what you love is important and should be part of your daily routine. 

Saskia strived to be independent and after quitting her job once again she began working on a project together with EN GARDE. Then, she got a call from Studio Grau informing her that their boss was pregnant and they needed a substitute for some time, so Saskia decided to return to Berlin to work at Studio Grau. In Berlin, she also worked on “fyta”, which is a blog about plants and a lifestyle brand. The network that she built during this time helped her to become independent. She currently works for agencies like Jack Coleman, Studio Grau, Novozamsky and Kopfstand as well as other studios and she says that the best network you can have is a network of friends. I think it’s great that she had the courage  to follow her heart and leave her former jobs to work on something else because those jobs did not appeal to her. She is now an entrepreneur in the field of communication design. I’ve come to realize that she is right about the fact that being independent and being an entrepreneur is a process and an extensive network of contacts is needed to be successful. Of course, if your network consists of friends this is even better. 

by e.gal. -

Stay on the Bus!

Seit meinem letzten Eintrag ist nun eine Zeit verstrichen, aber dass ich nicht jeden meiner Schritte dokumentiere, bedeutet keinesfalls, dass ich keinen mache. In meinen wenigen unverplanten Minuten habe ich intensiv über die Richtung nachgedacht, in die ich mit meiner Masterarbeit gehen will. Der letzte Gedanke, den ich diesbezüglich verbal geteilt habe, war die Integration der Helsinki Bus Station Theory in eine empirische Studie an Kunstschaffenden. 

Die Helsinki Bus Station Theory besagt, dass zu Beginn der Entwicklung einer Fähigkeit erst einmal kopiert wird. Babys kopieren ihre Eltern in nahezu allem, und Kunstschaffende kopieren die Werke und die Techniken anderer Kunstschaffender. In den ersten Stadien der Entwicklung bestimmter Fertigkeiten sind gewissermaßen alle auf dem selben Level. Eine Einzigartigkeit und ein eigener Stil entwickeln sich demzufolge oft erst nach Jahren der Ausübung einer Tätigkeit. Der finnisch-amerikanische Fotograf Arno Minkkinen gab diesem Phänomen den Namen Helsinki Bus Station Theory, weil er hierbei eine Analogie sah: Ein Busbahnhof in Helsinki ist Umschlagplatz für etliche Busse, aber für alle – unabhängig davon, welches Ziel sie haben – sind die ersten drei Stationen die gleichen. Das Wichtigste beim Erlernen einer Fertigkeit sei laut Minkkinen das Durchhaltevermögen, die stoische Gelassenheit, die es einem ermöglicht, nicht aufzugeben, auch wenn man nicht sofort einen eigenständigen Stil entwickelt. Man müsse nur lang genug „im Bus bleiben“, um diesen Effekt bemerken zu können.