Maagdenhuis Debate 8 December - On Teaching and Research

After the Maagdenhuis occupation, friend and foe were in agreement that universities are not functioning as they should and that change is necessary. The exact nature of the issue, however, is subject to debate. Protesters and the University's executive staff have found common ground in the idea of organising a series of debates about the university - the 'Maagdenhuis Debates'. The debate on 8 December 2015, on the theme of teaching and research, will be moderated by Janneke Wesseling.

One of the hot issues in the debates about the neoliberal university is the relation between research and teaching. ReThink UvA proposes an urgent and fundamental transformation of the current organization of teaching and research which it has summarised in two position papers. During this debate at the Maagdenhuis, a panel will briefly discuss these two position papers, to identify major problems and suggest solutions. The panel's comments are meant as a starting point for an open debate about the current state of affairs regarding the academic profession and its future.

The Maagdenhuis Debates are open to the public - no registration is required.

Venue: central hall of Maagdenhuis
Time: December 8, 17.30-20.00h

Moderator/chair:

• Janneke Wesseling: art critic at NRC Handelsblad, Research Professor in Art Theory and Practice, Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, and co-director of PhDArts, Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, Leiden University

Panel members:

• Markus Stauff: Assistant Professor and BA programme director, Media Studies Department, University of Amsterdam
• Sicco de Knecht: PhD Candidate (Neurosciences), Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam
• Marc de Wilde: Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the Paul Scholten Centre for Jurisprudence, University of Amsterdam
• Pim Klaassen: Postdoctoral researcher and Lecturer, Athena Institute for research on communication and innovation in the health and life sciences, VU University Amsterdam

To be confirmed:

• Annelies Moors: Professor in Contemporary Muslim Societies and director of the Muslim Cultural Politics research group, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam
• Chris Lorenz: Professor of Historical Culture of Germany, VU University Amsterdam

Lectures Kunst & Kritiek

On 11 and 12 November, Janneke Wesseling will give a lecture entitled ‘Kunst & Kritiek’ about looking at and writing about the visual arts, based on her recent publication De Volmaakte Beschouwer (2015). The lecture is part of the KunstNU series, a six-part crash course on contemporary art that is a collaboration between Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art and De Appel arts centre.

11 November 2015, 19.00-21.00 hrs – Witte de With, Rotterdam
12 November 2015, 19.00-21.00 hrs – De Appel, Amsterdam

New research group lectorate Art Theory & Practice takes off

In September 2015 the new research group of the lectorate Art Theory & Practice will take off, chaired by Janneke Wesseling. Participating tutors for the academic year 2015-2016 are Anja Hertenberger (Interactive/Media/Design), Els Kuijpers (Graphic Design), Ewoud van Rijn (Fine Arts), Louise Schouwenberg (Interior Architecture and Furniture Design) and Judith van IJken (Photography).

The research group will meet on a monthly basis to discuss the individual research projects, methods, dilemmas and possible outcomes and to present the research process. One or two PhDArts candidates will join the research group. Participating tutors are to share the outcomes of their research projects with the KABK community, in the form of a presentation, publication and/or lecture.

WATCH ONLINE: Video registrations Encounters Between Art and Science

'Ontmoetingen tussen kunst en wetenschap' is a series of dialogues between artists and scientists. Video registrations of the first few sessions have now been made available online through the websites of West The Hague and the Lectorate Art Theory & Practice. The last session - Bas Haring meets Colin Benders (Kyteman) - will take place on June 23 in the Paard van Troje. Tickets can be purchased online through the website or at the ticket office of the Paard van Troje.

# 1: Hans Clevers meets Ramsey Nasr
# 2: Maarten Jansen meets Hans van Houwelingen
# 3: Frans-Willem Korsten meets Barbara Visser
# 4: Carel Stolker meets Johan Simons
# 5: Marileen Dogterom meets Francine Houben
# 6: Bas Haring meets Colin Benders (Kyteman)

This programme is a collaboration between Studium Generale Leiden University, University of the Arts (Lectorate Art Theory & Practice), Academy of Creative and Performing Arts of Leiden University, West The Hague and Paard van Troje. This activity is also part of the program of the 88th lustrum of Leiden University.

EGO-salon met Janneke Wesseling, 24 april 2015

Lezing: De Volmaakte Beschouwer

De ervaring van het kunstwerk: over perspectieven bij het kijken naar kunstwerken

Hoe kijken we naar beeldende kunst? Wij verwachten iets van het kunstwerk, wat is dat en wat kunnen wij verwachten? Verwacht het kunstwerk misschien ook iets van ons?
In haar lezing zal Janneke Wesseling ingaan op het kijken naar kunst als een interactie tussen twee actieve partijen. Zij introduceert daarbij het begrip verticon om er de positie van de beschouwer van het kunstwerk mee aan te duiden. Verticon en horizon verwijzen in haar opvatting naar een spel van wisselende perspectieven in het kijken naar kunst. Janneke Wesseling zal haar betoog ondersteunen met concrete voorbeelden uit de kunstgeschiedenis.

Vrijdag 24 april 2015
17:45 - 22:00
Brugstraat 7, Arnhem
Nederlands
Entreeprijs: 8,50 incl. maaltijd
Aanmelden: info@NGE.nl

Over EGO-salon

EGO, Esthetisch Genootschap Oost-Nederland, komt elke laatste vrijdag van de maand bijeen om een middag te discussiëren over een probleemstelling op het snijvlak van de filosofie en de kunsten aan de hand van een inleiding of een vooraf te lezen tekst.

In principe toegankelijk voor elke (deskundige) geïnteresseerde.

14 April – 23 June 2015, Encounters Between Art and Science

Studium Generale: Encounters Between Art and Science

‘How does our society benefit from this?’ is a question that artists and scientists are often confronted with these days. In the course of centuries, artists and scientists have been gaining an ever-growing position of autonomy, yet we seem to have arrived at a turning point. Scientists are now expected to focus their attention on matters relevant to our modern society and artists are expected to show in what way their works of art matter to society and its current challenges. Another striking development is that the arts and sciences are more often seeking ways in which to collaborate.

The purpose of these encounters is that prominent artists and scientists enter into a dialogue with each other, discussing questions such as ‘what is the relation between art and science?’, ‘what is their relevance to society?’, ‘what drives artists and scientists to do their work and what is the role of creativity?’, ‘what is the importance of room for failure?’, ‘what is the value of fundamental research and autonomous art?’ and ‘what is the current situation regarding artistic freedom and freedom in science?’.

These and other questions guide this series of meetings, in which we reflect on the societal role of both worlds and on their mutual relationship. Led by Andrea van Pol six discussions will take place between renowned artists and scientists.

Tuesday 04 April: Hans Clevers meets Ramsey Nasr,
Tuesday 28 April: Maarten Jansen meets Hans van Houwelingen,
Tuesday 12 May: Frans-Willem Korsten meets Barbara Visser,
Tuesday 26 May: Carel Stolker meets Johan Simons,
Tuesday 09 June: Marileen Dogterom meets Francine Houben,
Tuesday 23 June: Bas Haring meets Colin Benders (Kyteman).

Paard van Troje, Prinsegracht 12, Den Haag
more information: www.studiumgenerale.leidenuniv.nl

This programme is a collaboration between Studium Generale Leiden University, University of the Arts (Lectorate Art Theory & Practice), Academy of Creative and Performing Arts of Leiden University, West The Hague and Paard van Troje. This activity is also part of the program of the 88th lustrum of Leiden University.

OUT NOW: The Perfect Spectator, Dutch e-book

The Perfect Spectator
The Experience of the Art Work and Reception Aesthetics
by Janneke Wesseling
Published by Valiz, Book and Culture Projects
Design: Sam de Groot

What happens between a spectator and an art work? How do we experience ‘meaning’ in an art work? How can the process of interpretation be understood and articulated?
To address these questions, the author explores the field of reception aesthetics, with its central premise that the contemplation of art is a matter of interaction between the art work and the observer. The research is focused on unravelling and problematising the theoretical terminology of the interaction between art work and spectator, deriving from reception aesthetics as well as from hermeneutics and phenomenology, with the aim of building a new theoretical foundation for this terminology. Additionally, different concepts of spectatorship are extensively discussed.
‘I believe it is more productive to research how the art work works or signifies than what it shows or might signify. This ‘how’ reveals itself mainly in the performative act of experiencing the work.’
This book addresses scholars and students in the fields of art history, aesthetics and visual and cultural studies, as well as artists and art students, and all those art spectators who wish to develop a deeper understanding of the experience of art.

Dutch e-book: order now at Kobo
Later in 2015 available as English paperback book. 

Culture 3.0: Prosuming the Art Academy, 27 March 2015

Culture 3.0: Prosuming the Art Academy, a seminar organized by the research group of the Lectorate Art Theory & Practice at the University of the Arts The Hague.
27 March 2015, 10:00 - 18:00 h

On this day we will look at the impact of digital culture on ‘making’ and will investigate its significance for art education. Three urgent questions will be addressed:

• How can we teach students to become prosumers?
• What are the implications of digital culture for the experience of sensuousness? And for the artistic process of making and its outcome?
• How can we teach students to develop a critical position towards Culture 3.0? What could a critical art and design practice look like in Culture 3.0?

Lectures
Robert Hewison (UK, 1943) - Creating the Creative Industries: the British experience and its challenges
Bas van Beek (NL, 1974) - The Multiple Personality Disorder of the Designer
Theo Ploeg (NL,1969) - Design(ing) (for) the New World
David Jablonowski (DE, 1982) - Stone Carving High Performance

RSVP before 13/3/2015: lectoraatktp@kabk.nl
Royal Academy of Art, Prinsessegracht 4, The Hague

For more information please visit: www.lectoraatktp.nl

PhDArts Symposium: Unfixing Images

A discussion on imagery in the flux of political action, 19 & 20 March 2015

The symposium Unfixing Images focuses on visual documents that develop within processes of political resistance. As bi-products of larger socio-political struggles these documents can be understood both as visual traces of “lived politics” and as tools that can diversify hegemonial historiographies. In this context images are understood as “variational characters”: their “meaning” is inherently unstable as it is intimately linked to the temporality of the processes that bring them forth and continually influence how they are seen.

Unfixing Images will attempt to sketch out a model within which we can situate imagery in the flux of political action.

The symposium is organized by PhDArts candidates Mikala Hyldig Dal, Riccardo Giacconi, and Andrea Sultiens and is divided into three sub-topics that reflect the research outlook of the individual candidates.

The format of Unfixing Images merges classical research and presentations with artistic interventions that reflect on images while abstaining from visuality. The symposium will be broadcast live via a pirate radio transmitter, and an edit will be made available as audio podcast online.

For reservation/Press information mail to PhDArts: info@phdarts.eu
N.B. Participation is reserved for the PhDarts candidates. Limited seats for guests are available and reservation is mandatory. Send an email to info@phdarts.eu.
More information can be found here: www.phdarts.eu
Location: Royal Academy of Art (KABK)