Workshops

PhD Vitamin is a first-time event at the Estonian Academy of Arts that consists of public lectures and individual consultations. Our goal is to bring together experts in artistic research with prospective PhD students with the intent of introducing the latter to the field of artistic research and to advise them in developing their own PhD research proposals.

1. Join the lectures: (please register beforehand)

Monday, 04.05. 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Liina Siib works mainly in photography, video and installation. The most prominent and recurring themes in Siib’s work include social spaces, marginalised groups and overlooked experiences. In her work Siib looks into how history gets written and the role of memory in shaping various groups in society, often using interviews, observation or archival materials as her method of working. (CCA)

Monday, 04.05. 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Dr. Varvara Guljajeva is an artist and researcher. Varvara holds a PhD from Estonian Academy of Arts, and M.Sc in digital media from University of Luebeck, and a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from IT Collage (Tallinn University of Technology). Her practice-based doctoral thesis “From interaction to postparticipation: the disappearing role of the active participant” analyses and contextualises passive audience interaction through the lens of post-participation.

Tuesday, 05.05. 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Dr. Michael Schwab is a London-based artist and artistic researcher who investigates postconceptual uses of technology in a variety of media including photography, drawing, printmaking, and installation art. He holds a M.A. in philosophy (Hamburg University) and a PhD in photography (Royal College of Art, London) that focuses on post-conceptual post-photography and artistic research methodology. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal for Artistic Research (JAR).

Wednesday, 06.05. 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Dr. Chris Hales has exhibited a variety of interactive film installations dating back to ARTEC’95 in Japan via Future Cinema at ZKM in 2003 to the Glucksman Gallery in Cork in 2019. Part of his enquiry is the use of novel or unusual interface technology including facial emotion recognition and brain-computer interfaces.

2. Join the consultations: (please also register beforehand)

In addition to the lectures, individual consultations take place within the framework of the PhD Vitamin from 6th to 8th of May. They offer the opportunity to talk about your artistic work and ideas for a doctoral thesis with an expert of your choice.

In addition to the experts who will give lectures in the first half of the event, it is possible to register for a consultation with artist Kristina Norman.

Kristina Norman is a freelance artist whose interdisciplinary work is characterized by an interest in the relationship between identity, memory and public space. One of her most internationally known works is the intervention in public space at the 10th Manifesta Biennale in St. Petersburg, when she installed a 14-meter iron Christmas tree frame – which has become a symbol of Euromaidan – in front of the Winter Palace. The action linked the tragic events in Kiev to the repressed memory of demonstrations at the Palace Square at various times. Norman’s newer research-based creation experiments with performative expressions.

To participate in the consultations, register HERE.

We encourage artists, alumni and graduates of the Estonian Academy of Arts and other universities working with creative research methods to register. Registration is open until 03.05.2020. The exact consultation times will be sent directly to the provided e-mail addresses. Be quick – the number of free spots for the consultations is limited!

The lectures and consultations will take place in digital environments. The event is funded by the European Regional Development Fund

Questions? Please contact madis.luik@artun.ee

We invite you to take part in a rare opportunity to serve in the Special Programs Think Tank to envision and create hypothetical “special programs” that Estonia’s government might instate, either in the future or in parallel realities.
This five-day event will provide you with the chance to design preferable paths for government, guided by future-visioning strategists from the Extrapolation Factory. Over the course of the workshop, participants will be introduced to the essential principles of futures studies and will learn to identify signals, extrapolate implications and create future artefacts.
Each program will be announced through physical, print or digital artefacts to be shared with local citizens.

Read more…

The Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) is welcoming applications for the international summer school — 2019 EKA Summer Academy of Art, Design and Architecture – Possible Futures!

Application deadline: 26 May.

We invite you to take part in a rare opportunity to serve in the Special Programs Think Tank to envision and create hypothetical “special programs” that Estonia’s government might instate, either in the future or in parallel realities.
This five-day event will provide you with the chance to design preferable paths for government, guided by future-visioning strategists from the Extrapolation Factory. Over the course of the workshop, participants will be introduced to the essential principles of futures studies and will learn to identify signals, extrapolate implications and create future artefacts.
Each program will be announced through physical, print or digital artefacts to be shared with local citizens.

LEARNING OUTCOMES. The student is able to:

• understand the basics of speculative critical design;
• use design methodologies for a positive impact within one’s own community.

ASSESSMENT

The course ends with an evaluative assessment (pass-fail) and is based on:
• participation;
• Think Tank deliverables;
• individual reflections;
• final (semi-)public presentation of service/product prototypes.

TUTORS

Chris Woebken, MA Design Interactions (Anthony Dunne & Fiona Raby), 2008, Royal College of Art, London, UK.

Elliott P. Montgomery, MA Design Interactions (Anthony Dunne & Fiona Raby), 2011, Royal College of Art, London, UK.

The Extrapolation Factory is a design-based research studio for participatory futures studies, founded by Chris Woebken and Elliott P. Montgomery. The studio develops experimental methods for collaboratively prototyping as well as experiencing and impacting future scenarios. Central to these methods is the creation of hypothetical future props and their deployment in familiar contexts such as 99¢ stores, science museums, vending machines and city footpaths. With this work, the studio is exploring new territories for democratised futures by rapidly imagining, prototyping, deploying and evaluating visions of possible futures on an extended time scale.
www.extrapolationfactory.com

COST
Free

Apply now at www.artun.ee/summeracademy

“EKA Summer Academy of Art, Design and Architecture – Possible Futures” is supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

February 15 and 16, at 6–8PM in EKA Gallery

Kaspar Aus: “On two days I will pass on what I know about body, mind and movement. We listen, catch up and let life through ourselves. For example just like you could place one small seed cell into a human anus and from there grows the plant through and out of us. That the body becomes non-existent and the manifestation of everything that is.”

To get involved, you need comfortable clothes, shoes for running and dancing around, an effort to be opened and together. You do not need to have any specific skills in dance and body movement beforehand. There are a changing room and a shower. Everyone is welcome regardless of previous experience. Free of charge!

About the artist: kasparaus.wixsite.com/artist

Dates:  13-17 August 2018

Volume: 40 hours, 2 ECTS

Location:  Estonian Academy of Arts

Number of participants: max 13

Cost: FREE (Please note that this course is meant for higher education students only)

Registration deadline:  6th of May

In addition to the general required materials, candidates are expected to submit a letter of motivation explaining why they are applying and what is their experience with 3D printing so far (max A4).

The Department of Ceramics at the Estonian Academy of Arts invites you to participate in an international Clay 3D Printing workshop. Ceramics have properties that allow it to be used in the most disparate fields. We usually don’t consider that ceramics are all around us, not just in kitchenware, but also in bathrooms, swimming pools and public interiors, and that stoves and fireplaces, even houses, are made of fired clay. Top-quality ceramics can be found in medical equipment, audio technology and air and space industry. Clay is sensitive, flexible and versatile material with its’ own technological limits which the participants will learn during the workshop.

3D printing in clay allows us to print three-dimensional objects or models at lower cost and more easily. For ceramists, it represents a new technological possibility, while for others it gives a chance to convert digital sketches into real three-dimensional objects. During this course, participants will learn the technical skills of 3D printing and printing in clay: creating G-code and STL files, plus preparation of the clay and printing. The aim of the course is to use innovative thinking to discover new ways of printing, using clay and the printed ceramics. The end of the workshop will feature a pop-up exhibition of the objects created.

The workshop is aimed at ceramics, architecture and design students, but admission is open to all students who have had experience with 3D printing and know how to create 3D files. Every participant needs to bring their own laptop. All other materials are provided, and students may keep the objects they print.

Homework assignment for selectees:

1) students will be asked to bring one of their 3D-file, print ready

2) students will be asked to come up with a design they would like to execute in the workshop. They will be asked to give a presentation on the design in person. As in a hackathon, they will then set to work on the problem.

More information and link to registration form: https://www.artun.ee/summeracademy/clay-3d-printing/

Dates: 20-24 August 2018

Volume: 40 hours, 3 ECTS

Location: Department of Architecture at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Pikk tn 20, Tallinn

Number of participants: max 25

Cost: FREE (Please note that this course is meant for higher education students only)

Registration deadline: 6th of May

In case of high volume of applications, prospective participants are asked to write an essay one A4-format page in length (approximately 250 words).

Content of the course

This workshop is structured on architecture, numbers and cognition with the focus mainly on public space. Two broader topics pervade the workshop. One of them is more physical, involving translating the world into parameters, and the other is mapping social activities. The broad goal is to find connections between the two sets of topics. The environment around us consists of a number of physically countable and measurable parameters, which we can use to describe it (width of a carriageway, location of a cafe). Which parameters are the best for describing or designing the world?  As another important topic, we will map the movements or activities of human masses, using photo and image analysis and Wi-Fi positioning to this end. When, why and where are people moving and how long do they stop – this is an important set of topics, because the quality of space is largely dependent on the presence of people.  The participants in the summer academy course will be challenged to find relationships between the physical world and human activity. It will be important to find a means and method for measuring and documenting the environment. Cognition referred to in the course name refers to experience that can be used in future to make decisions to design and re-design space.  Ideally, we envision the participants who complete the academy to be capable of imagining and perceiving the implications of 1,000 people or 100 cars passing a point.

Picking key parameters (properties) from this environment has long received attention from urbanism scholars: William H. Whyte, who attempted to trace patterns of use of public space, or Kevin Lynch, who tried to find the mental model people use to understand a city.

The late 20th century brought a rise in computing power, which has resulted in change in the accuracy and use of many calculations. In the past, it was not conceivable to calculate trajectories from one building to another manually, but it is now possible. Alongside this trend, a completely new field has arisen: various kinds of simulations. Simulations make it possible to model traffic, pedestrians or both at the same time. Gathering data has become more intensive with a focus moving from gathering qualitative data to collecting quantitative data.  A large part of the summer school involves field observations, which helps instil intuition in participants as to what a given indicator means. This will also give them a clearer understanding of the computational processes and outcomes and they will be able to rationally assess the outcomes of some simulation or facts presented to them.

Participants will become well-versed in methods and means for quantitatively and qualitatively documenting the street-level space, which can in turn later be used for analysis of other places. The participant will also receive an overview of and access to software used in the framework of the workshop. At the end of the summer school, all of the data that was gathered will be made public to allow third parties to use them in their projects – for example, to plan more fluid, safer traffic conditions.

More information and link to registration form: https://www.artun.ee/summeracademy/numbers-and-cognition/

Dates: 6-8 August 2018

Location: Estonian Academy of Arts – Estonia pst 7 / Teatri väljak 1, room 440A

Volume: 24 academic hours, 1 ECTS

Number of participants: max 22

Cost: FREE (Please note that this course is meant for higher education students only)

Registration deadline: 6th of May

In addition to the general required materials, candidates are expected to submit a letter of motivation explaining why they are applying (max A4).

The Contemporary Art Field in Estonia short course is meant for international art history or curatorship students who are who are studying contemporary Estonian or Baltic art, are interested in the contemporary Estonian art world and in working with Estonian artists, curators or art historians, plan to enrol at the Estonian Academy of Arts and are looking for an overview of how the local art landscape operates. The workshop will be led by Academy of Arts teaching staff member, head of the Centre for General Theory Subjects and freelance art critic Maarin Ektermann.

The short course provides an overview of how contemporary art scene in Estonia functions – the most important organizations, the movers and shakers, the currently important and active artists from different disciplines, and the types of events being held. The causal factors behind the art scene are also explored, starting from the restoration of independence, Estonian art in the context of the regional and broader international art scene, and much more.

Topics to be discussed:

• Trends in contemporary art (social criticism, new painting, installation – architectural approach – public space, photography, graphic design, applied arts, etc.). Examples of artists and their work.
• The functioning of the art scene – who is active (what types of professions are feasible in Estonia), how are they funded (Ministry of Culture, Cultural Endowment of Estonia, creative industries, the law that requires a 1% art budget for public buildings, private capital, the art market, artists and work), general diagnostics – bottlenecks and success stories. The development of the art scene since the 1990s, illustrated by keywords.
• Central institutions and platforms (public and private capital-based). What is characteristic for, e.g. galleries, town galleries in county seats, creative industries centres, etc.? Other examples: artists’ residencies, culture factories, Tallinn Art Hall, Tartu Art Museum, Temnikova and Kasela Gallery, Centre of Contemporary Art Estonia, Artists Union.
• Formats and locations of various events. Concentration of art scene mainly in Tallinn and Tartu – what’s going on elsewhere?

More information and link to registration form: https://www.artun.ee/summeracademy/the-contemporary-art-field-in-estonia/

Dates:  6-11 August 2018

Volume: 6 days, 3 ECTS

Location:  Estonian Academy of Arts

Number of participants: max 22

Cost: FREE (Please note that this course is meant for higher education students only)

Registration deadline:  6th of May

Students applying for a slot in this workshop are asked to submit a CV and cover letter describing why they wish to participate and whether they have any old article of clothing to bring with them to Estonia. The cover letter should also reveal why they are interested in restoring textiles and haute couture.

Aim of the course:

• bring a disappearing specialized manual skill to Estonia and teach it to Estonian and international students
• restore articles of clothing in the collection of some Estonian museum and thereby contribute to the preservation of an exhibit item with historical value.

Course content:

The course provides practical and theoretical knowledge of how to restore old clothing – selection of fabrics, stitches and seams, treatment of the material, how different materials age, how to care for and restore different fabrics. In the course of the workshop, students will learn about the internal structure of haute couture clothing, allowing them to later create period-specific silhouettes or re-interpretations of them – pattern solutions for textiles, materials. The course will provide knowledge and skills that can be used to get closer to the secrets of high fashion. All of the participants in the course will be able to restore a part of dresses brought in by the lecturer.

The course teaches handicraft skills that have become a rarity, something highly sought-after among professionals. ˇFewer and fewer people practise these skills in a world dominated by modern fashions. Today clothing made 40, 50, even 100 years ago are held in high regard, as they involved the use of original patterns, hand stitching, high-quality tailoring. To this point, the creation of such clothing have remained shrouded in arcane mystery – they seem easy to imitate at first glance but it is impossible to achieve the right effect without knowing what is going on “under the dress.”

The course is mainly meant for fashion design, theatre design, restoration and design students.

More information and link to registration form: https://www.artun.ee/summeracademy/the-anatomy-of-couture/

Dates:  20-25 August 2018

Volume: 6 days, 3 ECTS

Location:  Viljandi, Estonia

Number of participants: max 22

Cost: FREE (Please note that this course is meant for higher education students only)

Registration deadline:  6th of May

In addition to the general admissions requirements, candidates are expected to submit a letter of intent describing their interest in attending the workshop, and a PDF portfolio including documentation of at least one project relevant to the use and/or attributes of wood.

This 6-day workshop Wood and Design in the lush woodlands of Viljandi, Estonia, focuses on the design aesthetics, ecology, and sustainability of wood. Exploring the material properties of wood through its use in design, the workshop invites participants to build a set of functional wooden objects for outdoor living with the simplest of means. Participants will utilise wood, as a naturally-occurring renewable material, in two forms: solid slab and left-over scraps from local lumber mills. The workshop is therefore not only community-inspired, with materials sourced or found locally, but also meets the ever-growing need to reclaime and recycle waste wood.

Level:

2nd and 3rd year BA students and MA students in Interior Architecture, Furniture Design, or the equivalent.

More information and link to registration: https://www.artun.ee/summeracademy/wood-and-design/

Dates:  6-10 August 2018

Volume: 40 hours, 3 ECTS

Location:  Tallinn, Estonia

Number of participants: max 20

Cost: FREE (Please note that this course is meant for higher education students only)

Registration deadline:  6th of May

Aimed at design students; no programming skills necessary.

In addition to the general required materials, candidates are expected to submit a letter of motivation explaining why they are applying  and outlining their experience with Interaction Design so far (max A4). Students are expected to bring their own sketchbooks, markers and laptops.

Over the course of a week you will learn about the foundations, history and possible futures of interaction design within a studio environment. This 5-day hands-on workshop provides a solid foundational knowledge of user experience (UX) design  for new practitioners, as well as an in-depth exploration of interaction design for experienced designers. The course gives participants space and guidance to delve deeply into theoretical and practical aspects of interaction design by investigating contemporary issues and proposing design solutions.

Through a series of lectures, films, historic case studies and studio practice, participants will explore the nature and aesthetics of interaction design in the digital and physical space, in individual and group studio practice from ideation and the iterative design process to presentations and critique.

Learning outcomes:

• Learn about design foundations, theory, history and practice
• Understand how to look at problems from social, technological, economic and cultural perspectives
• Practice design research and synthesis
• Learn how to be creative in the digital realm
• Improve your ability to present your design concepts
• Practice working individually and in small teams

More information and link to registration form: https://www.artun.ee/summeracademy/interaction-design-tomorrow/