Category: Departments

May 20th at 16:00 at EKA room A501 Hélène Day Fraser will give an open lecture “Decoloniality? Locating Inadvertent Parallels”.

The Associate Dean at Emily Carr University of Art and Design will share work done with many others on a project called clothing(s) as Conversation. She will speak to material practice in relation to the social and questions she is currently posing of her own work in relation to decoloniality.

She asks how do we locate ourselves? What does it mean to find new routes forward? What are the tropes that trap us? Is it possible to identify, reroute, delink, move away from mainstream assumptions of design/in design?

Hélène Day Fraser is a first generation Canadian, of Welsh and English descent, born in North-Eastern Quebec. She has been formed by life in a small town on the Canadian Prairies, an island in the Philippines, downtown Toronto, Strasbourg, the outskirts of Paris, France and most recently Vancouver and the North Shore. She is the Associate Dean, Master of Design, Jake Kerr Faculty of Graduate Studies, Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Hélène was the Principle Investigator of a SSHRC Insight funded research initiative: cloTHING(s) as Conversation. ( 2013 – 2018). Recently, she received CFI funding to help support and develop a Textile Adaptation Research Program (TARP) based out of Emily Carr University. She is also a founding member and Co-Director of the ECU Material Matters research center, and an active member of Emily Carr’s DESIS lab (DESIS is an international design research network for sustainability and social innovation). In her role as Emily Carr University’s Academic Co-ordinator for Sustainability (2012 – 2015) she established Creatives with Intent, a group that promoted agency and communication pertaining to sustainability.

Hélène’s textile and garment-based research addresses concerns and developments in the areas of: sustainability, new digital technologies, craft and legacy practices of making and generative systems. Her work explores modes of social engagement, identity construction and clothing consumption habits.

It is informed by a design education, and a past professional career in fashion, design, and manufacturing. Day Fraser holds a Masters of Applied Arts in Design and a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Fashion.

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.

On Thursday, May 16 at 6 pm, the exhibition YOU MUST HAVE A BODY by the second-year students of the Jewellery and Blacksmithing Department will be opened at the Estonian Academy of Arts Trepigalerii.

The subject of the exhibition is the body and the experience of this self-existence and being a part of the world. Nine young artists interpret how bodies interact with each other, what are the characteristics of the body, and what, in which form, leaves marks in the body. The selection of the materials and techniques used can be somewhat surprising.

Participators: Georg Arnold, Kristina Kask, Endel Maas, Terje Meisterson, Tauris Reose, Kristin Sepp, Oleg Šubitšev, Mart Talvar, Taavi Teevet.

Supervisors: Eve Margus-Villems, Nils Hint, Urmas Lüüs, Jens A. Clausen.

Sponsors: Träx rehvikeskus, Tikkurila, ExtraWize, EKA, Martin Kipper, Carol Haamer.

The exhibition at the Estonian Academy of Arts Trepigalerii (entrance on the corner of Põhja pst 7 and Kotzebue street) remains open May 17 – 30, Monday – Sunday 12 PM – 7 PM.

Further information:
Taavi Teevet
taavi.teevet@artun.ee
+372 56 947 532

Performance by Heleliis Hõim and Irmeli Terras at Vent Space project space on 6 May, 6-9.30 pm.

A person never wants to feel that they are truly alone. You want to feel protected and guided by some higher power or feel that your choices are directed by someone else, because the most terrifying realisation is that you are alone and that you alone have the responsibility to choose. According to the theory of the origin of beliefs, worshipping objects bestowed with a greater power, i.e. fetishism is the oldest kind of religious belief. What do we do with these objects? What do we use them for? In the contemporary consumerist world, this is pure imagology and often carries a promise of a better life and a better me. We have returned to polytheism and reach out to our gods. “I believe in things, I want things, therefore I am.”

Irmeli Terras, person?, consumer, fetishist, pagan, artist. She studies human psychology and their actions when it comes to consumerism, religion, the occult, fetishism and imagology. She creates performances in which she incorporates various media: sound, vocals, video, dance, installation.

Heleliis Hõim, person, consumer, pagan-being, artist. Consumed media: painting, performance, sculpture, video, dance, sound. A childhood spent in the forests of Estonia convening with the trees and other beings. A consumer of art and culture. A fetish for new materials.

Making in Mixed Reality: Open Lecture by Fologram co-founder Gwyllim Jahn

The last lecturer of the Open Lecture Series this spring will be Australian architect, RMIT lecturer Gwyllim Jahn, who investigates the implications of Mixed-Reality assembly methodologies on architectural design. Jahn will be stepping on the stage of the main auditorium of the new EKA building on the 9th of May at 6 pm.

Gwyllim Jahn is the co-founder and CCO of Fologram, a Melbourne based design research practice and technology startup building a platform for designing and making in mixed reality. Gwyllim holds an academic position as a Lecturer in Architecture at RMIT where he developed design research in the fields of mixed reality environments, autonomous robotic fabrication, behavioural design systems and creative applications of machine learning. His work has been published in leading computational design conferences and journals including IJAC, ACADIA and RobArch and he has given talks, presentations and workshops at international institutions including MIT, Stuttgart ICD, UCL, AA, Sci Arc and Tsinghua University.

Jahn is one of the authors of Tallinn Architecture Biennale TAB 2019 Installation Competition winning proposal “Steampunk” – installation will be built in August 2019 in front of the green area facing the Museum of Estonian Architecture.

Fologram practice explores how building directly from mixed reality environments can extend the skills and capabilities of designers and builders by improving spatial understanding of design intent and reducing the risk of human error associated with extrapolating 2D instructions to 3D form. They build tools that dramatically improve the ability of conventional craftsmen and construction teams to fabricate structures with significant variability in parts, form, structure, texture, pattern and so on, and in many cases completely reverse design viability as impossibly expensive and difficult proposals become straightforward, low risk and cheap. Complex designs can now be fabricated on standard building sites, with cheap materials and tools, and without expensive expertise or design documentation.

In his lecture, Jahn will discuss work from Fologram that investigates the implications of Mixed-Reality (MR) assembly methodologies on architectural design. Could making in mixed reality allow us to reconfigure CAD-CAM not as a means of working to high degrees of tolerance and precision but instead as a return to craftsmanship, intuition and reflexive making? How will the medium of MR enable new forms of collaboration between designers and manufactures, or between humans and machines? What new architectural forms might be found in this superposition of the digital and the craftsman?

A brief demonstration of the Fologram toolkit on the HoloLens and mobile devices will follow the presentation.

The architecture and urban design department of the Estonian Academy of Arts has curated the Open Lectures on Architecture series since 2012 – each year, a dozen architects, urbanists, both practicing as well as academics, introduce their work and field of research to the audience in Tallinn. All lectures are in English, free and open to everyone.

The series is funded by the Estonian Cultural Endowment.
Curators: Sille Pihlak, Johan Tali

www.avatudloengud.ee
https://www.facebook.com/EKAarhitektuur/

Join us for a performance evening “You’re not alone” on 30th of April, 6 PM at EKA Gallery.
Performances are made during an EKA course “You are not alone” mentored by Henri Hütt and Evelyn Raudsepp.

Artists: Andre Joosep Arming, Helena Lepik, Irmeli Terras, Heleliis Hõim, Ryan Galer, Angela Elizabeth Ramírez Fellowes, Mari-Liis Sõrg, Katrin Enni, Aksel Haagensen, Marianne Siilbaum, Sarah Johnston, Jose Aldemar Muñoz Ñustes

International Symposium of Interior Architecture and Spatial Use SISU takes place in Tallinn, Estonia. Highlight of the Estonian interior architecture calendar since 2014, SISU Symposium is organised by the Estonian Association of Interior Architects, with the concept and programme for each SISU Symposium developed by a curatorial team. This year, the curatorial team consists of members of the Interior Architecture Department of the Estonian Academy of Arts EKA led by Professor Hannes Praks.

Focus and format

This year, the focus of SISU will be on the physical presence of our craft. The symposium will investigate strategies for spatial intervention, making and production through educational practices that combine direct engagement and participation in the creation of physical space. We will look at the tactile-sensorial experience a space can provide, we will explore material design through the lense of interior architecture and we’ll be inspired by the words of a long-time professor of interior architecture department of EKA, Estonian interior architect and designer Vello Asi (1927-2016), who said that space should always be designed from inside out.

From 12 to 14 June 2019, we invite interior architects and students of the field as well as professionals and students from neighbouring fields – architects, designers, etc – to join us for a three-day exploration of the interior architecture and spatial design process at the Põhjala Factory on Marati St, Tallinn. We will start with an empty space and will together – in the form of workshops and lectures – build up SISU Symposium 2019. The working format of SISU 2019 will be split 50:50 between workshops and lectures.

Location

SISU 2019 will be set up at the Põhjala Factory located on the Kopli peninsula of Tallinn – a 15 minute tram ride from the centre of the city. At present, this former ship-building area is weighing its options for the future, with many of the choices to be made being spatial, thus making Põhjala an excellent partner and location for our three-day investigation into the current space-making strategies interior architects employ. The spacious, inspiring quarters of Põhjala will also allow us to not only speak of practices, but also show, engage, make and produce space, showcasing interior architecture educational practices.

Presenters, performers and workshop tutors

Veiko Liis (Tallinn)
b210 architects and Pavle Stamenovic (Tallinn / Belgrade)
Laura Linsi and Roland Reemaa (Tallinn / London)
Daniel Zamarbide (Geneva / Lisbon)
Prof Masayo Ave (Berlin)
Jimi Tenor & Trashchestra (Helsinki)
Karsten Födinger (Karlsruhe)
Kärt Ojavee (Tallinn)
Elena Khurtova ja Marie Ilse Bourlanges (Amsterdam)
Eik Hermann (Tallinn)
Damon Taylor (London)
and many more

Practicalities

The working language of the symposium is English.
SISU is free of charge and open to everyone interested in the topic, but we require participants to register for SISU workshops – registration will open in the beginning of May!

SISU 2019 supporters

The Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the Ministry of Culture of Estonia.

Additional information

Project Manager Silja Kukk silja@esl.ee
Curatorial team contact Andrea Tamm andrea.tamm@artun.ee

Date:6–8 May 2019 at 10.00 – 15.30

Venue:Estonian Academy of Arts, Põhja pst 7, room A402 (6-7 May), A301 (8 May)

Lecturer:Nithikul Nimkulrat

Practice-based research[1]has been adopted by creative practitioners in various art and design disciplines for over three decades. Its basic proposition is that “not only is practice embedded in the research process but research questions arise from the process of practice, the answers to which are directed toward enlightening and enhancing practice” (Candy and Edmonds 2018, p. 63). An emphasis on the contribution of research outcomes from practice-based research is that new knowledge is generated to inform creative practice and such knowledge may at times only be obtainable by means of practice.

Whilst artifacts created from within a research project is viewed as an integral part of the practice-based research process, they are expected to be placed in context through written theses and/or disseminated in published papers. By the necessity of written theses in academic research, reflection and documentation of the creative process and the overall research process is unavoidable (Nimkulart 2007).

This seminar aims to assist art and design students in situating their creative artifacts in research (Nimkulrat 2013) and in designing and structing their research conduct that involves their own practice as a research method based on their research questions initially set. This is not to understand practice as research. Practice is not research but can play a significant role in research.

The seminar will focus on the following research components:

1. Research question– Why would art and design practice be necessary for answering it?
2. Research process– How is it constructed based on the research question? Where is art and design practice located within the research process? How is documentation performed throughout the processes? How does reflection drive the process further and transform the research question initially set?
3. Artifacts– Do they answer or support the written thesis to answer the research question?

In addition, the seminar will highlight how documentation functions as a research tool for capturing the practitioner-researcher’s reflection in- and on- action (Mäkelä and Nimkulrat 2018).

Requirement

To participate in the seminar, please send an abstract (250 words) that describes their PhD project and includes a few photos of artifacts and their processes, if any, to elika.kiilo@artun.eeby 1 May 2019. Please note that a primary research question must be clearly stated in the abstract.

In preparation for the seminar, participants will be asked to read

Candy, L. and Edmonds E. (2018). Practice-Based Research in the Creative Arts: Foundations and Futures from the Front Line. Leonardo 51(1), 63–69. https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/LEON_a_01471

Mäkelä, M., & Nimkulrat, N. (2018). Documentation as Practice-Led Research Tools for Reflection on Experiential Knowledge. FORMakademisk 11(2).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7577/formakademisk.1818

Nimkulrat, N. (2007). The Role of Documentation in Practice-Led Research. Journal of Research Practice, 3(1), Article M6. http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/article/view/58/83

Nimkulrat, N. (2009). Paperness: Expressive Material in Textile Art from an Artist’s Viewpoint (pp. 34–38). Helsinki, Finland: University of Art and Design Helsinki. https://nithikul.com/PDF/Paperness.pdf

Nimkulrat, N. (2013). Situating Creative Artifacts in Art and Design Research. FORMakademisk, 6(2), Article 4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7577/formakademisk.657

Registration

The seminar is open to PhD students. Registration is open until 30.04.2019.

Registration form

Nithikul Nimkulrat is a practitioner-researcher who intertwines research with textile practice, focusing on experiential knowledge in craft processes in the context of design research. Prior to her current appointment as a Tenured Associate Professor at OCAD University in Canada in December 2018, Nithikul has worked at Estonian Academy of Arts, Loughborough University, and Aalto University, where she earned a doctorate in 2009. Nithikul is an elected council member of the Design Research Society (DRS), the convenor of the DRS Special Interest Group on Experiential Knowledge (EKSIG), and the leader of the Cumulus Association’s Fashion and Textile Working Group.

[1]The term “practice-based research” is chosen over “artistic research” and “practice-led research” to be used in the workshop in order to give practice a general role in scholarly research. For differentiation in meaning of different terms, see Nimkulrat (2009, pp. 34–38) and Candy and Edmonds (2018, pp. 64–65).

This event is organised by the Graduate School of Culture Studies and Arts, supported by the ASTRA project of the Estonian Academy of Arts – EKA LOOVKÄRG (European Union, European Regional Development Fund).

We invite you to the public viewing of the installation SEWN LAND by Laura De Jaeger on the 4th of December from 2-6pm.

For SEWN LAND (2018) De Jaeger divides the gallery space in 2 by placing a replica of the Belgian language border diagonally through it. The installation is an investigation of a line, an object connecting two points, creating two spaces, breaking them or overlapping. When that line is a border, one only visible on a map, and stolen out of its context, it becomes an almost romantic object. However, it is man made and artificial, it is a carrier of history and movement. It creates it’s own nature and flows organically. You could almost see it as a crack in the earth, or the mountains touching the sky.

The shape is covered with yellow sewing thread: an act of healing of a 16 century wounded line. In space you find 3 Brussels sprouts sewn with the same thread – apart, yet bound – different, yet the same. Yellow, as the basic foundation of the two flags, a colour that according to Kandinsky reaches out rather than pulls back into itself. As in real life, we can not visually sense the border, the artist translated the line in another sense: a sound in the space vibrates, and by that covers every movement and corner it takes.

Laura De Jaeger (1995) is a Belgian visual artist who explores organic matter through space. Humanity, their natural habitat, but also impermanence often touches her work. By translating universal themes to visual poetry, she asks questions about the forgotten corners of our surroundings.
De Jaeger (LUCA School of Arts in Brussels) is currently an exchange student in the 3rd year BA Sculpture and Installation Department in The Estonian Academy of Arts.

Vent Space is supported by the Student Council of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

On Wednesday, the 12th of December at 19 o’clock, we will open the exhibition “Disassemble” at Vent Space (Vabaduse väljak 6/8). The exhibition is open from 13 to 19 of December from 14-20 o’clock.

It is the first group show of the students of the 2nd year of photography department.

The participating artists: Kristiina Aarna, Ben Caro, Gerda Nurk, Diana Olesjuk, Anna Pazucha, Pille-Riin Vihtre & Lisann Lillevere.

Through their individual visions they propose unique viewpoints of their surroundings. By looking closer they have re-constructed reality within the photographic frame to ask us to question hierarchies both inside and outside the image. Furthermore they have de-constructed reality and built a meditative space into which they invite us into. De-constructing familiar places through a rather personal view. Using a historical viewpoint to highlight overlooked traces visible under close looking.

Vent Space is supported by the Student Council of the Estonian Academy of Arts.