PhD Thesis defence of Claudia Pasquero

Claudia Pasquero, PhD student of the Estonian Academy of Arts, Curriculum of Architecture and Urban Planning will defend her thesis “Polycephalum: Aesthetic as a measure of ecological intelligence in Architecture and Urban Design” (“Polycephalum: esteetika ja ökoloogiline intelligentsus arhitektuuris ja linnakujunduses”) on the 22nd of November 2019 at 10.00 at Exhibition Space of BAU Design College of Barcelona (Carrer de Pujades, 118 Barcelona)

Supervisors: dr Veronika Valk (Estonian Academy of Arts) and prof Mario Carpo (The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London)

Pre-reviewers: Prof Dr Christopher Pierce (Architectural Association, London) and Prof Dr Bart Lootsma (University of Innsbruck)

Opponent: prof dr Dr Christopher Pierce (Architectural Association, London)

This dissertation, titled ‘Polycephalum: the aesthetic as a measure of ecological intelligence in architecture and urban design’, unpacks and articulates the design methodology of the candidate’s practice-based research. It moves from an analysis of the relationship between ecoLogicStudio (co-founded by the candidate in 2005) and the academic work she conducts at the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL) and at Innsbruck University (UIBK). The thesis then explores how, in this body of work, biology intersects computation as the basis for a new architectural and urban design method. Critical to the synergy among these disciplines is the role of aesthetics. The candidate refers to aesthetics as a language of non-verbal communication, a metalanguage, which, she argues, must now embody greater ecological agency in shaping future cities.

Methodologically, the development of this thesis has followed the Creative Practice Research model developed by RMIT University (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology), founded on the notion that any creative venturous practice intrinsically involves a form of research enquiry. In supporting the development of this original piece of work the Estonian Academy of Arts doctoral program in architecture and urban planning, in which the candidate enrolled as an ADAPT-r Research Fellow, has aligned its stream of creative practice research with RMIT’s long-established program.

A key outcome of this research is embodied in the concept of Polycephalum architecture. This notion mobilizes multiple forms of intelligence, both human and non-human, to redefine the urban realm in the post-Anthropocene age. What role will non-human intelligence, both artificial and biological, play in shaping future architecture? The Polycephalum dismisses the core notion of modern master-planning, to elevate humanity beyond its material substrate via its foundations in rationality. Its aesthetics apparatus becomes here a mean to establish cybernetic conversations, within which human and non-human ecologies constitute co-evolutionary systems, a form of extended mind.

The thesis was developed as part of the ADAPT-r (Architecture, Design and Art Practice Training-research) program within Architecture and Urban Planning program of EKA Doctoral School.

Please find the PhD thesis HERE

On Wednesday, 30 October at 3:30 pm, the exhibition From the Beginning to Today: 1+1 , which celebrates the academy’s 105th anniversary, will open on the 2nd floor of the EKA atrium. About 40 individual works, series or sets of student works by 52 authors are exhibited at the exhibition introducing the different departments of  EKA. All works displayed at the exhibition belong to the EAAM’s collection, whose rich treasures are still waiting to be explored. The exhibition is open on all workdays until 18 November.

The exhibition dedicated to the anniversary of EKA presents all disciplines currently taught at the academy, each with two works: one from the early days of the school and the other from the present time. Liberal arts, including painting, sculpture, drawing, print art, photography, scenography, animation and new media, as well as applied arts, design and architecture, are presented as thematic groups on the three levels of the atrium. Scientific research has not been left out either: a satellite exhibition at the library presents research papers selected based on the same principle.

Although the exhibition presents the entire kaleidoscope of disciplines, the principle of selection – only two works or series from each art field, with the old and the new items displayed side by side – the intent of the exhibition is not to provide a comprehensive overview. On this occasion, the focus is on individual works. Each selected piece creates a visual or substantive connection with its partner, as well as with adjacent works. In this way, works depicting the urban space, such as Ülo Sooster’s social realist graduation project and the PhD student Britta Benno’s hybrid drawing with an animation projection from her Dystopic Tallinn series are shown side by side, and a phone model and drawings from 40 years ago form a pair with the project for a digital ring that would allow lovers to keep in touch over a long distance, etc. The accompanying texts on the labels make it possible to put together a historical picture, piece by piece, which is presented in a more comprehensive form in the publications celebrating EKA’s anniversary.

The exhibition was created in close cooperation with the EKA departments and participating artists.

Curator: Reeli Kõiv

Participating artists, designers, architects and scholars:
Ülo Sooster, Jaan Vares, Bruno Tomberg, Aulin Rimm, Pilvi Ojamaa, Laur Tiidemann, Triin Marts, Edith Karlson, Britta Benno, Ene Pikk, Cloe Jancis, Julia-Maria Linna, Sander Joon, Anu Laura Tuttelberg, Arthur Arula, Varvara Guljajeva (Varvara@Mar), Katrin Kabun, Andra Jõgis, Nils Hint, Henri Papson, Raul Polding, Nesli Hazal Akbulut, Ellen Tamm, Herbert Preisman (Prees), Aino Toppi, Merilin Meremaa, Ruth Huimerind, Kelian Luisk, Merike Männi, Maria Port, Üllar Karro, Risto Bruus, Janika Vesperg, Peep Ainsoo, J. Kurvet, Vello Laanemaa, Irina Tširitš, Tõnu Kallas, Lembit Remmelgas, Leili Rummel, Anneliis Aunapuu, Ülo Kulgver, Raine Karp, Rein Kersten, Ell Väärtnõu, Veiko Vahtrik, Hain Toss, Evgeniya Dolgopolova, Hilkka Hiiop, Mart Kalm, Elnara Taidre, Olesja Katšanovskaja, Mati Kahu

Graphic design: Mikk Heinsoo (StuudioStuudio)
Designer: Maria Kristiina Ulas
Technical realisation: Heldur Lassi

See the entire programme of events to celebrate the 105th anniversary of EKA here: artun.ee/EKA105.

Tuesday, 22nd of October at 17.00 the artist Anne Pöhlmann will hold a public presentation of her artistic practice in room A501 at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Anne Pöhlmann (b.1978) is a Düsselforf based contemporary artist, who’s work reflects the ever-changing conditions of the medium of digital photography.

She researches, among other things, the influence of software formulating photographic images, as well as the way we see photographs on monitors. The material translation of digital images into photo prints is a conceptual matter in Anne Pöhlmann’s practice. Her photographs range from urban architecture and natural landscapes to portraits and abstract compositions. They manifest as architecture-related installations of posters or banners that she prints on textiles. In these installations, the architectural space functions both as a spatial screen and layout location.

More recently, Pöhlmann prints her photos on various materials, like silk or cotton. The prints are subsequently sewn together with other prints into photo-fabrics and often combined with vintage textiles from the artist collection.

In works such as Japan Room (2019), Anne Pöhlmann presents folded photographs and photo-fabrics as fluid architectural formations, where the printed image merges with its carrier. Parallel Anne Pöhlmann has developed photographic works that represent an artistically subjective approach to the documentation of works of art and exhibition architecture. The artist published the resulting photographic series or sequences in the form of photo essays. In 2012 together with Diango Hernández, she founded the artist platform Lonelyfingers. Her work has received several awards and has been shown internationally in solo and group exhibitions. From 2018 to 2019, she has held a position as a visiting professor for photography at Art Academy (HBK) Braunschweig, Germany. Before that, she worked as a visiting lecturer at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany. She regularly participates in workshops, lectures, and conferences at various international institutions.

Anne Pöhlmann was invited to Tallinn on behalf of the Department of Photography of Estonian Academy of Arts. During 21.–25th of October, she is giving a workshop in the Photography Department.

The lecture is in English.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/681705208987400/
For more info about Anne Pöhlmann: http://www.annepoehlmann.net/

Tomorrow, October 22nd at 6PM artists and graphic designers Josse Pyl, Eloise Harris and Jungmyung Lee will hold public presentations at the Department of Graphic Design room C305.

All presentations will be about their practice and projects.

Jungmyung Lee practices intimate relations between type design, typography, visual art, and writings through Jung-Lee Type Foundry (Amsterdam, NL) by exploring the life of typefaces and their emotions. She also publishes Real-Time Realist, which is a unique type specimen that experiments the aforementioned relations based on Wheel of Emotions.
http://jung-lee.nl

Eloise Harris is an independent graphic designer based in Berlin, collaborating with artists and institutions on a range of projects creating visual identities, art directing, designing for print, image making, and she quest teaches graphic design play at UE in Berlin. Before that, Eloise graduated from Werkplaats Typografie in Arnhem and LCC in London.
http://www.eloiseharris.com/

Josse Pyl lives and works in Amsterdam. He was an artist in residence (2017–2018) at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (Amsterdam) and has completed a Master of Visual Arts (2014–2016) at Werkplaats Typografie (Arnhem) and a Master (2013-2014) and Bachelor (2010-2013) of Visual Arts at KASK School of Arts (Ghent). He recently had solo presentations at 019 (Ghent), Annet Gelink Gallery (Amsterdam) and the Brakkegrond (Amsterdam) and participated in group shows at Nest (The Hague), Dash Gallery (Kortrijk), The Belgium Biennial (Ghent) and Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts (Ljubljana).
http://www.jossepyl.com/

Josse Pyl, Eloise Harris and Jungmyung Lee are invited to Tallinn on behalf of the Department of Graphic Design of Estonian Academy of Arts to give workshops at the department October 21 through 25.

Presentations will be in English.

Open Lecture by:
Rolf Hughes, Professor of Artistic Research, Estonian Academy of the Arts/Experimental Architecture Group, Newcastle University

&

Rachel Armstrong, Professor of Experimental Architecture, Experimental Architecture Group, Newcastle University

This lecture describes the framework and strategies for engaging an age of uncertainty through artistic and design-led research. The presentation will ask how we will be inhabiting and making spaces at times of radical change. Hughes and Armstrong will provide examples from architectural research, address the value of creating transdisciplinary networks, the role of the architectural thinker within such networks, and the need to protect the artistic integrity of goal-based research projects.

Rolf Hughes has been at the forefront of developments in artistic research in Scandinavia and Northern Europe from its inception. He is currently Director of Artistic Research for the Experimental Architecture Group at Newcastle University (UK), Visiting Professor for the Estonian Academy of the Arts and the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme. He has supervised and examined PhD dissertations across architecture, art, craft, design, photography and the performing arts since 2000, including for the Bartlett, University of Westminster, Middlesex University, KU Leuven, Royal Institute of Technology, Oslo School of Architecture, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm University of the Arts, and elsewhere. He has published widely, and is in demand internationally as an expert on artistic research.

Rachel Armstrong is Professor of Experimental Architecture at the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University (UK). Her work explores how our buildings can incorporate some of the properties of living systems to become ‘living architectures’. She was coordinator for the FET Open Living Architecture project (April 2016-June 2019) and coordinates the EU Innovation Fund ALICE project. She is a Rising Waters II Fellow with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation (April-May 2016) and a 2010 Senior TED Fellow. She is also a Member of the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment at Newcastle University and Director and founder of the Experimental Architecture Group (EAG) whose work has been published and exhibited internationally.

The films by Ruth Lingford will be screened Thursday on the 24th of October at 19:30 in EKA auditorium A101. After the screening will be the Q&A with the director.

Ruth Lingford was born in London and worked as an Occupational Therapist in the fields of psychiatry and geriatrics before studying Fine Art and Art History at Middlesex Polytechnic and Animation at the Royal College of Art, graduating in 1992. She has made short films and worked on documentary films and music videos. She has taught in the UK at the Royal College of Art and the National Film and Television School and since 2005 has taught Animation at Harvard University in Cambridge MA.

What She Wants, 1994, 4’
Death and the Mother, 1997, 11’
Pleasures of War, 1998, 11’
Silence, 1998, 11′
The Old Fools, 2002, 6’
Little Deaths, 2010, 11’
Trump Dreams, 2017, 4’

On Thursday, October 10, Jose Aldemar Muñoz will open his solo exhibition “Alchemy” at Vent Space project space at 7 pm. The exhibition will be open until October 13, every day 2–6 pm.

“I am interested in connecting alchemy and the body through the concept of transmutation of matter, soul and spirit. As an expression of the laboratory, I instinctively selected materials to experiment with, such as paper, wool, gold and silver paint, inks and pieces of metal, in order to describe the interaction between fluids, organs and thoughts inside the living body. Eventually, I found a connection between my research into Alchemy and some of Joseph Beuys’ approaches, whereby he sees life as a creative tool in itself and art as a transforming power which attempts to form the individual and collective consciousness.

The installation weaves together different materials, feelings and thoughts: the felting becomes the basis of my research, almost like a trace of the philosopher’s stone which makes me think of the body going beyond its own limits and becoming gold.”

Aldemar Muñoz is an artist from Bogota, Colombia. He graduated in 2013 from the Jorge Tadeo Lozano’s University and he is currently doing a Master’s degree in Contemporary Art at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Throughout his career, the body has been his subject of analysis. He is interested in researching the invisible realities around the body through understanding how organs, fluids, emotions and feelings respond in daily life.

So far, the results have been a series of drawings, objects, videos and performances on the subject of the body which have been exhibited in Colombia, Argentina and Japan.

The opening of the photography student group exhibition “I can’t be fucked” will take place on Monday, 21 October, at Vent Space project space at 6 pm. Two performances by Hans Jakob Väär will take place as part of the exhibition on 31.10 (in Estonian) and 01.11 (in English) at 6.30 pm. The exhibition will be open 21.10-03.11.2019, every day 1-6 pm.

Participating artists: Kristiina Aarna, Lisann Lillevere, Gerda Nurk, Ania Pażucha, Anna Tamm, Pille-Riin Vihtre, Hans Jakob Väär

Curators: Kati Ots and Aksel Haagensen
Graphic designer: Moonika Maidre

“I can’t be fucked” is a collaboration between students from the photography department, the contemporary art programme and the curatorial studies programme at the Estonian Academy of Arts. In preparation for the exhibition, an exchange of ideas between students was of central importance. The students from the photography department developed their studio projects into what has become a new collective body of work, which expresses the individual practice of each artist while contributing to new thematic directions.

Vent Space is a student project space run by curatorial studies and fine art students from the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA), the aim of which is to offer EKA students a public platform for their creative practice.

The exhibition is part of the satellite programme of the Tallinn Photomonth 2019 biennial of contemporary art.

Supported by the Photography Department of the Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn Photomonth, EKA Student Council, EKA Gallery, Vaba Kunst MTÜ, Nudist, Õllenaut

On this Wednesday, 16th October at 4 PM in room A501 takes place the 7th Open Seminar of the Faculty of Fine Arts. This time we are visited by Canadian multimedia artist Tyler Tekatch. The seminar will be held in English.

Hamilton-based artist Tyler Tekatch creates work in film, video and installation that explores perception and the religious imagination. Influenced by Canadian filmmaker/artists such as Michael Snow, Joyce Wieland, Jack Chambers and Bruce Elder, Tekatch takes an experimental approach to media. He has expanded his practice to combine film and video with emerging technologies, such as projection mapping and interactivity. He has held two solo exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Ottawa Art Gallery, and has screened films at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, the Canadian National Film Board, and internationally.

https://tytekatch.com

Join us for the opening of the exhibition “Self-Care” on Friday, October 11 at 6 PM at EKA Gallery. Participating artists: Andre Joosep Arming, Hanna-Liisa Lavonen, Carol Katkoff, and Mari-Liis Sõrg. The curators of the exhibition are Kleer Keret Tali and Hanna-Liisa Lavonen.

Taking care of oneself could be an activity that you apply consciously to your everyday. For that, you take time out of or contrive that with your daily activities. Despite different interpretations of the word compound (self-care), it still symbolizes the freedom and assured well being of an individual. 

Four artists are deciphering the meaning of self-care and how they vary in different practices coming from the individual points of view. Self-care can be external and internal; mental and physical. Through the prism of being an artist, they are approaching this topic from different sides. 

The exhibition will remain open until November 2 and is part of the Tallinn Photomonth satellite programme.

Thanks to: Andrus Arming, Silvia Sosaar, Sarah Elizabeth Johnston, Hans-Gunter Loch, Aksel Haagensen, Mart Veelmaa, Kati Jõevere, Jana Niglas, Priit Luik, Katre Lehtpuu, Raner Piibur, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo, Anne Eelmere, Jaan August Viirand, Annabel Konga, Kuldar Nool, Helle-Ly Tomberg, Maria Kurm, Kalle Tali

Supported by Cultural Endowment of Estonia