Public lecture by Raine Vasquez

Public lecture by Raine Vasquez will be held today(17.01) at 5pm in room nr A301

In an informal conversation Raine Vasquez will discuss his complicated and frustrated relationship with art, his exodus into philosophy, and his continued work at the Museum of Impossible Forms and other art-centric organizations. He will discuss some points of his forthcoming “anti-art” manifesto, contemplate arts’ role as a technology of late-capitalism, and whether it really has the power to disrupt that it is so often claimed to possess. He will wonder about the ethics of continuing to make art, and speak about disappointment, hopelessness, and self-exile.

http://www.raine–vasquez.com

Janne Lias will open her first
solo exhibition titled “Dog Show”
on Wednesday, January 16 at 6–8pm
at Vent Space project space.

“To get over some fears, you need to actively deal with them. Some others you may simply grow out of and realise at some point that you just aren’t afraid anymore. That said, terrifying past events leave their mark and leave you with unpleasant memories.

One active method for overcoming phobias is to confront them i.e. through exposure, in which you get used to the frightening situation or object through careful yet consistent contact with them. Another method is to poke fun at the fear and convince yourself you aren’t afraid anymore. But does this work?”

The exhibition will be open from January 17 to 19 at 12–6pm and
on January 20 at 12–4pm.

Janne Lias (b. 1981, Tallinn) studies
at the painting department of the Estonian Academy of Arts. Having previously acquired a master’s in computer science from Tallinn University of Technology,
Lias often uses IT knowledge in her work. Working in the field of art, she likes to experiment with different materials and techniques. Emotions and a sense of humour are important tools for her in creating her work.

The EKA Design Showcase presents the results of collaborations between the Estonian Academy of Arts Faculty of Design and various enterprises and will take place on 15 January at 13.00 in the EKA main auditorium (A101). Concepts, prototypes and final results for innovative products and services will be presented, featuring new developments in the space, transport and package delivery industry and other fields. All enterprises, EKA’s present and future cooperation partners, and enthusiasts of innovative design are kindly invited to attend the event! The presentations will be given in English. At the end of the design day, the winner of the Abakhan Creative Award will be announced.

Timetable and registration.

The event will be opened with a presentation by Ott Vatter, Deputy Director of the e-Residency programme, who will introduce the project that is being carried out in cooperation with EKA interaction designers and focuses on improving the user experience of the e-residency service.

The core of the day is made up of twelve presentations on cooperation projects that the EKA Faculty of Design and the EKA and TalTech Design & Technology Futures joint programme have been working on over the last two years. One of the showcased projects is in collaboration with the Swiss Space Center and it offers solutions for making living conditions during long space missions more human-friendly. How can astronauts avoid mental health problems on long missions during which their 24h rhythm has been turned upside down? What are new ways of engaging in sports in space for training in weightlessness? According to Janno Nõu, one of the project leaders and a teaching staff member at TalTech, the space centre is very satisfied with the innovative solutions the project has provided, as they give a completely different approach to the space industry. The technology for the lunar outpost will be developed based on the astronauts’ needs, which is one of the key elements during longer space missions. The high point of the project will come in Switzerland this summer when the project will present engineered technical solutions.

The EKA Design Showcase will also feature a new type of rental vehicle that leaves more space for people and makes the growth of major urban areas more sustainable. Together with Cleveron, which was named Company of the Year at the 2018 Estonian Entrepreneurship Awards, a drone-attached package delivery module was developed that allows for aerial delivery system, as well as other creative solutions for various enterprises. According to EKA Collaboration Coordinator Ingela Heinaste, approximately 200 collaboration projects with various enterprises and institutions have been carried out in the 10 years of the EKA Research and Development Office. “Using a specific problem statement as the starting point, we play out innovative solutions, many of which are later realised. We create products and services under the supervision of teaching staff members who are internationally renowned specialists in their field. We design future visions, develop never-before-seen solutions and test new technologies,” said Heinaste who highly recommends that companies contact her to discuss collaboration opportunities.

At 16.30 after the presentations, the winner of the Abakhan Creative Award will be announced followed by the exhibition of nominees.

We would like to thank EKA’s collaboration partners: Swiss Space Center, Santa Monica Networks AS, Cleveron AS, Emergency Response Centre, Good Deed Foundation, Atlas Partners OÜ, Welement AS, Taltech.

Event takes place as EU Industry Days 2019 event and under the umbrella of Cumulus.

Additional information:

Ingela Heinaste
Collaboration Coordinator
ingela.heinaste@artun.ee
Tel 521 9187

Mart Vainre
Communications Specialist
mart.vainre@artun.ee
Tel 626 7111

January 22 at 18.00-20.00
EKA room 501

We are excited to welcome Kenza Drancourt (industrial designer) and Theo Mahut (PhD, in product design, innovation and development) from GOODMOOD Laboratory for a talk and discussion on the role culture plays in perception and design of textures. Julia Valle-Norohna, design researcher and Assistant Professor in Fashion (EKA), will lead the discussion.

The event is free and open to everyone!

Please register until January 20, so we can better plan the event.

Same texture can be differently perceived depending on cultural experiences. Similarly, a texture can be differently designed depending on cultural references. What is a ‘traditional’ texture, for you? What is a ‘contemporary’ one? Is this texture differently perceived and designed depending on your Spanish, French, or Estonian approach?

GOODMOOD Laboratory will present this research study through the analysis of several workshops conducted in different Design Schools around Europe, including EKA. Both the general process and preliminary results will be shared and discussed. Additionally, this will be an opportunity to discuss how can research be useful for design; what is the future of tactile interactions; or even how to design for affective and cognitive reactions.

Théo Mahut is a Doctor in product design, innovation and development. He is specialized in human/product Interactions. Before getting his PhD from Les Arts et Métiers of Paris, he studied Industrial Design at La Martinière Diderot (Lyon, France).

Kenza Drancourt is an Industrial Designer, specialized in Meanings, Perception and Prospective of Colors & Surfaces. She graduated from Ensci – Les Ateliers (Paris, France), before approaching a Research & design way of working.

Julia Valle-Norohna is the Associate Professor in Fashion at EKA and doctoral candidate in Design at Aalto University. She holds an MA in visual arts and a professional background in fashion design. As a designer–researcher, her work explores wearer–worn relationships and alternative approaches to commercial fashion via practice-based inquiries.

The event is funded by European Union Regional Fund.

Further information:

Maria Jäärats
Research and Development Department
+37258025300
maria.jaarats@artun.ee

During the process of arranging the environment, us, humans have become increasingly detached from the natural. The act of ordering ambiguous and wild is an attempt at controlling it. Enhancing the misconception of our positioning in the environment. Speed and the intensity are gradually overloading the senses, making it harder to perceive the layers of an environment in depth. Superficiality reigns. Images drained from the richness of the real set the parameters of perceptible. Downgrading the actual human ability and potential.

Sound design made in collaboration with Robert Nikolajev.

Siim Karro is a master’s student in the Interior Architecture department of EAA. He has complemented his studies at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In addition to spatial design, Siim is also active in the field of sound and music. In his previous shows, “OXIT” (2017) and “On Olemas” (2018) Siim dealt with human essence and being in the contemporary environment.

The collaborate exhibition implies the question of what is being hidden/revealed from the observers. The focus is on the relationships between inner and outer layers, covering and core, mask and truth. Covering or wrapping functions as the filter transmitting or blocking out the qualities of contents. In a selective way, it’s shaping the communication between inside and out. Both artists are approaching the topic in slightly different ways.

Liina Leo (b.1993) received a bachelor’s degree in Textile Design from the Estonian Academy of Arts this June and was awarded the Mari Adamson Prize. She complemented her undergraduate program with a one year at the Kunsthochschule Berlin Weissensee specializing in surface design. Beginning this autumn, Liina is working as a weaving workshop tutor at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Misa Asanuma (b.1994) is an artist from Japan. She studied literature at Meiji University, Tokyo. She is currently in the middle of her MA studies in the department of Contemporary Art of the Estonian Academy of Arts and mainly working on photography.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) Institute is looking for emerging European artists and collectives to join the 2019 edition of its Artists Development Programme (ADP), a 6 weeks long residency programme in Luxembourg, under the mentorship of acclaimed Finnish photographer Jorma Puranen.

The call for application targets TWO visual artists (aged less than 35) from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania. The successful applicants will be provided with a living/working space in Luxembourg, together with a stipend for production and subsistence costs (100 EUR per day) and a success/production fee of 1500 (conditional to the production of an artwork during the residency).

The deadline for applying is Wednesday 23 January 2019 at midnight (GMT+1). For more information about the programme and on how to apply please visit our website here.

Katrin Enni will open her solo exhibition “Almost Parallel” at Vent Space project space on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 6pm.

“Almost Parallel” is an audiovisual installation. The inspiration for creating
the installation came from a romantic
sci-fi fantasy about lonely robots drifting around in space and looking for companions. During the process, while investigating the physicality of sound and how materials resonate, the robots were born with bodies looking like large metal cones. At the same time they also function as large vibrating speakers. The final result is a cosmic sound installation, involving sound, noise, light, movement, algorithms and also randomness.

A live performance by Katrin Enni
will take place on Thursday, January 10
at 7pm. Various soundscapes that are created specially for this sound installation will be presented. Entrance is free.

The exhibition is open daily from
1pm to 7pm and will remain open
until January 11, 2019.

Katrin Enni is currently studying at the Master programme of Contemporary Art at the Estonian Academy of Arts (where she also obtained her BA in 2018 in the department of Sculpture and Installation). She has created sound installations from electronic components, micro motors, found objects, ready-mades and industrial materials. “Almost Parallel” is her first solo exhibition.

NART is announcing its’ first open call to welcome both professionals and emerging artists, architects, designers, thinkers, philosophers and curators to apply for a residency in 2019. The deadline for applications is January 25th. Applicants will be selected by a committee invited together by NART. Successful applicants will be contacted in February 2019.

Narva Art Residency is a unique cultural platform that operates due to a collaboration between Estonian Academy of Arts, Narva Gate and Estonian Ministry of Culture. It initiates and facilitates residencies, art exhibitions, talks and educational workshops. It is located in Narva city on the Estonian-Russian border at the historical Krenholm area. The international artist-in-residency programme is open for artists operating across a wide range of disciplines, including Visual Arts, Music, Performance, Architecture, Design, Film, Literature and Curatorial Practices. It aims to generate creative exchange between practitioners and to strengthen links with the local community. The centre is located at the historic style villa, originally built for the technology director of Krenholm. In close proximity stands the vacant textile factory which was once the largest of its kind in Europe and Russia. In recent times, it has functioned as a major source of inspiration for artists and a space allowing opportunity for experimenting.

Application must include:

• Filled application form

• CV

• Project description / Plan for the residency (max 1 page)

• Webpage (referring to 3 works relevant to the application) or Portfolio

Please send your application to: residentuur@artun.ee
More information and the application form: https://www.nart.ee/en/open-call/

Contact information:
Ann Mirjam Vaikla
ann.vaikla@artun.ee

Inclusive City and Street Commerce: the Hidden Structure of Retail Location Patterns and Vibrant Sidewalks – Lectures by Lily Song & Andres Sevtsuk

Lily Song (Lecturer in Urban Planning and Design and Senior Research Associate at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design) and Andres Sevtsuk (Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design) and will give lectures on Friday, 21st of December at 4 pm in the mail hall of Estonian Academy of Arts, looking into Tallinn’s challenges and opportunities in exploring urban planning and policy interventions that promote sociospatial equity and inclusion and how “good” street commerce is part and parcel of building inclusive, diverse, and vital local economies. Both lectures open for architecture students from across Estonia as well as field professionals, city officials, and general public interested in the future of Tallinn urban centre. The lectures will be in English.

***Lily Song. Inclusive City***

Amidst growing income and wealth inequality in many countries, the urban and spatial dimensions of this issue remain less investigated and understood. This talk will consider Tallinn’s challenges and opportunities in exploring urban planning and policy interventions that promote sociospatial equity and inclusion.

Lily Song is a Lecturer in Urban Planning and Design and Senior Research Associate with the Transforming Urban Transport-Role of Political Leadership (TUT-POL) project at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.Her research focuses on the relations between urban sustainability and livability initiatives, sociospatial inequality, and race and class politics in American cities and other postcolonial contexts. Her projects— which topically span building energy retrofits, sustainable urban transport, and informal street vending among others— are motivated by the common question of how historically marginalized and disenfranchised urban inhabitants and communities can drive transformative urban policy and governance in collaboration with differently situated and abled partners. She holds a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from MIT, where her dissertation, entitled “Race and Place: Green Collar Jobs and the Movement for Economic Democracy in Los Angeles and Cleveland,” focused on the analysis of two community-based green economic and workforce development projects aiming to build shared wealth and stabilize poor, inner city neighborhoods. The research partly explored how progressive urban coalitions might use race as a diagnostic and dialogic tool in undertaking transformative economic programs towards realization of the “just city.”

***Andres Sevtsuk. Street Commerce: the Hidden Structure of Retail Location Patterns and Vibrant Sidewalks***

“Good” street commerce is part and parcel of building inclusive, diverse, and vital local economies, convivial neighborhoods, and sustainable built environments. However, cities and communities will only realize such gains and benefits if they proactively plan and regulate street commerce.

Andres Sevtsuk is an Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His research interests include urban design and spatial analysis, modeling and visualization, urban and real estate economics, transit and pedestrian oriented development, spatial adaptability and urban history. Andres has worked with a number of city governments, international organizations, planning practices and developers on urban designs, plans and policies in both developed and rapidly developing urban environments, most recently including those in Indonesia and Singapore. He is the author of the Urban Network Analysis toolbox, which is used by researchers and practitioners around the world to study spatial relationships in cities along networks. He has led various international research projects; exhibited his research at TEDx, the World Cities Summit and the Venice Biennale; and received the President’s Design Award in Singapore, International Buckminster Fuller Prize and Ron Brown/Fulbright Fellowship. He was previously an Assistant Professor of Architecture and Planning at the Singapore University of technology and Design (SUTD), and a lecturer at MIT.

“Unfinished City” is a three-year large-scale research project conducted by the Estonian Academy of Arts Faculty of Architecture in cooperation with the City of Tallinn. The research project asks what could be a good and livable city in the 21st century and how this could be reflected in the urban development of Tallinn. The project focuses on exploring Tallinn’s urban design visions and spatial future scenarios. The research will be carried out thanks to the support from Kapitel.

Additional information: https://www.artun.ee/en/curricula/architecture-and-urban-design/unfinished-city/