In this essay, I will be discussing the distinctive characteristics of the research practices of artists and designers as well as scholars and scientists. Though they are quite different and likely to remain so, a recognition of the particular value and potential contribution of these practices to each other’s achievements may lead to important innovations. Transdisciplinary practices between artists and designers on the one hand and scholars and scientists on the other provide a great deal of opportunities for innovation. And innovation is necessary. A variety of major social, political, economic and technological transformations taking place internationally are leading to profound changes within all professional practices. The ability to change and adapt is thus an essential skill within all professions. Research and the development of knowledge call for a distinct and independent space, designed in an innovative way for generating new knowledge and conducting relevant research that keeps up with these transformations.
I will be considering the implications of these research traditions in relation to education. Innovation calls for change; however, education programmes traditionally train new generations of students to absorb existing paradigms, thus potentially hindering necessary change and innovation. I will also be looking ahead at innovations that can be achieved through collaborative partnerships and how a partnership such as the Rotterdam Arts and Sciences Lab (RASL) is important in this regard. In addition to providing the reader with an overview of the practices of artists and designers (whether professionally active or still studying), another purpose of this text is to draw lessons from these practices for a future in which the sciences and the arts are brought together in researching, commenting upon, and in some cases, intervening in our world.
Continuity and change
The world has changed and will continue to change. Globalization has profoundly transformed not only how our world looks but also how we experience it. The population composition in the world’s cities is no longer statistically stable, and the perception of well-being by these city dwellers is largely determined by sharp social, cultural and ethnic contrasts. Substantial and revolutionary developments in technology are also changing the world, not only in the way the world is seen and experienced—for example, through the ever-expanding accessibility of artificial intelligence and virtual reality—but also in the way we communicate, in new forms of mass communication such as social media, which are having a profound impact upon our understanding of civil life and privacy. Change has become an inescapable fact of modern life. The ability to adapt is now an essential part of the skillset of virtually all professional practitioners. Faced with this process of ongoing change, there is a tendency within all social, economic or cultural systems to cling to real or imagined certainties. Social utility, social success and public support all seem to provide a sense of security, however fleeting, as do romantic memories of a bygone era in which we remember being better off or promises of future welfare and prosperity.
Change and innovation are constant factors within the international world of science. Technological innovation plays a key role in this regard. In the arts as well as the sciences, technological innovation has brought about profound change and, in some respects, has also encouraged these previously separate worlds to come closer together. For example, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, as well as 3D printing and biodesign, have become important fields of development in both the sciences and the arts. Although these new or ‘emerging’ technologies are mainly used for designing and manufacturing products, they can also be used by artists or designers as a medium for artistic creation. Technology can thus be a carrier of images as well as a working medium. Rotterdam is home to a number of such technological initiatives, including BlueCity (currently occupying the space of a former swimming pool and leisure centre) where a variety of small businesses set up by university and art school alumni are now working on organically manufactured products. Such a business and knowledge hub would not have been possible without the collaboration between critical scientists and artists.
The promise that technology will solve all our problems and the denial of uncomfortable truths are increasingly threatening to dominate the media landscape and define our image of the world. In the age of the Anthropocene[ref]There is no question that the earth has become a profoundly human-influenced planet. We plot the course of rivers, determine the location of agricultural crops and decide which patches of “pristine nature” will be allowed to remain. We excavate and burn on a massive scale fossilized plants that have been stored in the soil for millions of years. We haul boatloads of fish out of the oceans. We leave our fingerprints all across the world with unforeseen and often undesirable consequences. The notion of the Anthropocene is both a recognition of the exceptional power of humanity and a demonstration of our collective inability to act decisively. However, this proclamation of the age of humanity is also accompanied by a call for a new consciousness: humanity must realize that it is now at the helm of Mothership Earth—and that a serious change of course will be necessary if we are to avoid crashing (Blom, 2016).[/ref], we see here an important instance of collaboration between the arts, the sciences and social engagement, focused on studying and describing a world that is rapidly changing and breaking down.
In 2016, WdKA Product Design alumna Emma van der Leest set up a makerspace, wet lab, dry lab and experimental kitchen in BlueCity, where she researches biofabrication from the perspective of a designer. During her studies, she collected relevant knowledge and experience from technical programmes provided by the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and an internship at Suzanne Lee’s Biocouture Studio in London. She is one of the founders of biodesign as a specialization at the WdKA, and students can follow workshops in her studio. In November 2018, Elvin Karana (Delft University of Technology) will launch a biodesign research programme in a collaborative effort between Avans University of Applied Sciences and the WdKA.
Art and science are under constant pressure from politics and social opportunism. The humanities, much like the arts, seem to be gradually losing their privileged position. The technological sciences, with their demonstrable economic utility, are now held in higher esteem. The humanities increasingly seem like a luxury that we as a civilized society believe we can afford, particularly now that many of the traditionally accepted scientific constructions which describe our world are being called into question because they have turned out to be fallible; these include, for example economics, psychology and sociology. The economic system includes too many anomalies (partly as a result of the unethical behaviour of the leaders of the financial world) to provide any cohesive paradigm; any predictability of human behaviour increasingly falls outside of the scope of psychological and sociological models, and marketing theories are failing to deliver the promised goods. What do we wish to preserve? What is it that makes our academic heritage valuable for future generations? Where do art and science converge, and how can they collaborate to offer a perspective toward radical change?
An awakening within the humanities seems necessary, and it is also beginning to emerge. Economists proposing models that describe economic systems from a perspective of engagement, such as Thomas Piketty, are increasingly becoming popular. The personal critical engagement of journalists such as Naomi Klein has led to a turning point in marketing thinking (a somewhat more concrete example in this regard is Kate Raworth’s ‘doughnut economics’, which is representative of what Naomi Klein calls an ‘articulated alternative’[ref]For an interesting documentary on doughnut economics (in Dutch) see: https://www.vpro.nl/programmas/tegenlicht/kijk/afleveringen/2017-2018/de-donut-economie.html[/ref]). There seems to be a growing understanding within universities that science needs to change and that technology, along with critical engagement, will or can play a major role in this regard.
Research in art and design practices[ref]See: Opleidingsprofiel bacheloropleidingen beeldende kunst en vormgeving (Education Programme Profile for Art and Design Bachelor Programmes) published in 2017 by the Overleg Beeldende Kunst. The characteristics of epistemology within the arts described in the document were formulated by Mariska Versantvoort and exhaustively commented upon for the purposes of this text by Florian Cramer[/ref]
Art is, at its historical core, the study and practice of aesthetics. Education programmes as well as professional practice distinguish the visual arts (including both fine arts and applied arts such as visual design and visual communication) from the performing arts (including music, dance and acting, from theatre halls to mass-media entertainment). As a school for visual art and design, the WdKA focuses on the study and practice of visual culture and other interdisciplinarily-related topics. Visual artists and designers study contemporary visual phenomena and subsequently generate new images, materials and objects. But what is a visual phenomenon? A visual phenomenon exists at the intersection between the image, the knowledge generated through the image, and its material and social context and repercussions. Examples include modern industrial design, and its use of a visual language and conventions of form rooted in Modernist abstract art; images as a means of (sub)cultural identification in popular culture and contemporary media such as Instagram; the rhetorical use of images in advertising and political propaganda; and the spatial-conceptual designing of encounters by social designers and in artist-run spaces. This system of relationships is thus referred to as visual culture.
UT PICTURA POESIS
The phrase ‘ut pictura poesis’, meaning ‘what is true of painting also applies to poetry’ (and implicitly also vice-versa), has been quoted as an argument for elevating the status of visual arts from that of a mere craft to the higher level of poetry. During classical antiquity, the visual arts were classified among the ‘artes mechanicae’ or applied arts, traditionally considered lower than the ‘artes liberales’ or liberal arts (which included rhetoric, geometry and music–art forms, or rather sciences, which were held in higher esteem and whose practitioners thus enjoyed a higher social status). This classification originated with the ancient Greeks and lasted until the Renaissance, when a small number of visual artists and architects gained a new level of recognition. In the 17th century, the phrase ‘ut pictura poesis’, from a treatise by the Roman writer and orator Horace, was frequently quoted in order to actively boost the status of art and artists. The establishment of national academies of fine arts in France and England, and shortly afterwards in other European countries, institutionalized this increased status.
All of this is clearly and elegantly related in the historical research by Rensselaer W. Lee in Ut Pictura Poesis: The Humanistic Theory of Painting (1967).
Artists and designers research these visual phenomena by applying a number of creative and visual research methodologies. This began in the Renaissance with the study of perspective and geometry by Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti and the study of human anatomy by Leonardo da Vinci and others. It continued in the Modernist period with the research on art, visual-spatial design and architecture as a means of democratizing society, and within the Arts and Crafts movement, Eastern European Constructivism, Bauhaus and De Stijl.
Personal engagement and critical reflection both play a key role within artistic research. These concepts constitute the core of artistic methodology within Western visual culture. Whereas 20th-century avant-garde artists mostly conducted fundamental research on new visual languages (such as abstraction) and new technologies (such as photography and film), today’s artistic engagement is increasingly based on visual culture as a means of direct intervention and interaction with society (for example, in artist-run spaces,[ref]Good examples of artist-run spaces in Rotterdam are WORM and L.P. Hendriks.[/ref], social design[ref]The Reclaiming Workshop (http://www.nachbarschaftsakademie.org/reclaiming/) organized by artist Michelle Teran for the Berlin-based Neighborhood Academy is a good example of social design.[/ref] and next-economy design startups[ref]BlueCity is one such startup; Rotterdam, in fact, has countless examples of small-scale design studios established by beginning artists and designers.[/ref]). The social positioning of the artist or designer plays an increasingly important role in this regard.
Personal engagement nowadays is increasingly based on the social positioning of the artist or designer. A disabled, homosexual, black, transgender or female individual will necessarily, based on their specific social experiences, be in a position to ask other questions than a European, white, male individual from a progressive, suburban, middle-class family. Post-colonial perspectives of art education are thus becoming increasingly important. This already began in the conceptual art of the 1970s, for example, when the American artist and philosopher (and PhD graduate) Adrian Piper conducted new forms of visual and performative research on gender and ethnic stereotypes;[ref]See Piper’s performance series Mythic Being (1973-75) and (MacGregor, 1991).[/ref] it continues, for example, in the visual research by the Danish collective Superflex (Jakob Fenger, Rasmus Nielsen, Bjørnstjerne Christiansen) on contemporary possibilities of alternative globalization through local development and branding of lifestyle products in developing countries and on the political and economic conflicts provoked by such developments.[ref]See (Superflex, 2003).[/ref]
However, the core of artistic methodology is provided by critical thinking. Aesthetics and critical thinking are inseparable in the context of contemporary arts. Essentially, critical thinking focuses on addressing and denouncing issues such as abuse of power and social grievances and also on proposing balanced or deliberately speculative alternatives. A good example of this is the Brazilian theatre maker Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed (2000), which he developed in the 1970s as a method of applying theatre and performance in order to transform the immediate living environment of the audience through active participation. Nowadays, his methods are also being applied in the field of social and community work.[ref]An example is Rotterdam’s Formaat, Werkplaats voor Participatief Drama (https://www.formaat.org/).[/ref]
[colorblock]The art historians Rudolf and Margot Wittkower attempted to capture the particular mentality of artists in a book they wrote together titled Born Under Saturn (1963), originally intended as an amusing diversion (for the authors as well as their readers) from Rudolf Wittkower’s more serious and renowned scholarly work. In the tradition of previous and well-known descriptions of the lives of artists by Giorgio Vasari and Karel van Mander, the Wittkowers dwelt on a number of typical characteristics of legendary artists. Though there is no such thing as a fixed typology, there are certainly a number of recurring personality traits among famous artists, regardless of the discipline in which they were active. These include an independent attitude, an original and often stubborn mind, an emotional temperament (especially regarding their own work), an often boundless need for release and a bitterness and even anger toward a world that does not meet their expectations and fails to recognize artists and their importance. Many artists have been appreciated, and wished to be appreciated, for their broad knowledge on a wide variety of topics including classical antiquity, physics and mathematics, and of course mastery of the disciplines in which they were active.[/colorblock]
Artists and designers make use of a wide variety of methods. Some of these methods originated within the arts, while others were borrowed from other research and visual disciplines. Since the 1950s and 1960s, there has been a growing interest within academic circles in the social impact of images and (new) visual media. For example, the field of semiotics emerged from the study of art history, while fields of research focusing on representation, such as cultural studies and gender and ethnicity studies have developed from within the field of cultural sciences. However, due to the increasingly important position of visual culture within a rapidly changing society, the established humanities find themselves increasingly limited by their reliance on methodologies that traditionally focus on the analysis of cultural heritage rather than contemporary cultural phenomena. The academic humanities, by and large, lack the flexibility and visual imagination necessary to effectively address radically contingent and increasingly “invisible” contemporary visual phenomena or to effectively analyse (visual) culture other than through the text-based approaches of traditional research papers and academic monographs (the pioneers of visual research of visual culture within the humanities–Aby Warburg, Marshall McLuhan, John Berger and Johanna Drucker–remain idiosyncratic exceptions in this regard).
This provides art and design, and visual thinkers and visual makers, with a crucial new opportunity. This is also the main difference between art education and other fields of the humanities. Artists and designers make use of the knowledge and methods that have been developed within traditional disciplines while adding their own methods to the mix. These creative and visual methods are also known as artistic research and design thinking. Both concepts are by now firmly rooted within the artistic and academic discourse. In other countries, especially in the U.S. and Great Britain, the distinction between artistic practice and the humanities is somewhat blurred by the fact that art education takes place at the university level and often collaborates in an interdisciplinary fashion with the humanities–for example, at Goldsmiths, University of London, particularly in its interdisciplinary programme merging cultural studies and arts; University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), particularly in its interdisciplinary projects connecting media design and digital humanities; and Yale University. The Netherlands is still lagging in this development.
Independent research
There is a wide variety of scientific methodologies, and many time-proven methods have led to the development of a globally accepted knowledge base which scientists in different specialist disciplines can further build upon. Scientific research, whether applied research at technological universities or academic research within the humanities, should in all cases be reliable. This means that third parties must be able to follow the research, that data must be traceable and that research results must be verifiable. Although research is clearly rooted in personal engagement, this engagement should not be recognizable in the methodology, analysis or presentation of findings in a way that might cast doubt upon the impartiality of the conclusions. In other words, scientific research is expected to be “objective”.
However, not all research environments offer the same degree of independence as that enjoyed within universities. Corporations also invest in scientific research with specific expectations regarding the future applicability of the results. Research that does not pay off is eventually discontinued. One may wonder whether governments and universities should therefore play a much more meaningful role in crucial research domains such as pharmaceutics. Scientific research in the field of pharmaceutics is now mainly controlled by the private sector. Patents keep the price of medications astronomically high, and profit forecasts ultimately determine which diseases and disorders are treated and how. Governments and public services including the police and armed forces may also establish their own research facilities. Here too, scientific independence is a complex topic. For example, research often leads to the production of weapons that can be used in ways with which the inventors may strongly disagree. A good example of this is the ensuing psychological distress of scientists who worked on the development of the atomic bomb in the U.S. during the Second World War. Industries ranging from the military to pornography have clearly been the pioneers of many technical innovations that have now become commonplace, such as GPS navigation and virtual reality.
Over the centuries, an ethics of science has developed which prescribes that, just as in the world of sports for example, scientific research should be independent. Science should not be controlled by the state, politics or religion. Accordingly, universities have established the notion of pure scientific research: researchers in laboratories independently conduct the research they themselves believe is important and share their insights internationally within their own professional field. The status and prestige of a scientist is largely determined by how often their research is quoted by their peers. There is a field of research that focuses specifically on the study of knowledge enrichment; particularly in the second half of the 20th century, a number of thinkers reflected upon how scientific knowledge is developed. The physicist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn described the paradigms and “paradigm shifts” of scientific thinking in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). Scientific discourse, which makes it possible to clarify previously unexplained phenomena through revolutionary interventions, has the potential to transform and hopefully improve the paradigms of our thinking. In Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge (1963), the philosopher Karl Popper described how the practice of science, which in fact constantly attempts to falsify that which we already know, can effectively bring about such revolutionary changes in scientific paradigms. This perspective also brings the research of artists and scientists closer together. Art and science are driven not by the confirmation of what we already know but by the critical questioning of what we assume to be true.
This is where the traditionally separate practices of science and art intersect and overlap, as in a Venn diagram. Both are characterized by the same kind of personal engagement, freed from the shackles of supposed objectivity and validation, and also by the same need to conduct pure and independent research: a scientific practice that not only allows for coincidence but also invites randomness and chance as part of a practice focused on innovation rather than confirmation. This does not mean that art and science are the same. Visually imagining our world is an entirely different endeavour than describing how it functions.
For example, the artist Ewerdt Hilgemann’s imploded objects show how the downward pressure of gravity can warp large steel geometrical figures. A mystery is made both tangible and visible. As he himself says: “My tool is the air; I’m an airsmith.”[ref]See “TRIPLE - The Park Avenue Project - Ewerdt Hilgemann”, a short film by Ger Poppelaars (2012) in which the artist talks about his process for his implosion sculptures. [/ref] With loud noises and powerful forces, gravity compresses the geometrical figure into a certain shape. This is a very different way of describing the natural forces that affect our everyday life than the formula F=mg.
In neighbouring countries where there is a well-established tradition of university-level art education, we are not yet seeing a synthesis of science and visual imagination. There is however a great deal of potential in such collaborations and joint ventures. The Forensic Architecture research group led by Eyal Weizman at Goldsmiths, University of London, is a good example of this. Research on architectural spaces leads to a reconstruction and analysis of the violent coercion of governments and corporations within such spaces. The results of this research are then presented to the public in the form of fine-art exhibitions, in some cases leading to embarrassing situations for governments (Weizman, 2014).
Education
Many aspects of the paradigms prevailing within the arts and sciences are reflected in the education programmes for these disciplines. In other words, these paradigms are reinforced and passed on to each new generation through education. In scientific educational practices, students learn to explore the foundations upon which science is constructed. This construction is then further propped up and expanded upon by research groups and student study groups, often directly linked to a professorship. The professional success of students is largely determined by the degree to which they demonstrate an ability to function within the discourse generated in this fashion. The existing paradigm thus remains intact; scientists often have no interest in seeing the existing structure being called into question. This, however, may negatively impact the independence of research and the integrity of science.
Art education often follows the medieval model of a master training apprentices through practice, by putting students to work and critically examining their process and the results they present. There is no universally recognized or objective standard of right or wrong, nor is epigonism deemed acceptable; there is, however, a sacred belief in the value of a shared intersubjective judgment which can be referred to when making qualitative assessments. Yet the fact that the educational content is largely determined by the input of the tutor functioning as role model also implies a weak spot: one cannot teach what one does not know. The intersubjective qualitative assessment is not intrinsically critical, and this educational practice too eventually reaches its limitations.
The practice of art and design education underwent a major transformation in the early 20th century as a result of the Bauhaus. Art education transitioned to shaping an independently-thinking individual, trained not only in general drawing and three-dimensional form-giving but also in modern production techniques for the design of new artifacts. Research no longer focused exclusively on literature, philosophy and religion in terms of content and the masterly execution of an idea; the act of research itself became a necessary source for originality in design, and technology was incorporated into the domain of the arts. New techniques for generating or presenting images (film, photography) also made their appearance in this period (Chabot, 2013).
Now, exactly 100 years after the Bauhaus, we seem to find ourselves in a similar historical phase. The paradigms of the economic system, prevailing democratic structures and social stability are all being called into question. New fields of design are emerging, such as nanotechnology, data design and bio-based design.
The traditional professions of artists and designers, as well as those of musicians, actors and dancers, are changing due to a variety of factors including the emergence of these new fields and techniques. Meredith Davis, in Teaching Design (2017), describes how the necessary qualifications for art and design educators are changing, along with the practices of designers which are now determined more by interdisciplinarity and cooperation than by individual inspiration. Upscaling and production technologies (systems theory) should play a more important role in design education, and computer science and anthropology are more relevant fields of knowledge than art theory or crafts skills for the further development of design practices (Davis, 2017, p. 125).
One could say that the international world of art education is currently in a state of crisis. Existing paradigms seem increasingly irrelevant, and students are abandoning overpriced prestigious art schools as alternative and free educational formats pop up in unexpected places. The art world is also questioning its own position. The professional qualifications formulated twenty years ago no longer apply; there is no consultation platform on a national level (in the Netherlands) between representatives from the professional practice and educational institutes, since no one is willing or able to formulate generally applicable qualifications on behalf of a professional group (Vereniging Hogeschoolen, 2014).
Artworks are no longer the only possible end products of artistic creativity. For example, artists are increasingly and actively present in neighbourhoods which used to rely extensively on the efforts of social services; artists often serve as co-thinkers in boardrooms; dance and circus arts are increasingly combined; outsider art has become part of the official art market. A concept, service, strategy or scenario can also be an end product. Co-creation and participatory art forms lead to new art practices with new types of products and thus require new research methods. The traditional romanticist idea of the artist or designer as an individual genius deserving of social recognition and status on the basis of their craftsmanship, or on their ability to see beyond the contemporary context and offer us a glimpse of the future (avant-garde), is being superseded by the notion of an original thinker and imaginer who is able, working collaboratively with others, to contribute to addressing important social and technological issues.
Artists are thus moving increasingly closer to their colleagues in the pure sciences (making cooperation a necessity) without having to do the same work as each other or wishing to be similar. The curriculum development implemented since 2013 at the WdKA has comprehensively upended the tradition of art education described above, resulting in a completely new educational concept which is based on the notion that graduates should be able to make a relevant contribution to addressing the challenges facing our society. Our students thus work collaboratively with students from other disciplines while exploring new technologies and seeking out new professional practices. They enter an arena in which they will encounter other curious, critically thinking young individuals, from both inside and outside the arts, who wish to address the same questions from the perspective of their own background and studies, and who show an ambition to provide added value to a globally networked world that is currently facing major challenges.[ref]The developed curriculum and educational concept have been described in Re-inventing the Art School, 21st Century (2013). See also https://www.wdka.nl
RASL
RASL provides a new space in which education and research of the arts and sciences can be brought together, shared and discussed, and in which both systems of knowledge can meet, challenge and criticize each other. There is a clear and present need for such a space. Consider the notion of the Anthropocene which, based on a critique of the existing dialectical relationship between art, science and society, not only requires higher education to consider a new approach toward the problems facing contemporary society but also urgently calls for alternatives that will allow us to address the overwhelming challenges brought about by the depletion of the earth and its life-support systems.
Regardless of what we already know or what we think we know, regardless of the degree of reliability of the assumptions upon which this knowledge may be based and regardless of the achievements of thought and research for which we may congratulate ourselves, the new space provided by RASL will allow us to address once again the urgent issues of this age and to develop new forms of knowledge and knowledge dissemination.
This is an essential choice. RASL works on social challenges from a perspective of engagement. From a willingness to question prevailing paradigms, together with representatives from previously separate disciplines of research, it considers some of the problems that threaten the cohesion of our society: a lack of inclusiveness and social contradictions that go beyond a mere opposition of rich and poor and extend further into ethnic and religious oppositions. How can technology help us in making our society more resilient? This is a major challenge that encompasses a variety of elements, from sustainability issues to alternative strategies in healthcare, and from universal education to new economic systems in neighbourhoods and cities. A somewhat random example of the many projects presented by graduating WdKA students this summer: Simone van Oosterhout developed an app that manipulates the voice and facial representation of job applicants in order to anonymize their gender and ethnic markers. This makes it possible to circumvent the often unconscious biases shown in the recruitment of staff and to focus solely on the qualifications of the candidate. The value and impact of a project of this type can be greatly increased through the input of the relevant knowledge of business and public administration, sociology and technology. The quality of the project is defined not only in utilizing knowledge-oriented research but also in applying this knowledge and drawing upon a professional network (from both the private and public sectors), which is an essential component of all RASL collaborative efforts.
RASL offers more than vague promises and courtesies. The space it provides is important for the further development of the two different systems of knowledge and of new educational formats. The need for such developments has already been touched upon in this text, in the comparison between new initiatives at Goldsmiths, UCLA and Yale. Keeping in mind the anticipation of new master-level specializations and eventual PhD programmes for art and science, RASL wishes to bring higher education in Rotterdam in line once again with international developments in areas where the Netherlands is currently falling behind. This places significant demands on all concerned parties: not only students and educators but also the administrators who have committed themselves to RASL and finally, the ministry which defines and monitors the regulations that govern higher education. A recognition of the need for change, and a willingness to overthrow prevailing dogmas and to make space for still unproven practices within the educational system, will require a great deal of courage and dedication from all involved. The space of art education is a well-established educational space, with a fence around it and a great deal of freedom inside. But RASL is now moving the fence, inviting others to come in, and formulating new design challenges for education. And all of the collaborative partners within RASL are doing this with the utmost conviction.
References
Boal, A. (2000). Theater of the oppressed. London, UK: Pluto Press.
Blom, J. (2016, July 6). Meer plastic dan vis in de zee [More plastic than fish in the sea]. De Groene Amsterdamer.Retrieved from https://www.groene.nl/artikel/meer-plastic-dan-vis-in-de-zee
Chabot, J. (2013). Reflections on art education. Re-inventing the art school, 21st century. Retrieved from http://wdka.hro.nl/PageFiles/67201/Re-inventing%20the%20Art%20School.pdf
Davis, M. (2017). Teaching design: A guide to curriculum and pedagogy for college design faculty and teachers who use design in their classrooms. New York, NY: Allworth Press.
Kuhn, T. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Lee, R. W. (1967). Ut pictura poesis: The humanistic theory of painting. New York, NY: Norton.
MacGregor, E. (Ed.). (1991). Adrian Piper. Birmingham, UK: Ikon Gallery and Cornerhouse.
Poppelaars, G. (2012, December 19). TRIPLE-The Park Avenue project-Ewerdt Hilgemann-a clip by Ger Poppelaars [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIJtEF4foIg
Popper, K. R., (1963). Conjectures and refutations: The growth of scientific knowledge. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
Superflex. (2003). Guarana power. Retrieved from https://www.superflex.net/press/label/guarana_power
Vereniging Hogeschoolen. (December 2014). Beroepsprofiel en opleidingsprofielen beeldende kunst en vormgeving (Professional profile and education programme profiles for fine art and design), pp. 9-10. Retrieved from https://www.vereniginghogescholen.nl/system/profiles/documents/000/000/181/original/Beroepsprofiel_en_opleidingsprofielen_beeldende_kunst_en_vormgeving_december_2014.pdf?1450790353
Weizman, E. (Ed.). (2014). Forensis: The architecture of public truth. Berlin, Germany: Sternberg Press.
Wittkower, R. & Wittkower, M. (1963). Born under Saturn: The character and conduct of artists. New York, NY: Random House.
