"ArTechS - Summer School. Merging Art and Technology for a Sustainable Now"

© ArTechS - CC0

With the participation of the Hybrid Plattform the Summer School “ArTechS” will take place between 01-13 of July 2019: The intention is to bring together students from around the globe  in order to merge their perspectives, approaches, methods and expertise on arts and technologies. Jointly they will contribute to a social-ecological transformation of society. The school is open for enrolled students of all universities and levels (Bachelor, Master, PhD); students of the arts and engineering are especially encouraged to apply.

The UN Rio+20 debate and its focus on Green Economy shows that there is a strong demand for technological innovation as a remedy for ecological destruction and as pathway to poverty eradication. Consequently, the predominant belief in technological progress is encouraged by technicians as well as a society wishing for easy technological solutions for complex ecological and social problems. This belief in quick technological fixes is further fostered by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. An interdisciplinary approach seems necessary as the traditional mono-disciplinary approaches do not adequately tackle the societal challenges around the globe. In contrast, artists and designers as well as experts of the humanities regularly address the relevant (global) issues including the technocentric and productivistic worldview. In addition, engineers and scientists are more and more living up to their social and ecological responsibility by designing sustainable technologies. Bringing students of these disciplines together may contribute significantly to a social-ecological transformation of societies. Taking this into account, the Technische Universität Berlin, the University of Arts Berlin and the State University of Music and the Performing Arts Stuttgart decided to partner up in the summer school "ArTechS - Merging Art and Technology for a Sustainable Now".

The summer school intends to bring students together to overcome the boundaries between and within art and technology. Students are invited to bring their disciplinary perspectives and competences to the summer school in order to jointly address the problems that they identify as urgent. By doing this, the participants will acquire the competence to unveil the complex interdependencies of their artistic, social, political, ecological and economic surroundings. This includes the consideration of different values, interests and needs within a global perspective as well as within one class(room). The design of the summer school encourages democratic decision-making not only to solve but also to define problems within the school itself and outside of the classroom. The summer school aims to enable the students to work together and across disciplinary boundaries through research-based learning. To this end, the students get to know basic approaches and methods of the various disciplines which will also include students co-teaching their fellow students in their respective disciplines. Furthermore, the students get to know several inter-/transdisciplinary/artistic research projects conducted at the participating institutions. This will include visits to laboratories and artist’s studios on the campus as well as excursions in and around Berlin to places of social-ecological transformations and/or contemporary art projects.The students then integrate their existing expertise with the new learned knowledge and competences in order to conduct their collectively organised action research projects, merging aspects of art and technology for a sustainable now. The process as well as the products of these artistic/action research projects will be presented to a broader public through an analogue and a digital exhibition.

The summer school will take place during the last two weeks of the German academic summer term -  1st to 13th of July 2019. This period will provide the possibility to experience first hand the student life on the campus of Technische Universität Berlin and the University of Arts Berlin. In addition, the students of the summer school will participate as guests in some regular courses so that they will directly interact with other students.

The participation is free of charge. There are 20 grants of 500 Euros and an additional travel allowance depending on the distance to Germany of around 250 - 1.000 Euros for non-german/international students. To apply follow this link and upload the required documents. The application deadline is 4th of March, all applicants will hear of the results by the 8th of March 2019 including if they are chosen for the stipend and travel allowance.

The summer school is organised by the following partners: Hybrid Plattform a project plattform of TU Berlin and UdK Berlin - Blue Engineering of TU Berlin - TU Berlin Sustainability Certificate for Students - CAMPUS GEGENWART of HMDK Stuttgart. The summer school is funded through DAAD - German Academic Exchange Service.