Thinking Social Design - Theory Course

Brigitte Felderer, Nina Pohler

The term Social Design can describe theoretical and practical fields of work which are located in various contexts, ranging from science to activism, and deal with different scholarly and artistic ideas and methods. In the theory course 2020 we engaged with key ideas and concepts that help to think and conceptualize Social Design.

While Social Design needs to resist straightforward definitions, the variety of projects that Social Designers realize all share approaches that integrate artistic knowledge, apply transdisciplinary and collaborative procedures and are concerned with social and urban challenges. In the seminar, we read, discussed and visualized articles dealing with artistic research, feminist methodologies, transdisciplinarity, participatory art, art and politics in urban space, as well as the discourse on Social Design. The seminar was held as a collaborative effort, apart from the first session, each session was facilitated and documented by a group of students. At each meeting, a text was discussed by three groups, and from three different angles: One group focused on the argumentative structure of the text, one on its relevance for Social Design, and a third group worked on visualizing the text’s core arguments. Some of the visualizations developed into collective performances.

© Susanne Gutsche

© Susanne Gutsche

 

Time
January 2020
Location
Vienna
Team
Brigitte Felderer
Nina Pohler