This course explores the rich possibilities of materials in contemporary art and the ways they can carry layered meanings that deepen the resonance of your work. You will learn a process-driven approach to analysing the physicality of materials and branching out into their symbolic, cultural, and conceptual associations. Through exercises with existing artworks, you will build skills that translate directly into your practice. Each participant will create a personal material library: a catalog of specific materials and the narratives they support, helping you clarify the themes you wish to explore and providing strategies to expand them. We will consider how materials can be read through diverse lenses, from folklore, religion, and philosophy to pop culture, literature, science, politics, and technology. The course will also cover ways of articulating your material choices, from the poetic to the academic, balancing what remains private with what is shared. By the end, you will have both a conceptual framework and practical toolkit for using materials as rigorous elements of conceptual meaning.
Switzerland
Germany
Austria
