EXPRESS: Digital Weaving at University of Bergen

Construction + Context:
Digital Weaving at University of Bergen
Level: MA
Credits: 4,5 ECTS
Course teachers: Kristina Aas and Tim Parry-Williams
Teaching period: 01-26 March 2021 (weeks 09-12)
WK 9: Monday – Thursday
WK 10: Tuesday – Thursday
WK 11: Tuesday – Friday
WK 12: Monday – Friday (including offsite working)

Location: KMD Textile workshop (Bergen) / Innvik AS (Stryn)

Number of available places for Kuno/Cirrus students: 3

How to apply: Please send a motivation letter (outlining relevant skills, experience, and rationale), CV and digital portfolio (4-6 works) to tim.parry-williams@uib.no  
Deadline: 20 January 2021

Course Description

Students will be introduced to the theories of advanced woven construction, through multiple warp and weft systems, layers and complex structures in order to create motif and image-based outcomes.

Workshop practice will include direct exploration and sampling of key principles with TC-1 and TC-2 jacquard, and digital dobby looms.

Software introduction will include: WeavePoint, Nedgraphics (Texelle / Product Creator) and the use of Photoshop, as a portfolio of digital tools.

Training will also support the development of outsource-ready digital files.

A study trip to a weaving factory will facilitate the observation and production of individual ideas at full-scale.

Goals and contents

  • Establish understanding of multiple warp / weft systems.
  • Develop working competency with relevant digital software.
  • Build capacity to translate ideas to outsourced production.

Teaching and Learning Methods

Lectures. Workshop-based research and development. Industrial trialling and production. Group and individual tutoring. Peer critique.

Aspects of the course may be delivered through online activity.

Learning outcomes

  • Advanced understanding of key principles of woven textile construction.
  • Cognitive skills in translating ideas from artistic concept to production.
  • Professional skills in research, development and execution of projects.

Requirements for prior knowledge

  • Internal (KMD) applicants: Minimum of BA1 Textiles Introduction and Core Course completions. 
  • External applicants: MA level only (Woven textiles training essential)
  • Expression of Interest through a motivation letter outlining relevant skills, experience, and rationale.

Additional costs for the trip to Innvik factory (travel and accommodation + meals), and textile production must be covered by the participating students.

Grant: 330 EUR travel (Iceland 660 EUR) + 70 EUR a weekly

Please note: COVID-19 makes the course a possible subject to late minute changes. The course requires physical presence, as we will not offer a full digital version of this course. If travel restrictions and quarantine regulations make physical presence impossible, participation will be cancelled.

CIRRUS express: Stories of our clothes (textile workshop)

CIRRUS EXPRESS COURSE

Title of course: Stories of our clothes (textile workshop)
Teaching period: 20.01.2020.-24.01.2020. 
Teacher: Annika Kiidron
ECTS: 1.5

Number of available places for CIRRUS students:  2

LevelBA / MA
VenueArt Academy of Latvia / Kalpaka bulvaris 13, Riga, LV-1050, Latvia

Language: English
Application deadline:  January 10, 2020
How to apply: Send a short motivation and some photos of your art works (could be portfolio, electronic version or web link) to the e-mail address: krista.balode@lma.lv
with subject title: Cirrus Stories of our clothes
Decisions: announced by January 14, 2020
Grant available per student: 330Eur travel (Iceland 660Eur) + 70Eur weekly
NB! Students need to bring their own laptops.

Requirements: Basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and textile techniques is needed.

Course description: 

Stories of our clothes. Unconventional digital surface design for fashion items. 

Through the decades the clothing have carried secret messages. The pattern, colour, form and texture of the clothing – they all have had a very special tale to tell in our history. 

You could easily tell a story of a person just by seeing their atttire, village of origin, marriage status etc, it all was coded into clothes. Surface design and patterns of the clothing held protective patterns and secret codes from our ancestors – they belived to bring safety, good health, peace of mind and prosperity. That was one of the reasons clothes were worn until they fell apart – because they were unique personal storytellers. 

Nowadays when the fast fashion rules the world, we have almost lost our personal identity in clothing, masses all look alike. But at the same time, new generations, especially gen z are believed to be the most individualised crowd in history. 

This course will work with personal stories. How to tell a unconventional visual story in form and surface design, how to emphasize the wearers body with pattern layout. 

Now, with the digital revolution, textile surfaces can be manipulated even more, the meaning of the rapport have new dimensions. Textile artist have limitless ways to tell a story by using crossover techniques, digital tools and new technologies. The possibilities are immense. 

Additional information:

Teacher Annika Kiidron https://annikakiidron.com/

Shenkar College: Engineering. Design. Art. Israel (Multidisciplinary Design, MA) and Estonian Academy of Arts (Design and Applied Arts, MA, Fashion Design) 

Venues of the symposium – Art Academy of Latvia, Riga, city centre (Kalpaka bulvaris 13). Organizers do not offer accommodations; do not hesitate to book your stay in advance. 

Conversation at Blönduós /CIRRUS

Conversation at Blönduós /CIRRUS
Iceland University of the Arts

Teacher: Birta Fróðadóttir 
Number of available places:1-2
Ects: 2
Level: BA (MA students are welcome to apply also)
Location: Reykjavik and Blönduós.
Organised by: LHI
Teaching period: January 6 – 17, 2020


Description 

Recently, the Icelandic Textile Residency and the Knowledge Centre in Blönduós were joined at the Icelandic Textile Centre in the old Women School on the banks of the river Blanda. In this course, students travel to Blönduós and stay in the Women’s School for five days while working on ideas for the environment and the current school facilities. The school facilities are comprised of the old Women School building from 1912, a set of detached houses and a long stretch of sheds. 

How can spaces be rethought and better used? How can the activities taking place there, be projected into the community in Blönduós? Students work in pairs, developing suggestions for the rethinking of spaces on the one hand and connecting the activities with the municipality on the other, before presenting their suggestions to both the administrators of the intuition as well as the people in the community.

In the second week students process and collect the suggestions at the IUA in Þverholt. This course is open to students from all departments of the University of the Arts. The project springs from an actual request from the Icelandic Textile Centre and their wish is for the suggestions to instigate a discussion about innovation and future development of the institution.

Arrangement: Stay in Blönduós for four nights from January 6-10. The Icelandic Textile Centre offers free accommodation with a shared kitchen. Students make their own travel arrangements, there and back again, either in private cars or with Strætó, the bus service. Express students must book and pay for their accommodation in Reykjavík (1st night upon arrival and last night before departure).

Rendezvous in the Women School in Blönduós on Monday, January 6 at 13.00.

How to apply

Please submit your application and motivation statement no later than 24th November 2019.

Click here to enter the online application.
Students who have been successful with their application, can find information about grant practicalities here: https://pesa11.artun.ee/mobility-for-students/

The Disaster Artist

The Disaster Artist /CIRRUS

Exploring artistic means in dealing with crises 

Teacher: Uta Reicharrdt, PhD and research fellow at the Institute for Sustainability Studies, University of Iceland 

Number of available places:2 

Ects: 2

Level: BA (MA students are welcome to apply also)

Location: Þverholt 11, 105 Reykjavík
Teaching period: January 6 – 17, 2020
 

Description: 

With the growing impact of natural events on societies more and more people are in need for ways of coping when hazards strike. Society´s resilience is the ability to recover and bounce back after a disastrous event – this course explores the ways art can contribute to resilience in times of crises.  

The course presents students to the main concepts of disaster research, drawing from the fields of earth sciences, environmental studies, sociology, health sciences, psychology and cultural studies. It covers factors important in dealing with the aftermath of an extreme event. These include the role of psychological first aid, communication, media, art and spirituality in coping with hardship, tragedies and trauma. 

It will look at examples on how art and design – be it graphic design, audio, writing, fine art – can come into the process of disaster risk management to develop the students´ own project. 

How to apply

Please submit your application and motivation statement no later than 24th November 2019.

Click here  to enter the online application.
Students who have been successful with their application, can find information about grant practicalities here: https://pesa11.artun.ee/mobility-for-students/

Behaviour and Transformation /CIRRUS

Behaviour and Transformation /CIRRUS
Teacher: Ari Marteinsson 
Host: Iceland University of the Arts
Number of available places: 2

Ects: 2
Level: BA (MA students are welcome to apply also)
Location: IUA campus in Þverholt
Teaching period: January 6 – 17, 2020

Description  

People aren’t dumb. The world is hard. 
Richard Thaler 

 We would like to believe that our decisions are logical and mainly determined by what we believe is good and worth pursuing. But in fact, we all make bad decisions every day. We eat unhealthy, we are late to our appointments, we exercise too little, we do not recycle, we spend too much time on our telephones, we gnaw our nails, we procrastinate rather than doing our school projects, we call our parents too seldom, and this list could go on – we do all of this while knowing better.

But how can we transform the behaviour of ourselves and others? How can we work with space, systems, graphics, technology, service to affect behaviour?

In this course, the basics of behaviour will be discussed as well as how people’s behaviour can be influenced. The aim of the course is that students research, map, analyse, design, make prototypes and tests for possible solutions. Our platform will be the Icelandic Academy of the Arts and its environment and the students in the course choose the challenges they want to work on themselves.

How to apply

Please submit your application and motivation statement no later than 24th November 2019.

Click here to enter the online application.
Students who have been successful with their application, can find information about grant practicalities here: https://pesa11.artun.ee/mobility-for-students/

Appearance of Things

OPEN EXPRESS – SPRING 2020 
Teaching period: 06-17 January 2020

 Appearance of Things /CIRRUS

Teachers: Nicolas Giraud, Sigrún Alba Sigurðardóttir 
Number of available places: 2
Ects: 2
Level: BA (MA students are welcome to apply also)
Location: IUA campuses in Þverholt and Laugarnes 

Description 

The elective will be centered on image practice. We will question the production, use and circulation of images, mostly photographic images. 
The course will be project base, each student will develop a personal project in context, from the making or collecting of pictures to the final form. 
The course will have a theory side, including lectures and discussions on the project process.   A special attention will be paid to the territory, economy and ecology of each project. 

How to apply

Please submit your application and motivation statement no later than 24th November 2019.

Click here to enter the online application.
Students who have been successful with their application, can find information about grant practicalities here: https://pesa11.artun.ee/mobility-for-students/

Urban Space Gaming workshop

School of Arts, Design and Architecture / Aalto University
Helsinki, Finland

3-7 February, 2020

CIRRUS Nordic-Baltic Network of Art and Design Education
https://pesa11.artun.ee/

Below, info on the workshop to be arranged at the School of Arts, Design and Architecture of the Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland as a collaboration of three art universities and countries: Aalto Arts – https://www.aalto.fi/en/school-of-arts-design-and-architecture (main organizer), Iceland University of the Arts – www.lhi.is and VDA Vilnius Academy of the Arts, Lithuania – www.vda.lt

In addition to students from this year’s host (the Aalto University), five students from Iceland, five students from Lithuania and five students from other Nordic/Baltic countries are able to participate. The CIRRUS network will pay travel and accommodation costs.

If you want to participate, please email tarja.nieminen@aalto.fi by DECEMBER 1, 2019 a brief statement of why you wish to participate and an overview of your skill set as it relates to the topic. We are particularly interested in participants with animation skills and/or experience working with pervasive gaming / augmented reality. The results of the selection will be communicated by 31st of November and for those selected also information on travelling arrangements.


Tentative travel dates:

Saturday 1st February or Sunday 2nd February –
Sunday 9th February, 2019

Workshop description:

Urban Space Gaming
Level: BA/MA
Duration: 5 days

2 ECTS credits

Tutors: Tarja Nieminen (Finland), Sam Rees (The UK, Iceland), Lode Coen (Belgium), Ausra Lisauskiene (Lithuania) and visiting lecturers

URBAN SPACE GAMING

In terms of civilization history, games and gaming represent one of the oldest means of human communication and interaction, and at the same time, they are more contemporary and relevant than ever.

The key element in gaming is involvement: games are social, so players interact meaningfully with each other and games often help to bridge the communication/conversation gap. Games are not only “games” but also go beyond their immediate purpose: they embody living popular tradition

due to their ability to renew and adapt to new times and new customs. The workshop is relevant, not only because of its adaptable topic, but also educationally when considering current notions of designer´s roles as a content developer, author, producer, activist, and collaborator, and agent of change.

The workshop theme is communication and intervention in public space
by means of participatory games and act of playing – in other words, it looks at the gamification of urban and social design. In the workshops, the participants will create concepts for different kinds of participatory games taking place within public spaces.

The overall aim of the workshop is to generate interaction between students and
the local people as well as between the people and their surroundings.
The aspects to be taken into consideration are:
1. Public space intervention,
2. Interaction among people and between people and spaces,
3. To encourage people to improve their physical environment,
4. Explore ways to communicate e.g. on cultural and historical awareness, as well as social issues
5. Public space appearance improvement by means of art and design, and
6. Alternative ways of mapping, guiding or way finding.

The main output of the workshop will be a number of game concepts, game mock-ups or in some cases actual games played out in the urban environment. The final presentation should involve dynamic visualizations of the concept to showcase clearly the intent and possibility of the project.

Some of the final game concepts may be transferable, but some of them will probably be more site specific. Ultimately, there will not be any preconceived notions of the kind of the game participants should design – the concepts could include for example, games which involve growing things, games which expand in time, games which utilize augmented reality or games which use other pervasive gaming strategies. In addition to the presentation of the final game/game concepts, there will be a blog created,
showcasing the results of the workshop online.

(More info will be provided to those who will participate).

FULL! The seats have been taken. Thank you for your interest in using CIRRUS for EKA Design Hackathon


5 seats avaliable for CIRRUS students at EKA Design Hackathon.
First come, first served.
CIRRUS grant: 330 EUR travel (Iceland 660) + 70 EUR for living costs. The grant will be delivered to your home institution’s account and they are responsible for paying it out to you.
(More students are welcome to join in without a grant).
Apply through the link and under question: “FACULTY / UNIVERSITY / ORGANISATION”, mention first CIRRUS and then your institution, e.g
CIRRUS – Estonian Academy of Arts
ECTS: 2

EKA Design Hackthon takes place in Estonian Academy of Arts 1.11 – 3.11 and is dedicated to students of The Faculty of Design but opened to everyone who is interested.

A hackathon is a 48 hours long intensive event where students from different faculties work together in order to find design solutions for real life problems.

Although this is a general design hackathon we encourage the participants to think about futuristic solutions and use their imagination to come up with solutions that would feel innovative also in 2035.

Your idea could be a new alternative in the world of materials and textile, an advanced view of the ways things are engineered, a program or part of code that makes designing more efficient or anything else you can possibly come up with.

The event is free of charge, food is provided and experienced mentors are available throughout the event.

When registering explain your idea, write down the possible materials you may want to use and bear in mind that all the workshops are opened for the whole weekend. Don’t hesitate if you don’t have an idea yet, your skills are as valuable!

Event link to the pre-event: facebook.com/events/463927657556345/

This event is funded by European Union Regional Development Fund.

Register here: forms.gle/RUNwuhsneW8tPDHv5

New CIRRUS express in Lithuania, March 12 – 16, 2018

CIRRUS intensive workshop “Triangles – letters, type, languages and cultures“ in Klaipėda.

The Faculty of Klaipeda (Vilnius Academy of Arts) is hosting a joint Cirrus workshop “Triangles – letters, type, languages and cultures“

1,5 ECTS
CIRRUS seats: 3

Klaipeda, Lithuania
March 12th – 16th, 2018 (arrival March 11th, departure March 17th)

 

Workshop starting point

The technology of writing is a key factor of human society, and the development of specific writing systems crucially define local identities. Contemporary media being unthinkable without fonts, typeface designers and lettering artists are at the helm of a continuing process of cultural identity building, across borders and political spheres. In Klaipėda, the first printed Lithuanian book was recently on display. Printed in what was then the city of Königsberg by a Prussian letterpress, it is an example of simple technology transfer. Although blackletter lost its position as a reading typeface style even in Germany, vivid traces of the „broken script“ are still present in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, the UK, France… the following lettering workshop deals with the question, whether Roman, Cyrillic and blackletter can be imagined and developed together, like an imaginary triangle, at the same time.

Workshop concept

Take a flat pen, write three scripts together. Blend them, combine them, set them apart from each other. Bring them alive together. Let them speak to each other.

Starting from a spontaneous impulse, we will develop a simple set of typefaces in the Roman, Cyrillic and Blackletter. No full set of characters has to be finished in the short timeframe, though. Everyone is free to chose the tools at hand: a pen, collage, pencil and drawing board, or digital tools such as Illustrator, FontLab or the Glyphs app. Full assistance is guaranteed for all these tools.

The final outcome can be a sheet of calligraphic writing, a lettering sample, or a simple digital type specimen. The final discussion will address the experience of a multi-script approach to lettering practice.

3 students will be selected from Cirrus network partner schools.

The workshops are open to students of various graphic specialties also for students, interested into calligraphy, lettering and multi-script typeface design.
Level: BA students
The teacher of the workshop Roman Wilhelm (*1976) a Berlin-based visual communication designer.

A Berlin-based visual communication designer, Roman studied at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle (Saale) in Germany, and under Professor Fred Smeijers for a typeface design master’s degree at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig. He was a member of the Multilingual Typography Research Group led by Professor Ruedi Baur at the Zurich University of the Arts, apart from conducting lettering classes and workshops throughout Europe and Asia. A fluent Chinese speaker, his work focuses on cross-cultural mediation, bilingual typography and typeface design. A frequent visitor of Asia, he has taught at various academies such as the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, as well as the Seoul National University. In 2015, he was an artist in residence at the Hong Kong Baptist University and participated at the Typojanchi Biennale in Seoul. Roman was a presenter at the AtypI conferences in Hong Kong (2012) and Warsaw (2016).

His passion for language and writing has led to a strong immersion into calligraphy, lettering and multi-script typeface design.

You can find additional information about lecturers here: http://www.roman946.de/

 

Application process:  Apply by sending a short motivational letter and a link to your portoflio to the lecturer Virginijus Bakas virginijus.bakas@vda.lt by the of 15th February, 2018
Decisions on selection are announced by February 19th, 2018 

Timetable

 

Monday 12th

10.30-11.00 Brief introduction of R.Wilhelm (presentation with some works)
11.00-11.30 Spontaneous start. Try to hand-letter, hand-draw or hand-collage a word in Latin, Cyrillic and blackletter script without any reference or help, quick and dirty
11.30-12.00 Shared discussion of the outcome
12.00-13.00 The lunch break
13.00-14.00 Introduction (presentation). Lithuania, Russia, Poland, Prussia – depiction of a regiona media system through the centuries. Letterpress, migration of people and ideas, media revolution and the new interconnectedness.
14.00-14.30 Practice. Live on paper: Roman letters
14.30-15.30 Practice and sharing of first individual results

Tuesday 13th

10.30-11.30 Roman type, design elements
11.30-12.00 Practice. Live on paper: Blackletters – Fraktur (shared tutorial)
12.00-13.00 The lunch break
13.00-14.00 Practice and sharing of individual results

 

Wednesday 14th

10.30-11.30 Blackletter type, design elements
11.30–12.30 Practice and sharing of individual results
13.30 There is a planned excursion „Cartography“
https://www.mlimuziejus.lt/en/cartography/

 

Thursday 15 th

10.30- 12.00 Outlook. Local typographic and visual culture, language and identity, examples from China and Europe. Regional identity, roots, nationalism, colonialism and the potential of responsive media
12.00-13.00 The lunch break
13.00-14.00 Practice and sharing of individual results 

Friday 16th

10.30 Finishing of results, final presentation preparation
End of workshop. Final shared presentation and discussion of outcome, comparison of the spontaneous day one experiment with the final designs.