ADS0: Agency

ADSO explores the installative environment as a pictorial stage of the self. We create speculative scenographies for personal spatial discourse and material practice.

In 2023/24, ADS0 will operate on the theme of ‘AGENCY.’ This theme reflects the core objective of the studio– to develop unique and personal spatial practices capable of transforming the autobiographical into actual agency. Agency generally refers to a person's capacity to impact things that are both internal and external to the self. More specifically, within the context of ADSO, AGENCY becomes the individual's potential and ability to affect change within particular themes of interest through a consciously developed material spatial practice.

The studio will continue with its autobiographical approach. At the centre of the studio's program remains biologist Jakob Von Uexküll's 1907 theory of the Umwelt, which formulates that every living organism actively creates a highly unique and self-centered 'image' or 'model' of the world it inhabits. This mental image or model merely constitutes a partial, incomplete and subjective representation of reality. Through an ongoing and interactive process of communication and feedback-loops all living organisms constitute their own Umwelt, or model of the world.

Umwelt theory states that the mind and the world of every living organism are inseparable, because it is the mind that interprets the world for the organism. Consequently, the Umwelten of different organisms in one living environment will differ, which follows the individuality and uniqueness of the history of every single organism. This theory hereby states that in every environment there are as many Umwelten as there are living organisms. The theory challenges our common notion of reality; it is no longer considered as that external 'objective' condition which can be detached from all the organisms living in it, rather, is reformulated as an internal and subjective condition exclusively resulting from the organism's individual perception. The Umwelt thus constitutes reality as it is perceived by the individual living organism, it is by nature non-detachable from its subject and autobiographical in every sense.

ADSO wishes to explore this concept of Umwelt as a spatial category which challenges our notions of architecture and space and which demands new formats of representation using multiple combinations of different audiovisual, scenographic, linguistic or performative media. The studio will challenge our common notions about space and architecture, evoking a more tangible and material concept from art practice –the Environment.

Environments constitute a site for exhibiting, while also referring to the installation and performance art that originating during the 1960s. The Environment can be defined as an coherent, enclosed, spatial system, which communicates a partial and subjective view of the world by establishing its own codes, protocols, and experiences that depend on the use of multiple audiovisual, scenographic, linguistic, and performative media. Environments are generated as discursive models for both existing and possible worlds, offering a platform for speculative design practice. In 2023/24, ADSO will instrumentalize the installative environment as a spatial typology, allowing it to be read as a pictorial stage of the self and as a speculative scenography for personal spatial discourse.

ADSO engages with the narrative and discursive capacities of architectural space in relation to art, photography, film, installation, scenography, and performance. The studio systematically puts the image and its construction process at the core of its research and explores the hybrid use of both analogue (models, drawings, printed media, collages, objects) and digital representational techniques (photo, film, rendering & animation). This approach displays strong affinities with art practice and consequently responds to the evolution of our daily living environments into multi-spaces in which the physical and digital are strongly merging into a more complex, interconnected, and associative experience of space. The studio fundamentally focuses on research by practice, through transdisciplinary experimentation, offering scopes in both architectural, artistic, and performative fields of work.

We run the studio as an artist collective; a group of individuals each developing their own trajectory through pro-active and tuned in coaching. Every student is intensively guided into the development of their practice and personal discourse on a longer term. As a result, the studio’s projects display a diverse body of work, offering a multitude of unique perspectives on the contemporary world we live in. Every year, the studio constitutes another temporary collective, it emerges from our collective dynamic, and so does its organization, as we discuss and organize the studio together. However, guided by a theoretical framework, building progressively the body of work of the studio, a continuous, ongoing exploration and critique of what life is in our times. The studio deliberately embraces change, conflict, instability, and ambiguity as a basis for its methodological approach. We agree with catastrophists in that, catastrophes invoke ideas of destruction but also of renewal, of the deepening of dominating forces, but the emergence of new ones.

At the core of ADSO's general framework lies the study of catastrophe as a force by which all preconceptions about the architectural discipline and its practice are reviewed, a suspension we find to particularly question the discipline's positive drive for “progress.” Negativity or skepticism become instrumental as they compel us to suspend our beliefs and provoke us to engage with alternatives for the usual course of things. As the etymology of the word, catastrophe casts a conflicting set of meanings, its compelling potential is set in place. Commonly used to refer to disaster or calamity, the word can also denote 'denouement', in the mid-16th century definition of the word, stemming from the old Greek katastrophē; meaning the sudden change or overturning of events in the plot of a play. In the context of everydayness, catastrophe simply becomes that event which leads to sudden or radical change. It can thus be seen as an unavoidable and integral part of life, as a catalyst device which outcome is the reversal of what was expected. Through its conflictual and disruptive nature, everyday catastrophe thus reveals and unpacks the borderlines between the expected and the unexpected, the normal and the abnormal, between the acceptable and the unacceptable, between comfort and discomfort, between progress and throw back. Catastrophes undoubtedly challenge our prevailing value-systems and in doing so present us with an opportunity to face change in a more radical way.

During 2023/24 the studio will use the concepts of Umwelt and Environment as its' elementary devices to explore this change. The environment is put forward as a pictorial stage which narrates the shifts in how we perceive, experience, construct and represent the world that surrounds us. As the environment constitutes a basic spatial system of enclosure it offers a comprehensible basis from which broader reflections about processes of change can be directed.

ADS0 is inspired by Steve Salembier's artistic practice, together with his installation and performative work. We will begin the year with a series of experiments in which all students are invited to explore different hybrid techniques of representation combining the use of found footage, digital video-collages, models, sculptural objects, installative multimedia work, etc.

Throughout these experiments every student will gradually accumalate content through material experimentation and ultimately create the basic elements or building blocks for an installative environment in which the characteristic themes of the personal Umwelt will be staged, narrated and translated into matter. These ‘characteristic themes of the personal Umwelt’ will be gradually narrowed down by focusing on aspects that relate to broader societal, cultural, or political urgencies ,or simply to fascinating aspects of ongoing contemporary change.

The output of the experiments encompasses six different formats that we will cultivate in Term 1 and then develop throughout the entire year. 1/ the desktop-performance – an intuïtive and associative format for presenting ongoing research by manoeuvring through gathered files on our desktops. 2/ the gallery pinup – a curated selection of framed, printed images on the wall consisting of carefully composed key-images portraying the personal Umwelt as a collection of characteristic spaces and situations. 3/ the object-collection – an idiosyncratic sculptural archive of discursive and narrative objects. 4/ the digital video-collage – a short video portraying the personal Umwelt as a staged video–work, realised through an ongoing process of scripting and video-editing, and using found footage as filmed caption. 5/ the statement – a linguistic portrayal of the Umwelt as a poem, a living piece of writing that undergoes continuous alterration. 6/ the multimedia-installation – a spatialisation of selected media portraying the personal Umwelt and transforming it into an environment.

Term 1 will be dedicated to the gradual accumalation of content through research by practice and material experimentation according to the 6 output-formats. The outcome of this term will culminate in the preparation for and presentation of the WIP-show. In the final phase of the term, we will clearly define the focus of our personal discourses and media we wish to explore further. As a collective we will design and build one installative environment in which all the Umwelten of the students are staged within one collective form and installation.

Art Seminars

ADSO operates on the edges between architecture and contemporary art practice. The studio includes a series of 10 in depth seminars, which offer a comprehensive insight into the ‘environment’ as a relatively recent spatial practice and more generally into the conceptualisation of space in art practice. The lectures are given by Louis Philippe Van Eeckhoutte, an international art expert, curator and director of the Brussels based Dépendance gallery.

A first chapter of the seminars will focus on significant artistic practices in which architectural space plays an important role; Gregor Schneider, Thomas Demand, Pierre Huyghe, Thomas Schutte, Harald Klingelhöller, Reinhard Mucha, etc. A second part of the lectures will offer a comprehensive evolution of space within the development of art starting off in the renaissance leading up to today. This evolution will illustrate the gradual spatialisation of art. A third part of the series will zoom in on significant exhibitions in which space has been the protagonist such as Documenta, Skulptur Projekte Münster or Chambres d'Amis.

Following the material explorations of Term 1, in Term 2 students will continue progressing toward their individual project. An intensive workshop at the beginning of Term 2 will guide students to select and define their specific themes of interest and conceptualise their project for an installative environment. This speculative workshop will result in: 1. a highly specific direction by which to proceed the project; 2. a selection of media to be used in the project; and 3. a project site. After the workshop, we will further develop the selected media used in Term 1, further developing our knowledge and experience. In depth tutoring will focus on developing the conceptual frameworks, formats, and media by which the projects are to be conceived, together with the process of actual production. In ADSO, there is no difference in approach between YR1 and YR2, however from Term 2 onward, the studio will guide YR1 students toward a clear project definition that includes a project–site and is attentive to the technical, material, and tectonic opportunities necessary for an interesting technical studies project. YR2 will explore a personalised project in regard to the format, outputs, and deliverables.

Unit Trip & Live Project

In 2023/24, ADS0 will travel to Belgium where we will visit numerous leading galleries, museums, and art foundations. The fieldtrip coincides with the ADS0 Live Project; a one-week workshop at the Middelheim Museum in Antwerp. During the workshop, we will work in the Atelier Van Lieshout pavilion, set amongst the unique collection of contemporary art in the Middelheim Sculpture Park. The workshop is part of the Museum's upcoming Biennial ‘Common Grounds’ and will culminate in a presentation of our ongoing work to the Museum's board of curators. This presentation will be staged in Renaet Braem's 1963 exhibition pavilion and will include our projected practices within the park; explorations of how this ‘new context’ might affect and enrichen our discourse, practice, and ongoing studio work.

In Term 3, students will focus on the production of their studio projects. YR1 students will have an emphasis on the project relation to technical studies and mature techniques of representation. YR2 students will consolidate and represent the arguments established in the design strategy document.

Tutors:

Steve Salembier studied architecture at the Henry van de Velde Institute in Antwerp. He worked at Stéphane Beel architects (1998-2012) and has gradually developed an artistic practice in which he explores the narrative dimensions of space. His work mainly consists of performative installations and installative performances. In 2014 he founded Atelier Bildraum . He was awarded the Big in Belgium Award in 2015 and the Total Theater Award at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh in 2016.

Since 2015, he has been working as artist in residence at LOD muziektheater; an internationally renowned production house for musical theatre. Since then Steve has developed several major projects within the context of this house: bildraum (2015); in between violet & green (2017); Reflector (2018); Icon (2019); babel (2020); and Umwelt(2022). All the work is currently on show internationally.

Isabel Pietri has been a key collaborator with Dyvik Kahlen, leading their UK projects since 2015. She has previously worked on major regeneration areas across London during her time at de Rijke Marsh Morgan as an Associate and core member of their residential design team. Previous experience includes work at Foster + Partners and Barkow Leibinger in Berlin, as well as construction workshops in concrete, slate and japanese joinery. Isabel graduated from the Architectural Association in London, receiving an RIBA Silver Medal Commendation and the Paul Davis + Partners award for her thesis project ‘Mies Immersion’, a mathematically derived underground archive exploring the legacy of Mies van der Rohe. Isabel previously taught ADS5 with Christopher Dyvik and Max Kahlen on the theme of Ambiguous Architecture. She has been a guest critic at Cambridge University, Liverpool University School of Architecture and the Architectural Association.

Louis-Philippe Van Eeckhoutte (1985, Roeselare, BE) is a curator and art critic. He is currently director at Dependance gallery in Brussels Belgium. In the early 2010s he lived in New York, where he worked for David Zwirner, Greenspon Gallery and the Swiss Institute. From 2010 to 2018 he was director at Office Baroque in Brussels. In 2018 he was Artistic Director of the Brussels Gallery Weekend and curator of the first edition of Generation Brussels. Since 2018, he has been a curatorial advisor for the Rediscovery section at Art Brussels. In 2020 he was co-curator of the 7th edition of Currents in Z33 in Hasselt with Melanie Deboutte. He is also the founder and editor of the online interview series Drawing Room Play.