Context (Pool) 1: Art & New Material/ism

Rather than understanding matter as a passive object within artistic creation, to be manipulated through craftsmanship, there have always been experimental approaches to artistic production and reception that seek to change this relationship (Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Eva Hesse, among others) and to pursue a conscious collaboration with the material.

Today, the theoretical-philosophical movement of New Materialism conceives of matter as active, effective, and co-creative. A growing number of artistic projects now respond directly to these theories by understanding materials, objects, bodies, tools, and environments not merely as means, but as co-thinkers, attributing to them an active role in production, perception and communication (e.g., material agency, intra-action).

This seminar invites participants to contextualise current theoretical positions (including those of Karen Barad, Jane Bennett, Rosi Braidotti, Donna Haraway, Timothy Morton, among others) within the field of art. Through text readings, discussions of artworks (Dineo Seshee Bopape, Kapwani Kiwanga, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Denise Ferreira da Silva, etc.), and individual artistic experiments, we will explore material processes, materialities, and ecological entanglements as central aspects of contemporary art. The aim is to reflect upon and contextualize one’s own artistic strategies in relation to these perspectives.

About the lecturer:

Yvonne Wilhelm, an artist and professor, is part of the artist duo known as knowbotiq. She teaches at the ZHdK MFA with a particular emphasis on queer-feminist and post-/decolonial perspectives. Her artistic practice centers around post-digital time-based formats; installative-performative settings, and research-driven art.