interactive berlin
DESIGNING INTERACTIVE ARTWORKS FOR PUBLIC SPACE
How does our message change when we take art out of the gallery and into public space?
• 3. - 28. July, 2023
• Based in Berlin, Germany
• Four weeks, full-time
• Small class of participants
Pricing
Artist / Student (Full Time)
€2095 regular fee
Freelancer
€2225 regular fee
Professional
€2395 regular fee
course
description
Art has the power to change the world but how can we spread our messages far and wide and have greater reach and impact? This program is about creating artworks not for the gallery but for residing in public space. What considerations must we take into account when working towards outdoor public presentation and interactivity? This program aims to output collaborative public artworks to be displayed in Volkspark am Weinberg in Berlin Mitte.
How can we create meaningful experiences and tell stories by making things interactive? This course will focus on physical computing, interactivity, materials and fabrication, with the goal of creating a series of interactive public artworks by programs end. We will use electronics and various materials and fabrication techniques and explore how they can work seamlessly together to help you express yourself.
This class is for anyone interested in
manifesting ideas and in showing others what strangeness and inspiration lurks in the hard to express parts of ourselves. The goal is for students to develop ways to approach, navigate, and realize those ideas that just seem too big, too deep, or too powerful to become real. With some tools and guidance, you’ll see that any idea can be broken down into a process and series of steps to take, to make your dream a reality.
Teachers and students will take a hands-on approach to working with electronic components, sensors, motors, and power supplies as well as with Bela for interactive audio, Raspberry pi, and Arduino microcontrollers to play and to create magical things that bring ideas to life through interactivity. It is a month-long intensive program that will equip artists with the technical expertise and confidence to continue working on their own projects long after the program has ended.
in this course,
you’ll be introduced to…
How to concretize your ideas from conception to hands-on implementation
Electronics, from beginner to intermediate level, from prototype to considerations for sturdier applications
Basics of coding and how to use sensors and other devices for creating interactive artworks
Building interfaces using paper prototyping, fabrics, and collage
Building circuits from schematic to breadboard
Creating interaction with sound using Bela.io
How to work with paint and other materials (acryllic, plaster, concrete, wood, etc.) for creating physical props and objects
Practical use of handtools
Material research and developmentInstallation and fabrication techniques
Personal project management and related tools
Professional development for artists and creatives
Exciting humans working in the field
Critical and conceptual development of projects to be showcased on the streets of Berlin
An amazing network and community of like-minded creative beings and potential future collaborators
Additionally, participants are invited to stay for a one-month residency (August) at School of Machines in Berlin to further connections and continue their work after the program has ended.
course outline
Week 1:
Introductions, historical perspectives on public art and interactivity, playful collaboration and experiments in public space, intro to electronics and prototyping.
Week 2:
Learning to work with various materials including plastics, silicone, cement, wood, paints, epoxy clay, casting resin, foam, and related safety precautions.
Week 3:
Intermediate electronics, interactivity, sealants, project planning, professional development for creatives.
Week 4:
Continuation of previous week, documentation of work, finalising projects for installation and public presentation.
who is this program for?
This program is geared toward anyone involved in creative fields (conceptual artists, architects, designers, makers, builders, visual artists, performers, production workers in theater, film, and tv, etc.) interested in expanding their creative practice into designing interactive artworks for the public domain. No previous experience necessary.
meet the instructors
Quinn Tincher
Co-Founder and Senior Artist at Meow Wolf
Quinn Tincher is one of the Founders of the Meow Wolf art collective, where he currently works as a senior artist doing as many things as possible, production design, molding, casting, sculpting, digital rendering, fantasy writing, poetry, painting and so much more! Each week he tries to learn a new skill on his show Quinn’s Quintessential Question Quest. He takes these skills to the world of themed environments, controlled experiences, immersive art and large scale fantasy fabrication through the wonderful portals that Meow Wolf has been able to open around the United States and hopefully someday, the universe. As a maker, artist, and craftsperson he has one goal: show people that they have the power to change the world around them and more importantly they have the power to change themselves. He believes that through being makers we can show others how to make a better world, together.
S. Astrid Bin
Interdisciplinary Artist and Designer
OS. Astrid Bin is an interdisciplinary artist and designer. Past endeavors have included baiting and then unbaiting 100 mousetraps with her hands, making a picture of a pigeon from 538 pieces of toast, documenting an attempt at making a million dollars in a year, photographing over 4000 banana skins, locking herself in a disused bank vault for ten nights, making light into a drawing medium, sending hundreds of postcards to an empty building, shaving her head, and occupying a phone booth for 24 hours. She has received death threats, hate mail and international press.
Her work examines the poetry in everyday things and the connections between people and their environments, and blurs, skips over and stamps on the line between art and design practice. She works two dimensionally (works on paper, text pieces, photography, printed projects, interfaces), three dimensionally (installation, art in public spaces, and reactive objects), and four dimensionally (sound, video, performance and interactive works). As an art and design researcher, she applies an art-based approach to design problems spanning interfaces, public space, new uses for games, the role of fun in the things we use, and re-imagining the music listening experience.
She holds a PhD in Media and Arts Technology from Queen Mary University of London (find her thesis here) and is currently a music technology researcher at Ableton.
