Bioart Symposium and ArtechLAB Workshops – with Amsterdam University of the Arts April and May 2021

Spreading the word – Education, Education, Education!

We’re very interested in making sure that the concept of shaping trees and working in closer collaboration with Nature spreads as widely as possible, so were delighted to be invited to take part in a Bioart Symposium with Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten. Later we also conducted a series of workshops with both trainee Art teachers and with some practicing teachers (of Art, but also a few Science teachers).

The series of workshops covered two full days and three half days over the course of five weeks, and was both popular with the students, inspiring and enjoyable for us, and also helped us to spread some of the thoughts around closer collaborations with Nature.

The more in-depth workshops covered some of the history and practise of shaping trees, discussion of symmetry, plants hormones, stressors and nourishments, and well as more personal and practical observations of nature, including taking a cutting of a rubber plant and each student choosing their own “Boom Buddy” to observe, analyse and reinterpret.

Thanks so much to Michiel Koelink, Roderick Laperdrix & Meldrid Ibrahim for inviting us and for your support through the course, and especially to the wonderful students for their enthusiasm and food for though!

Here’s more about the Amsterdam University of the Arts.

From the Breitner Academie Facebook page:

“Wednesdays are the bomb with Alice & Gavin! & Thanks you, we need more people like you in the world!” aldus studenten die bij het vak ArtechLAB les kregen van gastdocenten Alice en Gavin Munro (Verenigd Koninkrijk). Het duo laat stoelen en lampen uit de grond groeien. Dat gaat alleen niet zo snel. Als je een meubelstuk van ze op het oog hebt, moet je wachten tot het geoogst kan worden. Dat kan een aantal jaren duren. Maar dan heb je wel een uniek meubel dat op een radicaal andere manier geproduceerd is.

Met de studenten onderzoeken ze het groeiproces van planten, geven ze deze namen, observeren ze bomen in het wild en maken ze ontwerpen waarbij symmetrie centraal staat.

Original post link here

A large rubber plant – Ficus elastica