Medienkunst/Mediengestaltung (Media Art and Design)

Multimediales Erzählen - Seminar bei Aline Helmcke (©Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Foto: Candy Welz)

Think Tanks and Laboratories: a Brief Overview

The study of Media Art & Design not only provides students with training for careers in the art & design media, it also functions as a type of think tank and laboratory, producing new media forms and formats and finding answers to the most pertinent questions posed by a globalised media world.

Theory and practice are thus closely related in our courses; the artistic design of our everyday media existence is closely connected to the academic reflections of Media Studies, as well as the technical rudiments of Computer Science & Media.  In other words, great significance is attached to the interdisciplinary aspect. In addition, the faculty provides a flexible infrastructure of studios and workshops; there is a media house with its own TV studio, and audio production studio and the ›Digital Bauhaus Lab‹, the own research and laboratory centre of Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Together, these facilities provide ideal training conditions.

The degree programme is thought by the following professors:

These core subjects are supplemented by academic and technical courses offered by the chairs of Media Studies and Computer Science and Media.

Im Radiostudio (©Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Foto: Candy Welz)

»The responsibility of the artist is not to give answers. It is to ask questions.«

Robert Wilson, visiting professor at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar (2011-2012)

New Public Spheres and Interpersonal Relationships: the Bachelor’s Degree Course in Media Art and Design

It’s all about information, media information. How can you disseminate and edit it? How can you imagine new futures and new fictions, and how can you turn them into reality? How can you create and reflect on media events? Or develop new public spheres and communicative spaces? Or design new interfaces for interpersonal relationships?  This course gives you the opportunity to contribute towards designing the objects of the future, or even to revolutionise media art, and, while you are at it, television and radio, too. Science, technology and art are not mutually exclusive. They belong together. That is the Weimar tradition.

In concrete terms: if you take the Bachelor’s Degree Course in Medienkunst/Mediengestaltung (Media Art and Design), you can expect small groups and individual projects, practical courses and unconventional approaches – artistic, technological and organisational. Close to our everyday media existence.

The auditory and the visual, the eventful, the conceptual and the interactive: these areas all overlap, and the permutations are legion. That is our unique profile. That is Media Art and Design at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

From Elementary to Advanced: Course Structure

the Animation studio (©Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, photo: Candy Welz)

The initial two-semester basic study stage focuses on simple technical and practical questions: how do I operate a camera?; what exactly is a radio play?; what is there in my artistic ›tool kit‹?; what should the mobile phone of the future be able to do?; should it have even more functions?; should it even smell nice? Ask yourself these questions. Try them out. Play about with your ideas.

The subsequent four-semester specialist study phase has a more thematic focus. You will have opportunity to specialise in a particular artistic field, thus expanding your knowledge and becoming familiar with experimental forms of expression. You will be able to analyse and transform academic findings through the prism of your art. Optional courses from the chairs of Media Studies and Computer Science & Media will also give you a broader perspective. The same goes for external work placements and study periods spent at universities abroad. These are supported and recognized by the programme.

The standard study period for the Bachelor’s degree course in Media Art and Design is six semesters. Upon completion and defence of the Bachelor’s thesis, students are awarded the academic degree of »Bachelor of Fine Arts« by the Faculty of Art and Design.

Directors, Sound Designers and Media Artists: Professional Opportunities

Whether you want to create your own designs or commission them, work freelance or for a design company, the degree course in Media Art and Design opens up all sorts of professional opportunities for you. You will be able to work in areas that demand a creative and critical approach to the opportunities offered by the media: in editorial offices, cutting rooms and artistic laboratories; at a desk, in a studio or in the open air.
 
Here are some, but by no means all of the professional openings which the degree course will offer you:

  • film production, direction, camera work, lighting, editing, and dubbing for feature films, animation and documentaries
  • freelance design
  • curatorship of art and media festivals
  • creative art on the free art market
  • radio journalism, editing, radio drama and features, scriptwriting, direction, sound production and effects
  • editorial work and management in the entertainment and information industries (TV, computer games, internet, radio, leisure, interface design)
  • academic work
  • sound design and computer-assisted composition
  • TV direction, editorial work and journalism
  • web design/interface design, graphic design
Making of a stop trick movie entsteht (©Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Foto: Candy Welz)

The Master’s Degree Course in Medienkunst/Mediengestaltung (Media Art and Design)

Creativity, design and experimentation – open to current trends, but also with a view to the future: that is the philosophy of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar’s Master’s degree course in Medienkunst/Mediengestaltung (Media Art and Design). The tuition covers organisation and technology, as well as developing creative, analytical and critical skills. The combination of these disparate elements forms the main focus of the course, as it is the basic prerequisite for creative professional work in the media – either freelance or for a company. The primary goal of the course is to develop designers of strong character who will be able to enrich, and indeed determine the everyday media environment of the future with their practical knowledge and artistic creativity.

Course Contents: What Are My Study Options?

Course Contents: What Are My Study Options?

Workshop with Oskar Sala 2010 (©Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Foto: Anja Erdmann, Maxie Götze)

The search for a personal signature and form of expression is one of the essential aims of the Master’s degree course in Media Art and Design. You will build on and expand the basic knowledge you have acquired from your previous university education or professional experience, bringing your creative potential to full fruition. Once you have decided on your specialist subject in art and design from the individual core subjects of the various chairs, you will have the opportunity to work on it more intensively on a project-oriented and interdisciplinary basis. You can also integrate further modules from the university’s other degree courses into your personal study programme.

The individual core subjects are:

 

 

Overview: How is the Course Structured?

Overview: How is the Course Structured?

The first three semesters comprise one project module in artistic design, two specialist modules from the degree course in Media Art and Design and one academic module, plus three further elective modules. The fourth semester is devoted to the Master’s thesis. You are also recommended to study abroad for part of the degree programme, especially if you did not previously spend a semester abroad as part of your Bachelor’s degree course. The Faculty has contacts with a large number of notable international partner universities for this purpose.  

The standard study period for the Master’s degree course in Media Art and Design is four semesters. Upon completion and defence of the Master's thesis, students are awarded the academic degree of »Master of Fine Arts« by the Faculty of Art and Design.

My Degree: How Can It Help Me?

My Degree: How Can It Help Me?

Graduates of the Master’s degree course will have acquired media skills and competences which are in demand in countless media professions. They will have become familiar with the practice of art and design and learned about interdisciplinary contexts and methods. This means that they are ideally prepared for the many challenges they will face in their everyday media existence. In concrete terms, possible career choices could include:

  • film production, direction, camera work, lighting, editing, and dubbing for feature films, animation and documentaries
  • freelance design
  • curatorship of art and media festivals
  • creative art on the free art market
  • radio journalism, editing, radio drama and features, scriptwriting, direction, sound production and effects
  • editorial work and management in the entertainment and information industries (TV, computer games, internet, radio, leisure, interface design)
  • teaching and artistic development
  • sound design and computer-assisted composition
  • TV direction, editorial work and journalism
  • web design / interface design, graphic design

The degree programme offers the following programmes of studies:

Media Art and Design (MAD) – Master’s programme

The English-language Master’s degree course in Media Art and Design (MAD) is structured along the same lines as the standard Master’s degree course in Media Art and Design.

Making of a stop trick movie entsteht (©Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Foto: Candy Welz)

The Master’s Degree Course in Medienkunst/Mediengestaltung (Media Art and Design)

Creativity, design and experimentation – open to current trends, but also with a view to the future: that is the philosophy of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar’s Master’s degree course in Medienkunst/Mediengestaltung (Media Art and Design). The tuition covers organisation and technology, as well as developing creative, analytical and critical skills. The combination of these disparate elements forms the main focus of the course, as it is the basic prerequisite for creative professional work in the media – either freelance or for a company. The primary goal of the course is to develop designers of strong character who will be able to enrich, and indeed determine the everyday media environment of the future with their practical knowledge and artistic creativity.

Course Contents: What Are My Study Options?

Workshop with Oskar Sala 2010 (©Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Foto: Anja Erdmann, Maxie Götze)

The search for a personal signature and form of expression is one of the essential aims of the Master’s degree course in Media Art and Design. You will build on and expand the basic knowledge you have acquired from your previous university education or professional experience, bringing your creative potential to full fruition. Once you have decided on your specialist subject in art and design from the individual core subjects of the various chairs, you will have the opportunity to work on it more intensively on a project-oriented and interdisciplinary basis. You can also integrate further modules from the university’s other degree courses into your personal study programme.

The individual core subjects are:

 

 

Overview: How is the Course Structured?

The standard study period for the English-language Master’s degree course in Media Art and Design (MAD) is four semesters/two years. The curriculum gives you a short overview of the course structure.

Master's examination: How to get your M.F.A.

What steps do you need to follow on the way to your Master's degree?
Important information on deadlines and prerequisites can be found here (Pdf).

e-lab (©Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Foto: Candy Welz)

Integrated International Media Art and Design Studies, M.F.A.

Joint Master’s Degree Course with Tongji-University Shanghai

The Faculty of Art and Design also collaborates with the Tongji University Shanghai on a joint Master’s degree course in Integrated International Media Art and Design Studies (IIMDS). This takes place in Weimar and in Shanghai. It's is offered within the overall framework of the Master‘s degree course in Media Art and Design. The study programme affords students a deep and well-differentiated insight into the media landscapes of China and Germany, as well as practical art and design work in these two countries. This co-operative project prepares graduates for work on the global media market. The Master’s programme challenges students to develop their skills in interdisciplinary and international collaboration, not to mention intercultural communication.

The DAAD's sponsorship of the programme has now expired. For this reason, no grants can be authorised at the current time.

What Are My Study Options?

e-lab (©Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Foto: Candy Welz)

For students of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, the programme begins in Weimar and then transfers to the Tongji University Shanghai for semesters two and three. For the fourth semester, which is devoted to the preparation and production of the Master’s thesis, students return to Weimar.
These are the individual core subjects of the degree course:

Tongji University Shanghai

  • animation
  • film/TV
  • interaction design
  • Chinese art and culture
  • multimedia design

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

 

All academic activities, including all oral and written examinations, are carried out in German or English. As a rule, the Master’s thesis and its defence will be in the student’s native language or in English. Language courses in Chinese at the partner university in Shanghai are also integrated into the study programme.

For Students of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, the standard study period for the Master’s degree course in Integrated International Media Art and Design is four semesters. Upon completion and defence of the Master’s thesis, students are awarded the academic degree of »Master of Fine Arts« by the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar’s Faculty of Art and Design and the academic degree of »Master of Literature« by the Tongji University Shanghai.