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GMU:Re-enchanting the field

2025-07-15T11:43:59Z

RLW: /* PARTICIPANTS */

Erasmus+ Blended Intensiv Program (BIP). A collaboration between Bauhaus University Weimar (Sound Ecologies and Media Environments), the Estonian Academy of Arts (Master of Craft Studies), Potsdam University of Applied Sciences (Department of Design) and the Unniversity of Applied Arts (Transformation Studies) Vienna,Austria.

Prof. Ursula Damm, Prof. Kerstin Ergenzinger, Mindaugas Gapševičius (Bauhaus University Weimar)
 Prof. Monika Halkort (University of Applied Arts Vienna)
 Prof. Myriel Milicevic (Potsdam University of Applied Sciences)
 Prof. Kärt Ojavee (Estonian Academy of Arts)

<big>'''SCHEDULE'''</big>

'''Preparatory Sessions (Online):''' April 4th, 11th 25th and May 9th 2025
 '''Field visit, Narva, Estonia''' (including travel days): 18.5. – 25.5.2025
 '''Follow up & Project Review''' (online): June 20th and July 5th 2025

'''<big>ECTS AWARDED: 6 (4 SWS)</big>'''

'''Topics addressed:''' energy transitions, extractivism, industrial waste as material witness and driver of (geo)political transformations and change.

=== SYLLABUS ===
* 04.04.2025 [[GMU:Re-enchanting the field/Welcome & Introduction|Welcome & Introduction]]
* 11.04.2025 [[GMU:Re-enchanting the field/Social & Political History of Oil Shale Production|Social & Political History of Oil Shale Production]]
* 25.04.2025 [[GMU:Re-enchanting the field/The geo-history of oil shale in Estonia|The geo-history of oil shale in Estonia]] + Methodological Briefing
* 09.05.2025 [[GMU:Re-enchanting the field/Preparation for Travel|Preparation for Travel]]

FIELDWEEK May 18th – 25

* 19.05.2025 [[GMU:Re-enchanting the field/EKA, Tallinn|EKA, Tallinn]]
* 20.05.2025 [[GMU:Re-enchanting the field/Travelling to Narva|Travelling to Narva]]
* 21.05.2025 [[GMU:Re-enchanting the field/Field visit auvre|Field visit auvre]]
* 22.05.2025 [[GMU:Re-enchanting the field/Field visit|Field visit and independent work]] / [[Independent work on projects]] / practical experiments
* 23.05.2025 Independent work on projects / Visit to Narva Venice
* 24.05.2025 All-day group presentations & Feedback
* 25.05.2025 Travel Day
==== '''<big>PROGRAM DESCRIPTION</big>''' ====
This course offers an intensive training in elemental ethnography and ecological research. During a week long fieldvisit to Narva, Estonia, near the Russian border we will investigate the material legacy of oil shale extraction in the Baltic region, focusing in particular on the historical entanglement of energy, substances, landscapes, and bodies, and their unintended proliferations and designs. The fieldvisit will be preceded by 4 online lectures to provide context and to introduce us to the main topcis and cpnceptual framing of our research.

Our main aim is to engage with the emergent properties of bio/geo-chemical waste in their broader geopolitical context and to unpack how they hold landscapes and bodies in colonial relations, long after the mining activities have been shut down.

More specifically we want to explore the recurrent cycles of decomposition, death and renewal that are shaping the ambivalent landscapes of extractivism in Estonia, making their queer connections and affinities visible and apparent for critical inquiry and future research.

===METHODOLOGY & TASKS===

Together with local residents and field guides, we will visit ash mountains, ghost villages and abandoned manufacturing plants, built under Soviet Occupation (1941 – 1991), when oil shale production was at its historical height. Additional insights will be provided by scientific inputs from researchers in biology, geology, and environmental history in preparatory sessions online.

The outcome of this collaborative exercise will be documented in a shared workbook (digital/online publication) based on group projects conducted in the field. The workbook will be designed as a living index of liminal relations that sustain the shale oil ecosystem, mapping how they animate, de/recompose and transform social and natural landscapes, organisms and bodies at different speeds, durations and levels of intensity. Drawing on acoustic sensing, environmental mappings, and elemental ethnography / bio-geochemical analysis, we hope to reveal the less noticeable tensions, collaborations, and attunements that emerge from ‘non-consensual inhabitations’ (Masco) and forced transfers and unpack how they facilitate and/or disrupt land-body relations against a backdrop of shifting geopolitical borders and energy regimes.

===LEARNING OBJECTIVES===
Participants in this workshop will develop an understanding of bio-chemical processes and relations as critical infrastructures of geopolitical transformations and recognize how socio-ecological change is as much about (re)configuring life and responsibility beyond the individual body (Murphy, 2017, p. 479) as it is premised upon structures of violence and extraction that require land and bodies as sacrifice zones.

===COURSE MATERIALS===
'''Course Materials (all)'''

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HV75lDkZEHdtrAgx0-7SFfqAEqqGSGdL

'''Social and Cultural History of Oil Shale Production in Estonia (Text)'''

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rlz26-7diSfn2Mp-YVLSBt_TdLZdldKl?usp=drive_link

'''Environmental Studies (Text)'''

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yM6MCDSTPJWmKqPqw7r_KL6FQKmc9tjP?usp=drive_link

'''Ecology/Elemental Perspectives (Text)'''

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1P1DwGrEWz3HpTbfr9932CYUuRyl5atNK?usp=drive_link

*"Ocean earth: 1980 bis heute: 1980 bis heute. Ausstellung Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum im Künstlerhaus Graz, Febr./März 1993"; Peter Weibel, Peter Fend, Thomas Donga Heike Rekampe ISBN 978-3927789722
* "Microhabitable"; Fernando Garcia Dory and Lucia Pietroiusti ISBN 978-3753303864
* "[https://www.diaphanes.net/titel/technologies-of-care-7046 Technologies of Care" by Yvonne Volkart]

'''Methodology'''

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nHvoJGnypVfDTGesCPSrxdQw5lTeQ2i8?usp=drive_link

* [https://leida.artun.ee/en/issues/community-of-agents/in-praise-of-legwork Legwork]

* [[Feralatlas.org|Feral Atlas]]

'''Miroboard'''

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVI4OmmIc=/

===EXPECTATIONS===
Participation in the trip to Estonia 18. -25. May 2025
 Interest in discourse, reading, research as well as hands-on material experiments around anthropocene & feral landscapes, relationality, more-than-human design, interdisciplinary, experimental and poetic approaches, team work
 Documentation and experimental storytelling (transferring findings and relations into visual, sonic, experimental narratives). These narratives will be published on a dedicated course website.
===PARTICIPANTS===
Bauhaus Universität Weimar
* [[/Cosmo Schüppel]]
* [[/Jan Munske]]
* [[/Karlotta Sperling]]
* [[/Kitman Yeung]]
* [[/Nina Bendix Igleses]]
* [[/Öykü Türkan]]
* [[/Rieke Hettinger]]
* [[GMU:Re-enchanting the field/Sabah Elhadid|Sabah Elhadid]]

Potsdam University of Applied Sciences
* [[/Marie Buschmann]]
* [[/Laura Günther]]
* [[/Helena Haak]]
* [[/Hannah Charlotte Krause]]
* [[GMU:Re-enchanting the field/I na K won|/Ina Kwon]]
* [[/Juliane Müller|/J uli ane Müll er]]
* [[/Jennifer Schnurr]]
* [[/Ragnar Wilczek|/]]RLW
* [[/Tilmann Finner]]

University of Applied Arts Vienna
* [[/Virginia Nicole Bonareri]]
* [[/Hans-Lionel Cayaban]]
* [[/Helin Ozdemir]]
* [[/Raphaela Leitner]]
* [[/Sara Karimi]]
* [[/Sofia Pechenaia]]
* [[/Yuri Turovskiy|/Yury Turovskiy]]
* [[/Jiun-You Ou]]

Estonian Academy of Arts
* [[/Chun Chow|/Odie Chow]]
* [[/Marite Helena Kuus|/Marite Kuus]]
* [[/Mariam Mestvirishvili]]
* [[/Hannah Caroline Segerkrantz]]

===BUDGET===

Participants receive stipends from the Erasmus programme to cover travel expenses.
===ACCOMMODATION===

We will be staying at Narva Art Residency (NART)
*https://www.nart.ee/en/residency/
*https://g.co/kgs/uLm4yKZ
The residency has two '''common sleeping areas''' which you can see [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avOYADrNMBY here]. To '''book a space''' please fill out this Google form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfw00YebTE9C9GpAEJViwnC2q2s1tjGPMKmpTp9YLkhDR1abA/viewform?pli=1<nowiki/>The price for accommodation at NaRt is '''15€''' per night, '''75€''' for the whole week.

S'''ubmit''' your reservation '''by''' '''April 29th'''!

If you need or prefer more privacy, there are plenty of '''Air BnB''' spaces available in Narva. For further details see the info sheet below.

'''Info Sheet Accomodation & Arrival'''

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DB6yc_PfR_PKR0QnDerWHTY-JDR-xenj?usp=drive_link

GMU:Re-enchanting the field/Ragnar Wilczek

2025-05-02T18:15:24Z

RLW:

* '''Safety''' | '''Threshold''' | '''Light''' | '''Memory'''
* '''Narrowness''' | '''Transition''' | '''Shadow''' | '''Projection'''
* '''Vastness''' | '''Access''' | '''Sound''' | '''Longing'''
* '''Strangeness''' | '''Invitation''' | '''Silence''' | '''Fear'''
* '''Openness''' | '''Exclusion''' | '''Smell''' | '''Curiosity'''
* '''Warmth''' | '''Seclusion''' | '''Texture''' | '''Familiarity'''
* '''Coldness''' | '''Permeability''' | '''Density''' | '''Irritation'''
* '''Lostness''' | '''Barrier''' | '''Emptiness''' | '''Amazement'''
* '''Security''' | '''Orientation''' | '''Resonance''' | '''Nostalgia'''
* '''Threat''' | '''Confusion''' | '''Echo''' | '''Overwhelm'''
* '''Intimacy''' | '''Labyrinth''' | '''Aura''' | –
* '''Anonymity''' | '''Flow''' | '''Tension''' | –
* '''Closeness''' | '''Standstill''' | – | –
* '''Distance''' | – | – | –

{| class="wikitable"
|Title: Oil Shale: Between Sound and Image
|-
|
|-
|1. Summary of Research Interest / Planned Experiment
|-
|This project explores sensory perception and the way meaning is created through sound and vision, focusing on the topic of oil shale in Estonia, especially in the Ida-Viru region. The goal is to build an interactive experimental setup that separates what people hear from what they see. This helps raise awareness of how our senses shape our understanding. The setup will work like an observation platform that encourages focus and concentration.
|-
|2. Background Information
|-
|Oil shale has played an important role in Estonia’s energy and industry for many decades, especially in the Ida-Viru region. But oil shale is more than just a technical or economic issue — it is also connected to questions about the environment, history, and identity. The region has gone through big industrial changes and landscape transformations, often told through visual stories. However, the importance of sound — like machines, underground echoes, or voices of local people — is often forgotten. This project asks how stories and experiences change when we focus only on what we hear or what we see.
|-
|3. Main Object / Focus of Fieldwork, Research Question, Anticipated Outcomes
|-
|At the center of this project is an experimental art installation that physically and technically separates sound from image. The setup will be built outdoors, near a site related to oil shale, and people can choose to experience it either through sound or through visuals. In the sound space, they will hear recordings of the area — machines, voices, and natural sounds. In the visual space, they will see the surroundings without hearing them, in real time or through video. The main research question is: How does our understanding of resources, landscapes, and history change when we only hear or only see? The project explores how our mind and emotions react when only one sense is used. The installation will be recorded and turned into a multimedia presentation (sound and image). The aim is to learn what people focus on, how they feel about what they experience, and what kind of meanings they create. Another important question is about control and openness: separating the senses limits what we receive, but also allows for new attention and focus.
|-
|4. Technical Description: Tools, Method, Process
|-
|The installation includes a sound element that is held close to the ears. It plays sounds from behind the person and at the same time blocks their vision. The goal is to limit vision and enhance hearing. People’s reactions will be written down by hand as part of a perception study. Sound will be recorded using field recording tools (such as Zoom H6 and binaural microphones). The visual part will include video and photography. The installation is designed to be mobile so it can be tested in different outdoor locations.
|}

File:Firefly A sculptural sound object inspired by Zaha Hadid, flowing asymmetrical design, sleek metalli-4.jpg

2025-05-02T13:02:10Z

RLW:

Prompted Firefly: 20250502_1500_A sculptural sound object inspired by Zaha Hadid, flowing asymmetrical design, sleek metallic surface, futuristic architecture turned wearable audio gear

GMU:Re-enchanting the field/Ragnar Wilczek

2025-05-02T12:52:22Z

RLW:

1 | Geborgenheit | Schwelle | Licht | Erinnerung
2 | Enge | Übergang | Schatten | Projektion
3 | Weite | Zugang | Klang | Sehnsucht
4 | Fremdheit | Einladung | Stille | Angst
5 | Offenheit | Ausschluss | Geruch | Neugier
6 | Wärme | Abschottung | Textur | Vertrautheit
7 | Kälte | Durchlässigkeit | Dichte | Irritation
8 | Verlorenheit | Barriere | Leere | Staunen
9 | Sicherheit | Orientierung | Resonanz | Nostalgie
10 | Bedrohung | Verwirrung | Echo | Überwältigung
11 | Intimität | Labyrinth | Aura | –
12 | Anonymität | Fluss | Spannung | –
13 | Nähe | Stillstand | – | –
14 | Distanz | – | – | –

{| class="wikitable"
|Title: Oil Shale: Between Sound and Image
|-
|
|-
|1. Summary of Research Interest / Planned Experiment
|-
|This project explores sensory perception and the way meaning is created through sound and vision, focusing on the topic of oil shale in Estonia, especially in the Ida-Viru region. The goal is to build an interactive experimental setup that separates what people hear from what they see. This helps raise awareness of how our senses shape our understanding. The setup will work like an observation platform that encourages focus and concentration.
|-
|2. Background Information
|-
|Oil shale has played an important role in Estonia’s energy and industry for many decades, especially in the Ida-Viru region. But oil shale is more than just a technical or economic issue — it is also connected to questions about the environment, history, and identity. The region has gone through big industrial changes and landscape transformations, often told through visual stories. However, the importance of sound — like machines, underground echoes, or voices of local people — is often forgotten. This project asks how stories and experiences change when we focus only on what we hear or what we see.
|-
|3. Main Object / Focus of Fieldwork, Research Question, Anticipated Outcomes
|-
|At the center of this project is an experimental art installation that physically and technically separates sound from image. The setup will be built outdoors, near a site related to oil shale, and people can choose to experience it either through sound or through visuals. In the sound space, they will hear recordings of the area — machines, voices, and natural sounds. In the visual space, they will see the surroundings without hearing them, in real time or through video. The main research question is: How does our understanding of resources, landscapes, and history change when we only hear or only see? The project explores how our mind and emotions react when only one sense is used. The installation will be recorded and turned into a multimedia presentation (sound and image). The aim is to learn what people focus on, how they feel about what they experience, and what kind of meanings they create. Another important question is about control and openness: separating the senses limits what we receive, but also allows for new attention and focus.
|-
|4. Technical Description: Tools, Method, Process
|-
|The installation includes a sound element that is held close to the ears. It plays sounds from behind the person and at the same time blocks their vision. The goal is to limit vision and enhance hearing. People’s reactions will be written down by hand as part of a perception study. Sound will be recorded using field recording tools (such as Zoom H6 and binaural microphones). The visual part will include video and photography. The installation is designed to be mobile so it can be tested in different outdoor locations.
|}

GMU:Re-enchanting the field/Ragnar Wilczek

2025-04-25T10:59:35Z

RLW:

GMU:Re-enchanting the field/Ragnar Wilczek

2025-04-25T07:15:03Z