Taideteollinen korkeakoulu

Environmental Art

Environmental art examines human scale in the environment. It helps the student to define the aims of their work within a broader environmental art field and visual culture.

Head of program: professor Markku Hakuri

Schedule for MA-students Fall 2009:lukujrjestys_E_art_fall2009.pdf

Information about the workshops: Project secretary Inka Finell, Fine art office 5th floor, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Workshops

Workshops spring 2010. Enrolment in weboodi

Settled Nomads (4 ECTS) 1st-5th March, Professor Juliane Stiegele

Bio Scientefic and Artistic Workshop Tarna-Lake (12-xx ECTS) Professor Markku Hakuri

A house with changing face (8 ECTS) Starting info 29th Sept. Professor Markku Hakuri

Lectures

Lectures starting spring 2010

Human spaces - Epic Places( 6 ECTS), Thu 1-4pm, starting 28.1.,Christopher Ten Wolde,

Environmental Art Essentials (6 ECTS), Mon 1-3, starting 11th Jan, Cathérine Kuebel

Critical Writing and Reasearch Methods for MA students (13 Ects) Tue 1-3 1st floor, Christopher TenWolde, starts 15.9

Lectures:

Human Spaces - Epic Places(6 ECTS)

Since the dawn of history, mankind has associated its epic tales with epic spaces. The primaeval Sumerian king Gilgamesh found his fame in great temples and demon-haunted woods. The Greek heroes of the Iliad waged their wars between the mighty citadels of Mycenae and Troy, separated by the wine-dark sea, home of monsters and witches. Later, the Kalevela helped forge links between a new Finnish nation and the stone and sea and mythical woods of its ancient lands. In our own time, The Lord of The Rings has made fictional spaces such as the humble village of Hobbiton, the majestic fortress of Minas Tirith, and mysterious wood of Lorien into a real part of our popular consciousness.

Epic Spaces will use archaeology, mythology, and material culture theory (along with some movie screenings) to explore the ancient balance between powerful cities and mysterious natural places that occurs in our most influential literature. Following the lecture series, students will participate in a workshop exploring the topic of “Epic Spaces / Future Places” - in which we will consider whether the role of city and nature has changed in our own times, and explore how it might affect the imagining of epic places in the future.

The goal of the workshop will be to incorporate this semester's projects into the planned exhibition of the Human Spaces I projects in late April and May, at TaiK and hopefully in at least one other venue in the city.

Instructor/Contact: Dr. Christopher TenWolde ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Prerequisites: An open mind and an interest in studying human culture! Human Spaces courses are intended to be open to all Aalto students from all fields of study. Human Spaces II (Epic Spaces) is a continuation of the theme of Human Spaces, but is an independent course. Students need not have taken Human Spaces to take Human Spaces II.

Dates and Times: Thursdays from 1:00 to 4:00, at TaiK room 820. Lectures begin January 28th (week 4). Workshop sessions begin March 4th (week 9). Final presentations will occur over the first week or two of April (weeks 14-15).

Coursework: Mandatory Attendance. Grading will be on the 1-5 scale and will be based upon class participation as well as the final review of the class project.

Credits: 6 ECT's.

Other Credits: Students from Human Spaces I can register for 2 credits of continued workshop time to develop your projects for exhibition. Students that are participating in the Spirit of Place project in Washington DC can also register for an additional 4 credits for that workshop.

Registration: Weboodi, or through Project Secretary Inka Finell ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ).
If you have trouble registering, email the instructor ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Environmental Art Essentials (6 ECTS)
starts: week 2 • Monday, January 11th 2010 at 1 P.M.

Environmental Art Essentials is docking where Environmental Art
Backgrounds left off. The seminar series takes up the themes and
challenges introduced by artists and artworks of Environmental Art
history in the autumn lecture series.

Focusing on works from the last decade [with an once-and-in-a-while
reference to earlier practices] as introduction to each theme block,
the series delves deeper into theoretical as well as practical
exploration of the terms of time, space and engagement with the all-
present environment [in/outdoors, corporal/mental, meta layer, etc.].

Where can/may/must/will/won‘t an artist and/or art piece position one/
it-self? How far reaches responsibility, when one takes a role within
the world? How can an artist interact with others or immerse deeply
into a multi-disciplinary approach? Where lies power and freedom of
artistic expression? Where does it encounter constrictions and
obscurity? What set of tools can communicate the questions and
challenges at hand?

Six connected theme-blocks broach the issue of investigating and
articulating above mentioned questions amongst others.
Each block consists of one lecture [on theory and examples], one
practical approach [screenings and/or field trips, etc.] and one
discussion meeting.

Having attended the autumn lectures is of advantage but not necessary
to follow the spring lectures.

Coursework: mandatory attendance, final project [written &/or practical]

Teacher: MA Cathérine Kuebel This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Registration: Weboodi, Project Secretary Inka Finell

Environmental Art Backgrounds 4 ECTS

A lecture series to explore and understand the historical background
of Environmental Art(s) and to establish a critical vocabulary for
approaching it (them) both in theory and practice.

Originating from the question 'What is Environmental Art?' the
history of environmental art (practice) will be studied. While the
main focus is laid on an introduction to the 'mile-stones' of
environmental art and the development since mid-20th century, also
references to preceding complementary art practices (related by
technique and/or theme) are made.
Special consideration is given to recent European and especially
Finnish environmental art pieces.

The investigation of contemporary practice will discuss possible
changed 'active definitions' such as strategies and tools applying to
all senses of the artist, artwork and recipient. What aspects and
conditions are involved in an 'environmental intervention' and what
role (if at all) can a work take within society (life)?

Art historical development is the focal point of these lectures, but
coherent themes in other media – art theory, philosophy, science,
politics, ecology, etc. – will be highlighted as well (reading
material).

TIMETABLE: lecture every Monday, 1-3 p.m., starting in week 38
(September 14th 2009 – December 7th 2009)
PLACE: Environmental Art department lecture room, 1st floor

EVALUATION: 1-5
COURSE WORK: 80% attendance, extra readings given as hand-outs, exam

TEACHING LANGUAGE: English
TEACHER: Mag.art TAM Cathérine Kuebel

Critical Writing and Research Method 13 ECTS For MA -students

Graduate level study at TaiK presents students with an unusual and challenging pairing of practical and theoretical work. The CWRM courses are meant to provide guidance and support throughout this process, in the form of practical organizational advice for writing the MA, an introduction to various bodies of material culture theory, an exposure to different artistic perspectives, and individual reviews of written work.

The organizational advice will include such topics as the role of the scientific method in humanities research, how to form a thesis statement appropriate to your goals, and the values of different types of data.

The theoretical approach will concentrate on recognizing and analyzing different personal, professional, and cultural perspectives. The emphasis will be on exposing you to new concepts rather than expecting a mastery of specific theoretical language, so that you will have a basis to move forward in your own direction.

On a more personal level, the CWRM courses are possibly the only place in which the graduate students from every program in Visual Culture get together on a regular basis. As such, they provide a unique opportunity to interact with students from other fields, who often share very similar artistic and academic goals.

Finally, guidelines for actual writing style can be given, encompassing both specifics such as footnote and bibliography style and generalities such as the effective use of different types of written arguments, however it is understood that these guidelines must be flexible enough to take into account your individual design choices.

The format of the course balances lectures, round-table discussion groups, and individual meetings. During the first year the emphasis is on lectures and discussion groups, but this gradually changes so that during the second year the emphasis will be on less formal group reviews and individual meetings.

Time: Tuesdays 10-12, starting 16th Sept, 1 floor seminar room

Teacher: Dr. Christopher TenWolde This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Connections 4 ECTS

This is a seminar course, and the objective is to introduce students with the central 20th-century phenomena in the fine arts as well as the ideologies behind the phenomena.

Content: Fine arts phenomena are not studied as individual and separate areas-they are connected with, for example, philosophical backgrounds and parallel phenomena within the sphere of art. The emphasis is not on ‘isms’ predefined by art history, but rather on the phenomena which define art and which can be identified throughout various ‘isms’, connecting them and appearing in different forms. The purpose is to elucidate varying dimensions of modern art in particular, including postmodern trends.

Time: autumn 2008 Wednesdays 13- 15 pm, lecture room 822, starts Wed 17.9
Print study material from intranet! Use your uiah e-mail username and password to get to the page.
Course mode: Weekly seminar sessions, for which students receive a text to read before class.
Completion mode: Active participation in discussions, reading the texts received and completing the assignments given.
Teachers: Ossi Naukkarinen and Yrjänä Levanto
Evaluation: Pass/fail. Requires 80% attendance and reading of all literature specified.
Compulsory/Elective: Compulsory for the non-finnish speaking MA -students of the School of Visual Culture; elective for others.
Course language: English
Previous studies required: None
Evaluation: Pass–fail.

Workshops

Enrolment Weboodi

Objectives: Workshops involve intensive practical study. They take place all around Finland and demand high levels of activity and commitment. The idea is to develop students’ process-oriented working methods and communication skills.
Content: Students produce plans and visualisations for their environmental ideas. Workshops always conclude with an exhibition, either in the local community or at the University of Art and Design (and often in both places).

Workshops spring 2010

Settled Nomads 4 ECTS
Temporary Installations and Public Interventions in the City of Helsinki.
Time: 1. – 5. 3. 2010
Teacher: Professor Juliane Stiegele
Goal:The workshop questions the individual conditions of feeling at home – inside onself, in one´s clothes, in one`s appartment or house, in the City we live in.
And the lack of home.
Finding one`s identity in public spaces seems to more and more become an issue.
Housing for a temporary offensive privacy is being built up unexpectedly at various places downtown: on a traffic refuge, in a gap between two houses, in a tram, in the hallway of a public building – whatsoever. Providing a shelter for a rest, a coincidental encounter, a conversation, for being silent – alone or together with others, with passers-by, an animal, a thought, the wind.
A series of „housing sculptures“ in a most wide sense will be developed sitespecifically:standing, leaning, laying, hanging, on wheels...
The constructions of the objects will be adequately mobile and easy-to-install.
The „end“ or perspective of those temporary spaces are part of the work.
Materials:As far as possible we will use cheap every-day materials, preferably in a direct recycling by art. Please collect whatever seems to be of any use in advance.
Working structure: Collaborative teams, sharing of ideas, results and reflexions.
Expected: curiosity and a continuous and committed participation in the workshop.
Bio Scientific and Artistic Workshop Tarn-lake 12 ECTS
Time:The workshop starts late May 2010 and continues early Sept 2010.
First meeting: early Feb 2010 – the exact date will be announced later
The goal of the workshop is to research arctic Tarn-lake’s water ecology with scientific and artistic methods. Artistic research is a process following scientific research but independently producing visual information and images concerning the site and water ecology.
The collaboration between biologists and artists produces different perspectives about research and possibilities of art.
The workshop takes place up in the North near Kilpisjärvi. The object of research is Tarn-lake, thousands of years old pond where a special and unique fish specie lives.
Enrollment: 6-10 students
Course Language: English
Teacher: Professor Markku Hakuri
Project Secretary: Inka Finell, +358-50 5506251, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
”A House with a Changing Face” – workshop
The workshop is part of the project - “The Second Wave” – organized by the Finnish Institute in London.
The goal of the workshop is
• to produce a piece/pieces of environmental art. The piece will be located on the western façade of the Institute building. The purpose of the temporary piece is to create a new image for the façade and at the same time for the whole building.
• to arouse with unconventional proposals discussion concerning built surrounding’s visual values and their permanence.
The workshop info on Tue the 29th of Sep 2009
Enrolment: 15 students
Duration: Academic year 2009-2010
The final work follows Ecological, Aesthetical and Ethical principles.
All proposals for the art piece will be presented in London. The students have the possibility to network with local students and teachers.
Teacher
Markku Hakuri
Professor of Environmental Art
University of Art and Design /Aalto University, Helsinki
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Project secretary
Inka Finell
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”A House with a Changing Face” – työpaja
Työpaja liittyy Suomen Lontoon Instituutin Toinen Aalto – hankekokonaisuuteen.
Työpajan päämääränä on
• tuottaa ympäristötaideteos / -teoksia Suomen Lontoon Instituutin länteen päin sijoittuvalle ulkoseinälle. Teos on väliaikainen ja sen tarkoituksena on luoda täysin uusi ilme Instituutin julkisivulle ja samalla koko rakennukselle.
• herättää keskustelua ennakkoluulottomilla ehdotuksilla rakennetun ympäristön visuaalisista arvoista ja niiden pysyvyydestä.
Työpajan info ti 29.9.
Työpajaan otetaan 15 opiskelijaa.
Työpajan kesto 1 vuosi / lv 2009-2010
Toteutuksessa noudatetaan 3 E:n periaatetta (ekologinen, esteettinen ja eettinen). Hankkeeseen kuuluu kaikkien työpajaan osallistuneiden ehdotusten/pienoismallien esittely. Lisäksi hankkeeseen liittyy verkostoituminen paikallisten opiskelijoiden / opettajien kanssa.
Kurssin opettaja
Markku Hakuri
Ympäristötaiteen professori
Taideteollinen korkeakoulu /Aalto-yliopisto, Helsinki
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Projektisihteeri
Inka Finell
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Workshops autumn 2009
Kaupunkitila taiteellisen työskentelyn kenttänä -interventiotyöpaja (4 op) City space as a concept for artistic practice - an intervention workshop
Aika/Time:
21.10. wed klo 9.15
22.10. thu
23.10. fri
29.10. thu
30.10. fri
City space as a concept for artistic practice - an intervention workshop
The course is carried out as an intensive workshop. During the course the students will explore the city space as a possibility for interventions. Pieces of work (site specific installations, interventions, performances, city art, environmental art) will be produced according to the chosen space.
In the morning seminars we'll study the history of environmental art,
happenings and interventions. Afternoon is time for artistic practice.
Tavoite ja sisältö: Kurssi toteutetaan intensiivityöpajana kahden viikon aikana. Kurssilla tutkitaan kaupunkitilaa mahdollisena taiteellisen työn esitys- ja tapahtumapaikkana. Löydetään uusia näköaloja ja näkymiä valmiiksi rakennettuun/määriteltyyn ympäristöön. Kurssin aikana opiskelijat toteuttavat yksin/ryhmänä teoksen/teoksia kaupunkiympäristöön (esim.Kallio) tai kaupungin reuna- alueille (esim. Suvilahti).
Opetus- ja työmuodot: Teokset (installaatiot, interventio, performanssi, kaupunkitaide, ympäristötaide) rakentuvat suhteessa valittuun paikkaan. Aamupäivisin pidettävissä seminaareissa tutustumme ympäristö- ja interventiotaiteen historiaan ja nykypäivään lukuisin esimerkein.
Opettaja/Teacher: Tanja Koponen
Arviointi: Hyväksytty - hylätty
Humour in the City (4 ECTS)
The course explores ways in which humour can add to the urban experience in context to the architecture and the built surroundings.
In contemporary city planning the element of humour is “degraded” to playgrounds for children, amusement parks and beach life. In the course the sharp line between the playful children’s world and the rational, “serious” adult world will be questioned both through lectures, an idea/ model workshop and performative actions in the city.
Teacher: Jan-Erik Andesson
Time: 10th-13th November 2009
SHAFT (8-XX ECTS)
Purpose of the workshop is to produce ideas for environmental art pieces for
the railroad shaft in the Center of Helsinki. Railroad shaft will be changed for
pedestrian and cycle traffic during year 2009. Trains are using the shaft to the
end of 2008.

Goal of the workshop is to liven up the dark shaft and create interesting and
inviting path and space for the people’s everyday use.
Kick of for the workshop in Laituri Galleria 18.09.2009 at 9.00-12.00 Vanha linja-autoasema
Narinkkatori (Old Buss Stadion) http://laituri.hel.fi/

09.00-09.15      Welcome Shaft project/ Sirpa Kallio, Project Manager
       (City of Helsinki Economic and Planning Centre)

09.15.09.30     Presentation of the program/ Markku Hakuri, Professor/TaiK

09.30-10.00 History of the Railroad shaft/ Juha Komsi, Environmental Manager, retired (Port of Helsinki)

10.00-10.15    Current plans for the old Railroad shaft/ Kirsi Rantama, Architect
(Helsinki City Planning Department)

10.15 -10.30   Limitations for environmental art in the old railway shaft/ Pia Rantanen, Project Manager, Landscape Architect (Helsinki city Public Works Department)

11.30-   Guided tour to the Railroad shaft /Juha Komsi, Environmental Manager, retired (Port of Helsinki)

Friday 30 of October at 10- . First presentation

Friday 20th of November at 10- Presentation of the results

Exhibition , 8th - to 31st December, Gallery Laituri Narinkkatori Workshop is divided in to two periods:
Spring period ending May 2009
Autumn period ending December 2009.
After each period there will be an exhibition of the ideas and plans for the
shaft.
Teacher Professor Markku Hakuri This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
More information, enrolment
Project Secretary Inka Finell This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it