Symposiales Werkstättengespräch: art-based research
The Research Laboratory for Film and Television at the Academy of Fine Arts is launching a series of symposium-style workshop discussions with artists, artistic researchers, and art-based research groups to discuss two questions in particular: a) How can art-based research complement and expand the production of artworks and connect to other socio-political fields? and b) How can artistic methods and strategies be used to contribute to the production of knowledge that extends beyond the traditional field of art?
In a world increasingly shaped by images, narratives, and algorithmic systems, the exploration of visual and psychological behavior cannot be left solely to corporations driven by profit or political actors seeking power. The mechanisms that influence perception, emotion, and collective opinion have become central forces in contemporary society and democracy itself.
This is precisely why independent, academic, and art-based research is urgently needed. Artistic research offers critical, reflective, and experimental approaches to visual culture that are not primarily guided by market interests, but by social responsibility, cultural understanding, and democratic values. Especially in times of looming cuts to higher education funding, it must be emphasized that strengthening art universities and artistic research is not a luxury—it is a social necessity!
Program:
Welcome: Doz. Mag.a Bettina Henkel (Director of the Medialab)
Intro: Mag. Dr. Friedemann Arbel Derschmidt (Senior Artist | Art-based Researcher at Media Lab)
Impulse : Mag.a Michaela Glanz (Head of Art | Research | Support)
Contributions:
Input: Mag. Paul-Julien Robert und Doz.in Mag.a Dr.a Elisabeth Schäfer
Project: Performing Primal Communism (1.2.2020 – 31.5.2023)
Project: Von der Kunst des Verschwindens und dem Drang zu bewahren (1.5.2026 – 30.4.2029)
Input: Lic. Carla Bobadilla
Project: Viena Latina. Articulating Latin American migration memory in a European capital
Input: Mag. Dr. Friedemann Arbel Derschmidt und Mag. Alaa Alkurdi
Project: synoptic storytelling in a multidirectional Vienna (1.11.2021 – 30.4.2024)
Project: VIELGESCHICHTIG. 6 Portraits | 31 Gespräche | 6 Sprachen (5.10.2023–18.2.2024)
Joint Discussion