Art School is Not A Kindergarten
Collaged Reflections on „Das Nest“
Is the academic space a nurturing space? Or rather an arena of cruelty? In questioning the role of the Kunstakademie as a space for artistic expression and critique, it is also important to ask: who critiques the institution itself? If academies are designed to serve their students, students should be able to shape the discourse and talk back. As the name “Das Nest” might suggest, the Kunstakademie represents a protected space for artistic development and coming together. Nicoline van Harskamp and Mariana Castillo Deball encouraged the Rundgang-exhibition participants to search for group agency and present alternatives to the ego driven art economy.
Promoting collaboration, students can become more independent, and join forces to build their own environments, in spite of the bliss that may surround it. In discussions between students, professors and guests, Arts of the Working Class witnessed certain topics begin to surface and reappear, such as: the conceptual formation of „Das Nest“, the institutional structure of the Kunstakademie as a “safe-space” (Schutzraum) and issues of how to address abuse of power (Machtmissbrauch) within universities and art institutions. Students unpacked and reworked these topics to try to address some of these questions in the form of a collage.
