Photographers and/or lens-based artists working together with a philosopher on a specific topic to create a project

Working with a philosopher Roll up your sleeves and let’s get to work! In this section of the Lab, we are aiming at having lens-based artists set on board with a philosopher and working together on a specific topic. The purpose is for artists to empower their thinking tools and the way they structure their ideas and on the other hand, for a philosopher to have a hands-on experience of the artistic practice, in order to potentially use that for their research. Make note that although the project is mainly designed for artists to learn and expand their thinking methodology, it is also focused on the enrichment of the creative process with the aim of producing a body of work inspired from their encounter with a philosopher.

How it works All artists using lens-based imagery are invited to submit their work and participate in the project. The number of participating artists will be small (6-8) and a selection will take place based on their portfolio. The goal is to have a close collaboration between the philosopher and the artists to ensure a personalized experience and an effective method of exchanging views and discussing images.

The project is divided into 4 sections

The project is divided into 4 sections

1. Starting point

The Lecture: The philosopher gives an introductory lecture on the way he/she approaches the topic.

Follow- up and Artists’ introduction: Following that, the artists have one week to reflect on the issues raised and to look into the bibliography (optional) and to formulate possible questions. At the end of the week the philosopher invites the artists for a discussion on the lecture and the group gets acquainted by sharing their existing work; that could either be work they had already done on the topic or their most recent/representative series.

2 meetings

2. Artists work

Creating new & original work: The selected artists are given a window of creating a series of images (1 ½ month) relevant to the theme and the approach that was discussed by the philosopher. During that time, they are welcome to contact the philosopher or the Lab for consultation.

3. Collaborating with the philosopher

The artists reconvene online with the philosopher and are divided into two groups. Following that, there are two online tutorials with an interval of fifteen days between them.

In the first one, the philosopher will review and discuss the work from his/her point of view and invite the participating artists to engage in the discussion. After this first session the artists have the opportunity to develop, correct, edit, or add more images before the second online tutorial.

In the second online tutorial the philosopher in collaboration with the artists fine-tune the existing work and prepare it for the final section of the project.

2 meetings with every group

4. Completion of the project

The two groups reconvene in this last session where all work is presented and the Lab discusses possible collaborations with the artists and ways to expand their network based on the results of the workshop.

Crisis? What crisis?, Supertramp

This year the topic is
Framing Crisis

The notion of crisis permeates contemporary reality through and through. Often, it appears as a catchword, suggesting that what we are confronted with is spectacular, shocking or alarming. For photography, crisis is not only a recurrent topic to be depicted; it also hits the idea of representation and the trust in the technical image. Both, reality itself and the forms and formats through which it is mediated are nowadays shaken by crisis in various ways. But what exactly do we mean when we speak of crisis?

The term crisis is rooted in the ancient Greek verb κρίνω (to decide, to separate, to judge, to fight), which has evolved into “critique” as subjective activity on the one hand, and “crisis” as its objective counterpart, on the other hand. The modern concept of crisis seizes a critical situation, in which “new ’causes’ […] disturb the existing equilibrium”(Valéry). Constituted by a complex temporality of change, it pushes for the radical transformation of its very conditions. How can photography challenge pervasive clichéd representations of crisis in order to subvert gridlocked perceptions? How can it grasp the critical dimension of both, an actual crisis and the crisis of its images? Is it possible to generate a critical framing of crisis? These and other questions will be addressed during this workshop.

Stefanie Baumann

The Philosopher

PHLSPH has invited
Stefanie Baumann

Stefanie Baumann

Philosopher

Stefanie Baumann is currently a researcher at CineLab/IFILNOVA (New University of Lisbon), where she coordinates the working group “Thinking Documentary Film”. She obtained her PhD in philosophy in 2013 with a doctoral thesis on Walid Raad’s artistic project The Atlas Group. She has taught Philosophy, Aesthetics and Contemporary Art Theory at University Paris VIII (Paris, 2007-2010), AshkalAlwan (Beirut, 2013), ALBA – the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts/ University of Balamand (Beirut, 2012- 2015) and the Maumaus Independent Study Program (Lisbon, since 2016). From 2005 to 2010 she worked closely with the artist Esther Shalev-Gerz and collaborated with the video artists Marie Voignier and Mounira Al Solh on several projects.

Why participate

This is a unique opportunity to work together with a philosopher, reflect on the topic and produce new work or even use your existent work, and develop it further following the trail of thought proposed.

Attend an online lecture on a topic which is of interest to you and receive the relevant bibliography for further reading (optional).

Work with the philosopher and the director of the Lab in two tutorials/group discussions, reinforce your critical thinking skills, edit your work with a fresh look, discuss your text and your ideas, learn from the group and share your ideas.

Work with the director of the lab on your text in a one-to-one on-line meeting (60 min)

Have your work presented on the PHLSPH platform, get more promotion, grow your network and become part of a group with similar interests.

Work with the Philosopher!
Please fill out the form here.

Work with the Philosopher
Please fill out the form

    SHORT BIO (15O WORDS MAX) OR YOUR WEBSITE

    UPLOAD A ZIPPED FILE OR A PDF EITHER WITH A SERIES OF EXISTING WORK ON THE TOPIC OR WITH A REPRESENTATIVE SERIES OF YOUR WORK (5-15 MAX)

    Participation for this year is free

    If you have 5' to spare, read this:
    Connections made by me

    Respectively it is targeted to philosophers and researchers, who are interested in conversing with artists, sharing knowledge and also learning from their artistic practice.It is a lab where visual artists mostly work with philosophers and not exclusively on philosophy. In that respect philosophical texts and wider topics may be in our areas of interest more as a means to explore seeing and thinking rather than the end on which we focus to extract information. It is lab which also aims at creating through experimentation and transfigurations of artefacts material which may raise philosophical questions and discussion.