by georg.kiraly -

Impulse #3: The Other, Re-Imagine the Future @Kunsthaus Graz

I had the opportunity to explore the exhibition created within the context of “20 Years Kunsthaus Graz,” featuring a diverse array of works from over twenty international artists. The exhibition showcases a variety of art forms, including sculptures, videos, and photos, with a strong emphasis on activist art. One notable piece is “Repaired Broken Mirror” by artist Kader Attia. It’s a shattered mirror creatively transformed to appear as though it has been repaired or stitched together. The intention is to convey the message that people should not turn away from the mistakes of the past.

The curation carries a socio-political inquiry into current societal systems, the essence of being, individual identity, and the delicate line between what is possible and impossible. It aims to challenge and prompt visitors to contemplate, urging them to reconsider traditions and the familiar.

The underlying question posed by the curation is, “What defines us? As humans, as individuals, as groups, as nationalities?” The exhibition encourages reflection on these fundamental aspects, pushing visitors to ponder the thin line between possibility and impossibility. I really liked the approach of questioning everything us as a whole society or group of people. The question of who are we and who are they and where are the similarities is accompany us all the time in our daily lifes.

by georg.kiraly -

Impulse #5: World Press Photo ’23 Exhibition

In the end of September 2023 I visited the exhibition of the world press photos ’23 in the viennese photo gallery Westlicht. I visited this exhibtion for the last 8 years because it combines two topics that I’m really interested in. On one hand whats going on the world, on the other hand reportage photography.

I think its very important as a designer to know in which kind of world or society we live in. What are the effects of climate change, dictatorship, certain illnesses, religion or cultural characteristics. I once got told in my product design bachelors that we as designers are the painters, and the world is our canvas somehow. Of course thats a very exaggerated point of view but at least a tiny bit is true about that approach. A lot of problems on our planet are caused because of the endless need of resources or products. Countries with less resources or products are poor countries or have boiling societies. Countries that are rich of resources (and money is probably the most important resource) are most likely to have social peace and stability. So resources or rather products that are made of resources or lead to gain value or else, are able to define where we as human beings are leading with the world we live in. Thats why its very important to not just through trashy not purpose driven products on the market. One important person once said that good design solves a problem and I think thats a good path to follow.

The world press photo exhibition always reminds me on how blessed I am to live in Europe and to be able to sit in a well tempered room, writing this blog post right now. Even if some of us in Europe don’t know, but we have the power to change the world. Not as individual but as society we do live in. So lets be careful what we are adding to this humanity. (This applies not only to designers but to virtually everyone)

by Kris Van Hout -

Impulse #8 – Great Things Are Made Together

For the last semester were we as a group of students are still working together before starting with our master theses, we worked with all four departments (Communication, Media, Sound & Interaction Design). The exhibition included all sorts of projects that we have created over the 1,5 years at FH.

For this exhibition I was one of the tutors who mainly managed the organization of the exhibition. We made an excel sheet with all the needed information. Exhibits, Teams, Budget, Sponsors, Working hours, Meeting protocols, Logistics, Timeline & etc.

At the beginning I thought it would be impossible to organize an event like this in this short time with also working on other projects but in the end it all worked out. I noticed it was stressful not only for me but also for the other students but the result was worth it.

I don’t know if I would do a lot different if we have to do it again. Maybe make a better time schedule for when what need to be done. And divide the work more equally over all students. In the end there were some few students that really made this exhibition happen. And other students that were less motivated. But you will always have that in projects like this. But I learned it is okay to ask for help and you don’t have to do everything on your own and it’s also important to offer help because some people have troubles asking of it.

But with the opening it showed again that we as a group all grew a little bit closer to each other and I think we have a really great team to make stuff together.

Great things are made together.