We are interested in the position of the painted image in the age of its digital reproducibility, and at the same time we are fascinated by the accessibility and historical anchoring of the medium of painting. We readily extend the shores of the painting studio to include performance, sculpture, environmental practice, photography or video, and have a warm relationship with the production of texts and (samizdat) prints. We see the school as a haven of time, work and friendship. We think about how to set the conditions for the development of skills, for the exchange of ideas, how to stimulate self-education. How to create and maintain a sense of belonging and co-responsibility in the studio for a stimulating and safe environment for all. We are interested in the status of the art school student with regard to the difficulty of articulating the goal of study and the defensibility of this study. We believe that part of studying art is to continually attempt to redefine the role of the artist in society. Our common theme is the movement between the centre and the periphery and the pursuit of their mutual enrichment, but also the revision of the positives and negatives that both positions carry. We wish to collaborate with students from the departments of applied art, architecture, design, graphic design, theory and art history. We are thinking about the sustainability of art practice across the lifespan.
