MISCHEN POSSIBLE. Mona Jas

Art outreach scholarship

1 August 2008–31 August 2009

Outreach
Exhibition
Publication
Scholarship

www.mischen-possible.org

Grant Holders

Mona Jas

In dem Projekt ‘Mischen: possible’ werden langfristige Kooperationen der NGBK mit unterschiedlichen Bildungseinrichtungen initiiert. Für Begegnungen auf verschiedenen Ebenen entwickelt die Stipendiatin der NGBK, die Künstlerin Mona Jas, gemeinsam mit den Beteiligten spezifische Projekte, die sowohl in den Räumen des Kunstvereins, als auch in den Räumen der Bildungseinrichtungen stattfinden.

Die NGBK stellt hierfür den institutionellen Rahmen zur Verfügung, der durch die Künstlerin frei und experimentell genutzt werden kann. Kunstvermittlung ist so keine Dienstleistung, um die ‘Ware’ Kultur auf den Markt zu bringen, sondern sie ist ein Prozess ohne kalkulierbares Produkt.

Methodisch baut Mona Jas ihre künstlerische Kunstvermittlung auf der Reflexion über Wahrnehmungsprinzipien auf. Die Kunstvermittlung stellt dabei eine Fortsetzung von Kunst dar. Fragen der individuellen Identität aller Beteiligten aus unterschiedlichen kulturellen Zusammenhängen im politischen Spannungsfeld der Gesellschaft sind Elemente der gemeinsamen Arbeit. Deutungsprozesse bei der Auseinandersetzung mit Kunst werden von Mona Jas in Handlungssequenzen erarbeitet, die - miteinander verbunden, unvorhersehbare Abläufe ermöglichend - bewusst offen gelassen werden. Induktive Methoden, die selbst performativ-künstlerischen Charakter haben, werden bevorzugt. Den Schwerpunkt ihrer Untersuchungen innerhalb des Kunstvermittlungsstipendiums, das ein wissenschaftliches Forschungsstipendium ist, legt Mona Jas dabei auf das transdisziplinäre Gebiet der Visual Studies. Diese richten sich gegen ein Denken, das Identitäten als etwas Wesenhaftes und Feststehendes begreift. Weitergehend werden in der kunstvermittelnden Arbeit von Mona Jas sprachliche Systeme und nonverbale Kommunikationsprozesse, wie Mimik und Gestik erforscht. Der Einbeziehung künstlerischer Prozesse im Erlernen von Sprache gilt dabei das Hauptinteresse.

Events:

„Art does not exist unless it is applied.“
Karl Josef Pazzini, 2006

As part of the “Mischen: possible” project, NGBK us initiating long-term co-operations with various educational institutions. NGBK scholarship winner and artist Mona Jas works together with participants to develop specific projects that take place both at NGBK as well as at the educational institutions concerned. NGBK provides the institutional framework, which the artist is free to use and experiment with. In this way art education and mediation become more than a service used merely to market culture as a “commodity” – it becomes a process with no predictable end product. The method used by Mona Jas to builds her artistic art mediation is based on reflection about cognitive principles. Art mediation is in this case a continuation of art. Questions of the individual identity of all the participants, stemming as they do from different cultural contexts located at the political focal points of society, play a role as elements in their collaboration. Processes of interpretation involved in the examination of art become part of sequences for action that – combined with each other and allowing unforeseeable developments to take place – are deliberately left unresolved. Inductive methods which themselves are performative-artistic in nature are preferred. Mona Jas has chosen to focus her investigations, conducted within the framework of an art education and mediation research scholarship, on the transdisciplinary field of visual studies. They are directed towards challenging a way of thinking that regards identities as something inherent and static. In her work Mona Jas also investigates linguistic systems and non verbal communication processes such as facial expression and gesture. Her main concern lies with the inclusion of artistic processes into language learning.
Co-operation projects have been started with the schools Menzel Oberschule (Tiergarten), Peter-Jordan-Schule (Charlottenburg), and Kurt Löwenstein Schule (Neukölln) as well as with Akarsu e.V. (Kreuzberg). Menzel Oberschule and NGBK have agreed on a three-year patronage scheme. The cooperation was developed within the framework of Berlin’s campaign for cultural education, “Offensive Kulturelle Bildung” coordinated by Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH.

Student guided tours / At the “Selected Artists“ exhibition school students from Claudia Schönherr’s arts class spoke about their own selections from the show. Futrher guided tours are planned for future exhibitions. They provide a good opportunity to find out directly from young adults how they approach artistic positions.

“Audio Guide” a project by Tonia Andresen, final year student at Menzel Oberschule and Clara Fohrbeck, currently studying for a degree in ‘Arts & Heritage - Policy, Management and Education’ at the University of Maastricht, Netherlands, both of whom are art education interns. The team developed an audio guide to the works shown in the NGBK’s“Selected Artists” exhibition in 2010, based on interviews conducted with visitors. Views of the installations in exhibition space are accompanied by spoken ideas and opinions rellating to the individual works.

“Do spiders have hooves? Can dogs think?“ Coordination and project management for the schools projects, funded by Bezirksamt Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, in cooperation with Greta Hoheisel. Together with Year 6 students from Fichtelgebirge Grundschule Hoheisel and Jas undertake joint explorations of the animal kingdom (looking for spiders in the school building, studying neighbourhood dogs, inviting guidedogs into school, introducing a bird spider to the class) and develop artistic actions in and around Kreuzberg. The results will be presented in a film shown at NGBK, Ballhaus Naunynstraße, the window of a pet shop and the sponsors’ room at Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien.

„Was du liebst, lass frei …“ (“If you love it, let it go …) a joint project with Year 7 students of Menzel Oberschule. One focus is on the current concept of society internalized by young people – what does this concept look like, what role does “freedom” play? What does freedom mean today? At the heart of the project is the development and realization of an “outsize” book of freedom, which will also play a part on stage in January 2010 accompanied by a performance by the group. After that the book will be given a permanent place at the school.
“Open workshops” In addition, open workshops at NGBK are offered on a regular basis – as in the case of the students of the museum education course at the Federal Academy of Cultural Education in Wolfenbüttel. In the first part of each workshop the participants use artistic methods to develop individual positions relating to topics from the current exhibition, followed in the second part by direct engagement with the exhibited works. The results can be presented in the information zone of the current exhibition.

“Wine & Cheese” Since in July 2009 international artists and curators have been invited to regular informal wine and cheese get-togethers at NGBK. Professionals with a passionate commitment to art are given a forum to exchange experiences, to build networks, to talk about side effects, to share solutions and to generate new ideas. Developed by NGBK coordinator Wibke Behrens in cooperation with London based artist and curator Kate Squires.

Academic accompaniment Students of the seminar “cultural management and cultural politics in Berlin” and their teacher Dr. Klaus-Peter Pollück of the department of political and social sciences at FU Berlin will be evaluating “Mischen: possible”. The critical evaluation of the project is the subject of Elmar Ott’s diploma thesis, to be published in June 2010. www.mischen-possible.org / An accompanying documentation of all activities is under construction. An overview of all the scholarship projects is to be published in September 2010.

Website www.inter-views.org

TEASER_A Art mediation scholarship 2008-2010 TEASER_E

In cooperation with

Die Menzel Oberschule und die NGBK haben eine Patenschaft für drei Jahre vereinbart. Die Kooperation entstand im Rahmen der Offensive Kulturelle Bildung in Berlin, die von der Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH koordiniert wird.