// Alba D'Urbano
//
Main;
Projects() {
Esposizione Impraticabile();
Mare();
Der negierte Raum();
Hautnah();
Touch Me;
Stoffwechsel;
Il Sarto Immortale();
Die Wunderschöne Wunde;
Tra cielo e terra;
L'età dell'oro();
Venere;
Private Property();
Monitoraggio;
corpo_insegnante() {
Installation;
Video;
Interview;
}
Natura Morta(); Redden/Erröten; Son_no;
Airbag;
Collaborations();
Net-Works();
History();
Imprint;
corpo_insegnante {
Interview;
} //2005
Questions on teaching
Interview with Alba D'Urbano by Eugen Blume
conducted in the dining car of the ICE train Leipzig-Berlin, between 3:50 and 6:00 p.m.
on March 10, 2005
A. - OK, camera is rolling, let's get started.
- Allora...here comes the first question: “Why does an artist decide to become a teacher?” ....Right?
B. - Yes
A. If, as an artist, well, ...if you are not producing commercial objects....
- and you still have to survive somehow....
- he or she, or in this case I....
- you have to find alternative ways to make some money...so...
- when I was still a master student in West Berlin, I worked as a cleaning woman...
- at the house at Checkpoint Charly, the cleaning crew consisted almost exclusively of artists....
- to become a teacher was not a calling for me....
- it was simply a job, a very good job.
- Actually that was the only reason in the beginning....you know...and....
- so it was a way for me to live and do my own thing......, and also....
- to be independent from the market with its ups and downs.....................
B. Does that not create a problem timewise? I mean, after all....it does take a lot of time and strength to be a teacher....
A. Yes, I would say that even more than time...
- it really takes a lot of physical strength....you know....physical strength
- students in general, and art students in particular, are special.
- ....they have very strong personalities and...yet at times are also fragile, you know, well....
- we have very close relationships here between teachers and students,
- often times, problems come up that are also very personal, very private....
- and well,,,obviously time also becomes an issue....
- but the most difficult thing is,.....the real “art” in that sense is:...
-....not to look at teaching...as competing with your own work as an artist,.
- for me, teaching has actually become part of my artistic work....
- my experiences at the Academy serve as a creative impetus...
- they blend in with my projects, they are becoming my projects...
- projects that I am often implementing in cooperation with others:
- with colleagues and the students, now with you....
- as I said....in the beginning it was simply a job, then I grew into it, and...
B. What do the students want from their teacher? How do you feel about what the students expect???
- They expect....to get help....in finding their own way....
- their own discourse....their own subjects....
- the extensive experience in my own area of research serves as a platform for teaching...
- it is a complex task for any teacher, you know,...
- to first get an idea of which way the student's work may develop
- and then.......on the basis of the current art discourse to see: where something special might evolve?
- who are the role models, consciously or subconsciously?
- what are the internal images?
- what is the intellectual foundation?
- how much mental strength does the person in question have?
- which examples could possibly serve as an inspiration to them....
B. Do you help them to find topics?
A. Nah, I don't
B. They have their own topics when they come to you?
A. Most of them have their own topics, or must learn to find them themselves,
- everybody (each artist/student) works on his/her own subject.
- in order to encourage this...you know...I am teaching at two different levels.
- our academy still has a special class system, .that is the framework for our teaching......
- and...and my method is based on this prerequisite...
- in class, I am working on developing the individual discourses...
- and parallel I am offering interdisciplinary thematic projects,
- almost always together with other colleagues,
- in which the students of this class can, but need not.....participate......
B. But does that not overlap with other departments? For example, when I look at Astrid Klein's description of what she is doing, this is interdisciplinary, too, meaning it is work with different media and so forth....
A. The point is not whether the interdisciplinary work is technical, or formal, or media....
- in the framework of a particular class....
- the point is to implement projects outside of the class system.
- outside of the division into basic or master studies, well, .....so to speak...
- somewhat “illegally” with regards to the “study regulations”..... you know....
- as a matter of fact these are....cross-cutting offers.
- cross connections, which are not actually provided for and/or supported by the system
- subtle, alternative woven structures, which at times are very vibrant...
- but don't have to live on forever....
B. Are you talking about art? At which point does something become art? Does this question even come up? After all, even when you're dealing with a certain subject matter, there is no guarantee that you, that it will turn out to be a piece of art... Any, any art academy must necessarily address the issue of what is art and how art is being created.....
A. Right...There are many answers to that question, wouldn't you say? I am sure you know quite a few...
- but let's say it this way, we take it one step further and deeper,
- especially because we use so many different types of media,............................
- we practice the ability to work comfortably with all kinds of different media......so...
- because when you work in an intermedial environment, a lot of.....
- how would you say ?..... products come out,
- material objects which use various techniques or take on different forms, that can be combined into a single installation, or be shown separately.......
- the question at this point is....
- when does a single art work, for example a photograph or a video, become an autonomous piece of art?
- what do I present of the entire working process?
- and to practice just that and to learn how to differentiate. Selection is a fundamental process....
B. And, so how does this happen? Is this being jointly discussed in class?
A. First, we have individual consultations, but class discussions as well, right,,,,
- the meetings are necessary to resolve tricky issues....
- to answer questions....to get rid of doubts or raise them ;)
- the work in class is a test for me, too,
- in the discussion, as part of the communication, in the exchange with the students something different emerges....work in class is artistic work,
- a thematic, media, human and social composition....
- by cooperating they are learning also from their fellow students...., you know,
- and I am learning a lot, too.................
- to me meetings in class are also important because the students should.....
- well, should distance themselves somewhat from the idea of the artist being a lone wolf, of this myth that is being upheld in artist circles....
- the egomaniac element....is not something we coddle here....or support...
- on the contrary: a certain type of solidarity also arises,...you know...
- well, since the class is a small forum
- and the entire academy is a forum for me, well, I mean
- a place ....
- a place for communication, where you can interrelate with others....
B. Meaning with the students but also with your colleagues....
A. Right, with my colleagues, too.
B. Beuys coined the phrase permanent conference... Is that what the Academy is like? That you find yourself in a permanent conference?
A. I believe that Beuys' utopia....is tied to a certain period in time.....
- utopias in their pure form can also turn into something very “authoritarian,”
- utopias are also products of our need for perfection, well....
- I myself am making more of an attempt to stick closely to reality,.....
- the term permanent conference is very abstract, it is more of an idea....
- the work at the HGB is something different:
- there are also many conflicts, power struggles, jealousies, there is stress...
- ......in my view, the university is like:
- ......an organism..................like a body, like a plant................
- like a vessel that is being filled by everybody adding some of his or her abilities, wouldn't you say?
- subjects, knowledge, interests or energy....
B. And what role do the pragmatic processes play? Once the students leave this academic habitat, they are confronted with the harsh realities of life, and then there is the commercial aspect, the need to survive, meaning to sell art on the market and so forth. Are you raising this issue with them? Are you preparing your students for this?
A. We are trying to prepare them as much as we can...
- But what they are properly not being sufficiently familiarized with...
- is how to deal with the mechanisms of the market and the art scene...
- Unfortunately, some of them....start very early,,,,
- how would you say, to adapt to...you know...the market conditions.....
- While other students....are still very “idealistic”...
- and very critical of what is happening on the scene....
- personally I feel that the most recent phenomena........well......
- particularly with regard to the “Neue Leipziger Schule,”*...
- are very problematic for us and for the students,
- they interfere indirectly with our teaching....
- through the early commercial use of student works..........................
B. This relates to Leipzig as well as the renaissance of painting and the major success in the U.S. In the U.S. many exhibits are being organized on the basis of,...of paintings that were produced in Leipzig. Does this have an impact on the school? Is the school aware of this?
A. Sure, by all means. Yes, indeed....
- but we as teachers can't do very much about this....
- we can question these processes and raise the students' awareness for the fact that such phenomena......will last....only.... for a limited time
- and furthermore....., that the “bargain buys” that are being picked out reflect only a very small portion of the existing opportunities................
- and of the strength......that is emanating from this Academy................
We are ready now, maybe we can also use this video for the “Lehrkörper” exhibit ..........................
*The term New Leipzig School (German: Neue Leipziger Schule) refers to a movement in modern German painting. The New Leipzig School, as a third generation, relates to the post-reunification climate of modern Germany and is closely linked with the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig. (excerpt from Wikipedia)