New museum season - new ZukunftsAtelier. On Tuesday, February 27, the first school class to take part in this year's project came to DASMAXIMUM with their teacher Jana Mehler from Hertzhaimer Gymnasium in Trostberg to design their own "social sculpture" based on the Beuysian principle.
#marshmallowchallenge with the 11th grade of the Hertzhaimer Gymnasium from Trostberg at DASMAXIMUM. Photo DASMAXIMUM
Full of motivation and zest for action, Year 11 started the day, which our art teacher Susanne Frigge begins with each class with the #marshmallowchallenge. The students have 15 minutes to build a tower as high as possible using 20 pieces of spaghetti, 1 meter of adhesive tape, 1 meter of string, a marshmallow and a pair of scissors. This requires both collaborative action and the use of individual strengths. "Thinking out of the box" is the principle of this challenge and provides a wonderful introduction to the theme of the day.
"The future we want has yet to be invented" - Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys led the way with his 7000 oaks: Idea, action and sign. The students first have to ask themselves what is currently bothering THEM, what THEY want their future to look like and what it will take to achieve this goal. In the "ZukunftsAtelier", everyone does this process on their own at first. Surrounded by the colored lights of the "European Couples" by light artist Dan Flavin - a space that has an enormously decelerating effect, especially on children and young people - the students have enough time and space to answer these questions individually. A privilege that the pupils hardly know from everyday school life.
The students of the Hertzhaimer Gymnasium in the room of Dan Flavin, "European Couples" (installation view), 1966-1971, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023, Estate of Dan Flavin. Photo: DASMAXIMUM.
This also becomes clear in the subsequent discussion and vote on the common theme. The topics previously written down are collected in order to then find a common topic by democratic vote on which the students want to realize their "social sculpture". In the case of the Trostberg high school students, a dominant theme quickly emerged: dealing with each other and isolation through social media, being overwhelmed by too much information in digital life and the desire to slow down, the loss of individuality and lack of respect in society due to anonymity on the Internet.
The class's initial idea was to "protect" younger children in particular from the negative aspects and consequences of the digital world and instead show them how nice it can actually be without cell phones and social media, but instead in real life. In the detailed discussions, however, it quickly became clear that the problem is not only that of the next generation, but is above all a burden on the students themselves, or rather a general cross-generational problem.
"The studio is between people" - Joseph Beuys
Now the students had a good 2 hours to discuss this topic, or rather the fundamental problem, down to the smallest detail. Talking, talking, talking. Initial ideas for a planned social sculpture were also exchanged and collected. Various questions came up: How do we convey the negative aspects of digitalization without pointing a finger? What actually is "real life"? To what extent can and do we ourselves actually want to do without our smartphones and the like? What means and media are available to us to document and present our topic?
None of these are trivial questions and they come up repeatedly during the discussion. In these discussion groups, it is always noticeable how important it is to have an open space in which people can talk and listen to each other without time pressure and without judgment, whereas there is absolutely no room for such in-depth discussions in everyday school life, which is already characterized by the curriculum, a shortage of teachers and time pressure.
In the room with Dan Flavin's light installation "European Couples" (1966-1971), the students gather their thoughts and wishes. This gives rise to initial discussions.
With initial plans and plenty of motivation, the 19 Year 11 pupils at Hertzhaimer Gymnasium have now returned to their everyday lives. Now it is up to the young people to move from thinking and talking to action, until the second module of the project takes place in their own classrooms in two weeks' time. Together with art teacher Susanne Frigge and their teacher Jana Mehler, they will then get to work on the practical design of a "social sculpture".
Result = open
We are delighted to have such an exciting and motivated start to the new project year. Next, we look forward to welcoming the pupils from the Schloss Stein secondary school.
The ZukunftsAtelier is funded by the DASMAXIMUM Friends and Sponsors Association, the Castringius Children and Youth Foundation Munich, the Rudolf August Oetker Foundation and the Zukunft Jetzt!
Would you like to take part in the ZukunftsAtelier with your school class or a project group? Or do you have questions about the project? Then contact us at any time by e-mail (mail@dasmaximum.com) or telephone (+49 8669 1203 713).