Symposiums in the Landscape
in the Context of Contemporary Art Practices

The project "Symposiums in the Landscape in the Context of Contemporary Art Practices" focuses on gaining practical and theoretical experience and knowledge in the field of artistic research in the environment of well-known sculptural symposium sites (Vyšné Ružbachy, Hořice) in the former Czechoslovakia. The project is conceived as an open laboratory that tests the relevant possibilities of contemporary art practice in the context of a strong narrative of art symposia.

The concept of the symposium is reflected in the project as a complex phenomenon, which includes historical, cultural, natural, and environmental aspects. The goal of the project is to verify the possibilities of working with materials and current sculptural technologies also the use of field site-specific strategies and conceptual work, which will reflect the specifics of the cultural "symposium" environment and bring multiple insights into the teaching process on how to approach such situations and creative possibilities.

Meeting goals, the project establishes cooperation between selected workplaces of invited partner institutions – the Academy of Arts in Prague and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna as well as other experts from practice and other areas that are affected by this research. The final output of the project will be a publication mapping the possibilities of artistic interventions in some specific conditions as well as the establishment of a specialized sculpture workshop.

Characteristic of research

This project is scheduled for three years during, which the main activities in the field of artistic research will take place. Particularly two symposiums (May 2024: V. Ružbachy (SK), May 2025: Hořice (CZ) and one excursion in St. Margarethen (June 2023, Austria). The final workshop (September 2025) at the Faculty of Arts will be related to the pilot implementation of a specialized sculptural laboratory. In its initial phase (the 1st half of 2023), the project will include data and theoretical knowledge collection, lectures by involved experts in this specific and other fields, as well as field research in the form of an excursion to the cult site of the St. Margarethen symposium. In the second part of the project, the main activities will take place in the form of creating practical outputs in selected symposium locations, work on documentation of outputs, and publication preparation or implementation. In the first year, a seminar on the thematic issues of the project will be held at the Faculty of Arts as a research institution, where our cooperating partners will be invited.

Objectives of the project

The main goal of the project is a practical training and also a testing various possibilities of working with traditional materials and current sculptural technologies, utilization of site-- specific strategies and also conceptual creative procedures that will reflect the specifics of the cultural landscape of the symposium site. With the help of multiple outputs, the project will bring new methodology on how to approach such situations and creative possibilities in the teaching process. Another aim is to enrich our teaching and pedagogical process with
elements of the field and artistic research concerning more comprehensive interdisciplinary approach, communication with professional experts in the artistic reflection of the cultural
landscape and public space as well.

Another goal is to establish cooperation between selected workplaces of invited partner institutions - the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. The project is also aimed at cooperation with the Municipal Museum and Gallery of Plastics in the town of Hořice, as well as experts in other
areas affected by this research.

Keywords: 3D, ECOLOGY, CULTURE, CONTEMPORARY ART, GEOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY, INTERDISCIPLINARY COMMUNICATION


KEGA – Project No. 049TUKE-4/2023Faculty od Arts, Technical university of Košice
Development of Culture and Art (KEGA - Cultural and Educational Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic)