Tiny Perceptions
Tiny Perceptions is a cross-academic three-year long pedagogical research project with workshops at the KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture (BE), Monash University Spatial Design (AUS) and INSIDE Master Interior Design (NL), and courses at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam (NL) and ArtScience Interfaculty in The Hague (NL). The project is initiated and guided by
Dutch architect and researcher Renske Maria van Dam, with workshops by German artist Alexander Johannes Heil and Japanese performer Kenzo Kusuda.
Current developments in contemporary sciences sparks a general willingness to re-entertain questions on perception, experience and even consciousness. What is particularly interesting in these new sciences is the enactive-embodied- embedded- extended and affective (4EA) approach to cognition. Guided by motivating questions such as ‘How do we respond to particular materials, textures, sounds and movements?’ or ‘How does walking diagonally differ from walking a straight line?’ we explore how to transform from working and thinking in/on objects to (spatial) experience.
Current developments in contemporary sciences sparks a general willingness to re-entertain questions on perception, experience and even consciousness. What is particularly interesting in these new sciences is the enactive-embodied- embedded- extended and affective (4EA) approach to cognition. Guided by motivating questions such as ‘How do we respond to particular materials, textures, sounds and movements?’ or ‘How does walking diagonally differ from walking a straight line?’ we explore how to transform from working and thinking in/on objects to (spatial) experience.
A slightly rough texture, a minor vibration, a change in intensity of temperature or color. Tiny perceptions are the subtle sensations and comprehensions that emerge
by virtue of bodies in movement. In daily life they are, in contrast to conscious
experiences and actions, experienced unawares. By means of attunement one
can become cognizant of the way these pre-reflective bodily registrations guide
(architectural) experience and action. Within our daily experience as well as within the design process tiny perceptions guide our way. In a world in which social-environmental degradation is our main concern, tiny perceptions bring us to the ground. They offer a local tool to work with and offer the opportunity to slightly alternate our habit(at)s.
Partners
Gerrit Rietveld Academy | ArtScience Interfaculty | INSIDE Master Interior Design
Participants
Seonmi Shin, Laura Schurch, Juliette Delarue, Britt van Dam, Yuriy Krupey, Robbie Doorman, Mica Pan, Valter Torsleff, Wimke Dekker, Franca Ullrich, Florianne libilbehety, Neza Kokol, Kaja Boudewijn, Herman Berge, Gabi jand, Tania Phuong, Alex Gasparis, Kenzo Kusuda, Robbi Meertens, Marta Beauchamp, Alexander Johannes Heil, Renske Maria van Dam.
Courses and Workshops
2019 Tiny Perceptions I: Gerrit Rietveld Academy
2019 Un/Balancing Textures: Monash University Spatial Design
2020 Tiny Perceptions II: ArtScience Interfaculty
2020 Walking Through Doorways: INSIDE Master Interior Design and ArtScience Interfaculty
2021 Movement Practice: KU Leuven, Faculty of Architecture
Events
Exhibition: It’s Going to Rain Soon, May 2019
Partners
Gerrit Rietveld Academy | ArtScience Interfaculty | INSIDE Master Interior Design
Participants
Seonmi Shin, Laura Schurch, Juliette Delarue, Britt van Dam, Yuriy Krupey, Robbie Doorman, Mica Pan, Valter Torsleff, Wimke Dekker, Franca Ullrich, Florianne libilbehety, Neza Kokol, Kaja Boudewijn, Herman Berge, Gabi jand, Tania Phuong, Alex Gasparis, Kenzo Kusuda, Robbi Meertens, Marta Beauchamp, Alexander Johannes Heil, Renske Maria van Dam.
Courses and Workshops
2019 Tiny Perceptions I: Gerrit Rietveld Academy
2019 Un/Balancing Textures: Monash University Spatial Design
2020 Tiny Perceptions II: ArtScience Interfaculty
2020 Walking Through Doorways: INSIDE Master Interior Design and ArtScience Interfaculty
2021 Movement Practice: KU Leuven, Faculty of Architecture
Events
Exhibition: It’s Going to Rain Soon, May 2019
Tiny Perceptions on a rooftop in Amsterdam
As a result of the tiny perceptions course at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam we presented ‘It’s going to rain soon’: an exhibition in which the sun and the wind perform. With a focus on tiny perceptions, we sense and activate the environment on the rooftop of the academy.
We ‘listen with our whole body’ and activate the rooftop with our interventions. New levels of care arise when after a refreshing shower our wood becomes ‘lazy’ or the wind blows away our materials. We learn how to ‘see’ and work with what was not visible before. The knowing, rather than knowledge, we develop here applies to a specific material, on a specific location at the rooftop, in a specific season, seen from a specific perspective etc. In other words, our research becomes situated and sensible, rather than generic, isolated and falsifiable.
Tiny Perceptions at Scheveningen Beach
