Experimentation, the realisation of (final) products, knowledge development and research all came together within the Stations of the Willem de Kooning Academy. Stations are hubs where students can research the feasibility of their ideas, and develop these ideas into fully functioning prototypes. All students work in the Stations, regardless of their specialization or academic year. Here they use a variety of materials and machinery, from textiles to Arduino boards, from paper to laser cutters.
On Wednesday, February 6th, 2019 WdKA had organised its first Station Day, the Stations' fair for the students, alumni, tutors and partners. Our aim was to share our insights into how knowledge, experiment and research are intrinsically connected to the Process of Making. Our first Station Day welcomed all students, makers, alumni, companies and external professional partners to actively exchange, discuss and engage in this process.
On this day we had our focus on research and the Process of Making
Research and development play a key role within our Stations. Research activities focus on contemporary topics such as sustainability, residual flows, income inequality, and the depletion of natural resources: topics that are relevant to each and every one of us. Close partnerships with the making industry, our alumni and other professional partners are necessary for us to remain innovative, and to inspire our students and young professionals to keep up-to-date with current developments.
Station Day communication design
The entire visual communication for this day was designed by Daan Kuyper and Dora Varga (Graphic Design, third year students).
Organisers of the first Station Day, Aldje van Meer, John Coenen and Liesbeth van der Geest look back on the successful event:
On February 6th more than 100 various workshops were held in our Stations: from a moving model drawing (Drawing Station) to finding your revenue model (Business Station) and Motion Capture (Interaction and Image and Sound Stations), and many many more. Everybody could walk around and receive explanations about a certain method, application and/or technique. Especially, the workshops involving working and doing were a success, some workshops attracted up to 60 participants in one demonstration.
We have organised an extensive and inspiring lecture programme. The speakers share the unconventional and avant-garde applications of technologies and celebrate different and critical approaches in making. Among the participants were Stadslab, BlueCityLab, PonsVerhoog, Jonas Vorwerk, Arthur Boer & Boris Smeenk, RNUL, Marita Sauerwein, Annemarie Piscaer & Iris de Kievith, Crafts Council Nederland, TEC ART, Dora Varga & Lotte Gerick, SER-VIES. The lectures by Shailoh Phillips (How We Make Research, you can still visit an exhibition at WdKA related to this subject) and Jonas Vorwerk (Creating Interactive Sound and Light Installations) attracted the largest audience.
How We Make Research
How We Make Research
February 6 – May 31 2019
Research Station @ WDKA
How We Make Research is an ongoing research project by the Research Station (Mark Mulder), Aldje van Meer and Shailoh Phillips.The exhibition documents the Stations at the WDKA and how they approach research in particular fields. Comprised of photographs from the Stations as well as objects from past research projects by students and Stations' coordinators, the exhibition focuses on research-by-making.
The exhibition How We Make Research is an inaugural event of a longer project focused on the expertise, similarities, overlaps and connections between the stations, and a reflection on what research is and what it can be, in order to strengthen existing collaborations and create new alliances.
The well-attended business market and presentations from research institutions provided a lot of interesting information. Blue City Lab and Crafts Council Nederland were present, Pictoright told their story about collective image rights, Andrevo came to introduce their advanced ultrasound sewing machine, LaYaLay displayed the Dobot Robot arm and a 3D scanner and that is just a fraction of what was happening on the day! View the full programme of the day here.
Next to our alumni presenting interesting work, our current students presented their fascinating and unconventional projects they are working on right now. Because of all the positive reactions to the first Station Day, we would like to make this day a tradition and now are thinking about how to make the next event even more successful.
Marije Kaashoek from Pictoright shares her impression of the day:
Pictoright on Station Day (invited by Business Station)! We started the day slightly doubting about whether we'd succeed in reaching the students at this event between all the different (and also very interesting!) companies' stands. We needed some extra time to explain our message and were not sure if we could manage to hold the attention of the students long enough with so many great stuff happening around.. An answer soon came up to that question; Yes! And not only that, you were massively interested!
Our slogan "Free Money for Image Makers!" aroused interest, but also many questions. Let me explain: Pictoright is the author’s rights organisation for visual creators in the Netherlands: illustrators, artists, graphic designers, photographers and other professional image creators.
Pictoright distributes collective royalties, manages copyrights for artists, provides legal assistance, offers advice and strives for a better copyright position for image creators. For a student, especially those collective royalties are interesting because it is free money. You have the right, according to the copyright law, to collect royalties if your work is published in the newspaper, books, magazines or shown on TV or the internet. You can claim royalties via Pictoright by connecting (for free) and registering your work online. Many makers do not claim their rights and thus the royalties, and that is why we are keen to spread this message. Were you at Station Day? Spread the word! Did you miss us? Visit Pictoright or contact us and we will gladly tell you what you are entitled to!
Header image: student work, exhibition How We Make Research
