Since our semester started, Corona/COVID-19 has directly affected the way people work, more and more from their homes, their bedrooms and kitchens. For the first time going to art school meant meeting online in a virtual digital space. In this way, we spent some months cooking weekly online, as a performative collective attempt to familiarise and appropriate the virtual realm from our kitchens, to deal with the pandemic, while corporal exercises were also incorporated leading to class discussions of daily and urgent matters. Then we hosted virtually two talks, the first by Laurence Abu Hamdan, and the second by Forensic Architecture to understand their works more deeply, specially that they deal with investigations, violence and matters that we estimate highly important to engage with. Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening has become extremely relevant in those days, and in echo with the works of Abu Hamdan and Forensic Architecture. This continued to inspire us and investigate urgent matters: on one hand the Corona facts and mysteries, the impact on individuals, our families, the economy, conspiracy theories and fake news at times of highly racist state crimes, and on the other hand, personnal bodily urgencies that we and the students face around those days. Hence for Rundgang 2020, we collectively designed a 3D home which we call “Home as Des(s)ert”, whereby each student has a personal room to share her/his/their work in relation to our semester.

Questions we discussed during the last semester from our homes: Which laws in Europe and outside Europe are being forged to control the pandemic? How is that affecting our privacy? Our bodies at home? How are democratic states changing their way of being democratic amidst all this and getting closer to police states? Why and how does Corona affect people from more fragile and coloured backgrounds? How are people managing their timely and lively demonstrations such as Black Lives Matter, and demonstrations in Lebanon and elsewhere in the world amidst the pandemic? How can we still welcome and care for refugees and marginalised people, people who have no homes, no more income, in such days? What’s the situation of women in such times? How is China dealing with the matter now? How is Trump moving around with his elections amid Corona disasters in the USA? Why are people criticising G5 speedy internet? And what if we refrain from using the internet? How is this all transforming our current lives and how can we build something positive out of what's happening?

In our common library space artist talks with Laurence Abu Hamdan and Kishan San from Forensic Architecture can be found alongside with texts reflecting on the Forensic Architecture is a multidisciplinary research group, using architectural techniques and technologies to investigate cases of state violence and violations of human rights around the world. Abu Hamdan works with sound, sound documentaries, video, and installation. Another inspiring artist is Pauline Oliveros, who has written texts for generations to learn more in depth about how to practice Deep Listening. The American feminist sociologist Donna Haraway makes no distinction between people, animals and machines. Today, as we experience living in COVID-19 lockdown, we ponder upon her ideas and questions "What do we need to survive earth? And how do we need to act? Her long ago asked questions are at stake more than ever today we find.


Participants: Aly Landwehr, Annika Steiner, Birka Steinmetz, Cat Woywod, Franziska Ullrich, Hannes Drescher, Henrik Seidel, Ines Schäfer, Isabel Veganzones, ja&nein-Bande/Alwine Klooz, JueJun Chen, Kai Bannert, Kollektiv Kontrast/Herr v. Rehtanz, Lucine Moschref, Melina Becker, Mounira Al Solh, Ömer Yağmur, Tanja Böhme, Tanja Schomaker, Tristan Marie Biallas, Yasmeen Shirazi, Yiğit Yilmaz