Hosted by Hungarian University of Fine Arts. Application deadline: Sep 1st, 2021

Study Period:                          winter semester
Time Frame:                           15 to 26th of November, 2021
Language:                                English (1)
Lecturer:                                   Patrick Nicholas TAYLER;
contact: patrick.tayler@mke.hu
Department:                            Painting Department
ECTS:                                        3 credit points
Number of students:              4 students / partner institution
Format:                                     intensive, 2-week-long studio-based practice and theoretical course(2)
Location:                                  the campus of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts (HUFA) in Budapest
Requirements:                        there are no prerequisites to participate in the course
Materials & Tools:                  the university can provide an assortment of basic materials
Please bring:                          a portfolio showcasing previous work and an artist statement
Application deadline:            1/9/2021 to the student’s home university

Course Description:

The course aims to provide insight into the complex visual language of the region and to elicit diverse artistic responses. By looking at the background of notions such as ‘decadent’, ‘remix’ and

‘eclecticism’, we will investigate a set of interrelating terms, which are in opposition to the streamlined visuality of contemporary existence and are related to Budapest’s 19th-century past and ‘historicism’. To contextualise these notions within contemporary theory, we will look at short excerpts from literary texts, and a range of theoretical works applying Nicolas Bourriaud’s notion of “sampling” delineated in Postproduction (2001) to a wide array of different sources. Instead of emphasising the points of connection between the various texts, our aim will be highlighting the jarring dislocations, seams and the overall collage-like structure of different positions. The aim of investigating different theoretical positions is connected to providing ground for the exchange of ideas.

Participants of the course will be challenged to find their perspectives on these questions both

on a practical and a theoretical level. As an initial way of getting to know each other, we will establish our foundational notions through a reading group organised in a series of online discussions before the course.(3)Apart from collectively constructing an alternative narrative of art, we will focus on the current artistic positions of the participants: through presentations and practical work in the studios, we will establish a situation similar to the day-to-day life of a student at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts (HUFA). The independent work conducted in the studio will be finalised in the construction of a site-specific installation created collectively based on the impressions and reflections on the discussed issues, in the form of artworks. Thus we will not only investigate the individual propositions, but also their intersection points and dialogue.

During the two weeks, the participants will be also introduced to the different master classes

of the painting department and the various educational facilities that HUFA has to offer. By getting to know the work of invited guest artists and alumni while taking part in artist talks and visiting exhibitions we will extend our observations beyond the university campus and thus the participants will also geta sense of the different local artistic positions, practices and institutions.

(1) Please note, that I will be glad to help you in overcoming any possible language barriers. Whatever the level of your English knowledge might be at the moment, we will find a way to work together!

(2) In the case of a pandemic situation the course might be organised in an online format, but ideally we are planning to arrange it completely offline.

(3) The short texts, excerpts will be sent out to the e-mail address of each participant beforehand.