“I search for something that can catapult a question through time and space”

… an important reference point and has been since university. I could see how differently the Bauhaus was viewed in my subjects of study: graphic design, empirical cultural studies and art history. A brilliant, but controversial institution which some have tried to distance themselves from, others have sought to bring up to date, but which no one can avoid.

It’s mostly about what motivated people at that time to establish this school and why they wanted to learn there. The Bauhaus was a school, but it was also a production facility, there were predecessor institutions, and after it closed, its influence continued in many places around the world. There are countless fields of research related to the Bauhaus, and I absolutely love researching. I’m interested in academic research on the Bauhaus, but also on today’s ideals in youth and adult education. And then there’s the general question of how and whether we, in a society that constantly demands life-long learning, self-optimisation and the design of everything and everyone, can apply technology differently to advance a design-based approach to community-building and empowerment. The Bauhaus cannot provide the answers to what we are confronted with here and now – the care crisis, platform capitalism, climate change – but it continues to serve as an example of how art and design can impact society.

I work freelance in the cultural sector in various roles – for example, I conduct research, create layouts, do translations, and prepare texts and photos for publications or exhibitions.

There’s one thing I’ll never do: go to the big arts and crafts store near my place and walk up and down the aisles. The huge assortment of DIY project sets is a polar opposite to what we try to do in the bauhaus_lab. What I do instead is peruse the archive and publications and find something that works like a catalyst, something that can catapult a question through time and space. Many members of the Bauhaus were also instructors themselves and they took their work seriously, such as Friedl Dicker, Gertrud Grunow, and Anni Albers, of course. What I find really fascinating is that we can explore these different approaches and debate the idea of a “Bauhaus pedagogy” in the workshop.

When students at the Bauhaus started the preliminary course, some of them already had learned a profession or had practical artistic experience, or they didn’t. We start out the same way in the bauhaus_lab. We want to offer participants an opportunity to find a new way to approach a material or a question, and above all, to rely on their senses. Nonetheless, when I prepare a workshop, it’s important to me to take advantage of as much of the multifaceted nature of the material as possible – like focusing a specific detail without cropping away its context. Each time it’s a good chance for me to reassess my own assumptions and not decide for the participants how they should go about a project, or what information or which tools are appropriate for them or could be interesting. That functions well because we mediators work in a team with a small group.

I have to say that I really appreciate their generosity. Many stop by, they stay, run with it, and keep coming back. Every time, there are always phases of total concentration, and then moments of animated discussion. I recently prepared a workshop on the pictures of knots which Anni Albers painted in the 1940s. We put up various stations where people can draw, read, make knots or watch videos. We begin by telling everyone that we ourselves don’t know how to make specific knots by heart, and will neither present an art-scientific analysis of Albers’ pictures, or introduce them to the mathematics of string theory. Instead, we start by looking at whether and why a 3D rendering or a photo series is more suited to teaching students about knotting, and then we try out how best to depict strings.

Just being there and watching people create. Being a host for a part of the giant collection of the Bauhaus-Archiv and providing small anchors for the participants’ diverse questions and interests. This always arises from the situation – the participants come with their own questions, but they don’t have to ask them out loud or formulate them in advance. They are allowed to simply work with their hands, or to watch what the others are doing, or to immerse themselves quietly in an exhibition catalogue. And I’m always personally delighted when I see parents who can just relax for a moment while their kids are occupied.

… that the new rooms for educational activities will be shaped by their future users as much as possible.