Framer Framed announces two fellowships on the theory and practice of commoning
Framer Framed is thrilled to introduce a new series of fellowship programmes on the theory and practice of commoning. The programmes explore the intersection of art and commons through the lens of digitally assisted governance, and bridge political sciences with contemporary artistic practices of political engagement.
With the fellowship programmes, Framer Framed is following up on a decade of projects and programmes from Stichting Netwerk Democratie – integrating themes of deliberative ‘bottom up’ democracy, social movements organisation and digitalization. Connecting media studies and political sciences with artistic practices, the fellowships in collaboration with Documenta Institute and the Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam, seek to encourage a cross-disciplinary approach to artistic research.
Framer Framed is inviting scholars and practitioners to engage with these initiatives, contributing to a dialogue on the role of art in addressing perceptions of labour, wealth distribution, community dynamics, power imbalances and social struggles.
First Fellowship on Digital Commons
Framer Framed is excited to welcome design theorist and researcher Yin Aiwen as research fellow of Digital Commons. This fellowship explores the intersection of art and commons through the lens of digitally assisted governance.
Yin’s work will build upon past collaborations, such as the public event Towards Decentralized Art Infrastructure and the CIRCE research project Can Web3.0 Help Socially Engaged Art Become Sustainable? The fellowship focuses on the transformative potential of art, with the goal of reshaping perceptions of labour, wealth distribution, and community dynamics. It aims to demonstrate the intrinsic value of art through interdisciplinary collaborations, employing technology to effect societal change rather than as an end.
In addition to the exploration of technology, the fellowship aims to contribute to the creation of an inclusive environment that nurtures cross-disciplinary dialogue. By conceptualising art institutions as digital commons villages, the programme challenges conventional notions of productivity and advocates for a more equitable distribution of resources and opportunities.
The Digital Commons fellowship is realised in collaboration with the Documenta Institute (DE).
About
Yin Aiwen is a practicing designer, artist, theorist, and strategist who use writing, system design and time-based art to examine the social impact of planetary communication technologies. She advocates relationship-focused design as a strategy to redesign, re-engineer and reimagine the relationship between technology and society. Besides publishing and exhibiting internationally, she also works as a strategist and researcher for cultural institutions.
Second Fellowship featuring Winnie Herbstein and René Boer’s project Contemporary Conflict
Framer Framed is excited to announce a fellowship programme in collaboration with the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. This fellowship aims to bridge political sciences with contemporary artistic practices of political engagement.
We are pleased to welcome artist Winnie Herbstein and researcher René Boer as the first fellows of the programme with their joint research initiative Contemporary Conflict. The project stems from several conversations and activities organised through the Social Practice Workshop at the Rijksakademie, in collaboration with Framer Framed, and aims to critically examine the role of conflict in contemporary society. This project aims to rethink how current-day power imbalances and social struggles can be addressed in the arts, in a way that acknowledges their conflictual nature rather than sanitises it.
In their own words: “This project does not think of conflict in terms of a resolution but seeks to emphasise its potential for transformative change. Contemporary Conflict recognises that this process is vital and necessary in the struggle to develop collective work across and beyond sanitised categories of ‘art’ and ‘activism’, and to further politicise and solidify the ‘political turn’ in the Arts.”
During the fellowship programme, Winnie and René will, among others, engage with students and researchers affiliated with the Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam. Combining political sciences with artistic practices the fellowship seeks to encourage a cross-disciplinary approach to artistic research and to explore the intersection of art and activism and political sciences. The fellowship will be developed in close collaboration with Floris Vermeulen, associate professor at the UvA’s Political Science programme Challenges to Democratic Representation.
Part of the Framer Framed fellowship line Community, Democracy and the Urban Environment.
About
Winnie Herbstein graduated from Glasgow School of Art (Environmental Art). Formerly a committee member at Transmission Gallery, Glasgow. Herbstein studied on the Women in Construction course at the City of Glasgow College and is a founding member of Slaghammers, a woman, trans and non-binary metal workshop. Her work focuses on historical and contemporary forms of organising, in relation to housing and the architecture and formation of space. She was a resident at the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam (2021-2023).
René Boer works as a critic, curator and organiser in and beyond the fields of architecture, design, heritage and the arts. In his practice he seeks to articulate new perspectives on spatial matters and facilitate fertile ground for imagining and materialising alternatives. He is a founding partner of Loom – practice for cultural transformation, a driving force behind the transnational platform Failed Architecture and affiliated with various urban social movements. His work has appeared in among others Harvard Design Magazine, Architectural Review and Volume. In 2023, he published Smooth City with Valiz Publishers.
Action Research / Citizenship / Community & Learning / Digital commons & democracy /
Agenda
Bricks and Mortar
Discursive programme exploring how political movements navigate conflict.
Towards Decentralised Art Infrastructures
A public discussion to explore blockchain technology for building decentralised art infrastructures.
Liquid dependencies
A life simulation and a generative social experiment by Yin Aiwen
Network
René Boer
Curator, Critic
Winnie Herbstein
Artist
