Workshop talks: Thinking with your hands - talking with the material

    “The idea comes when you speak.” - Heinrich von Kleist

    On the gradual production of thoughts when talking

What happens when we understand talking not just as a means of exchange, but as a tool for thinking? When we understand making not just as production, but as a process of cognition? This is precisely where the workshop talks come in - a mixture of artist talk, thematic workshop and collaborative experimentation space.

The workshop talks open up a space in which artistic practice and craft knowledge enter into a relationship with one another. Here, people not only talk about art but also reflect on it through making with their hands, with materials, in dialog with each other. The topics vary - it's about color in painting, textiles as an artistic material, wool and climate, authorship, social practice, or feminist perspectives. But it's always about togetherness: about sharing time, experience, and inspiration.

Some time ago I watched the MasterClass by Cornel West (American philosopher, political activist, actor) in which he talks about philosophy - not as an abstract school of thought, but as a practical guide that can shape our lives. If I equate philosophy and art - and this is not unusual, because one speaks of truth in philosophy and its equivalent in art, beauty - I understand his remarks as an inspiring description of what art can achieve at its best. If we accept his definition, then in making art we leave a fingerprint of ourselves and our relationship to the world. Through the means of art, we explore what makes us who we are, what we think and how we feel - and what makes us distinctive without losing our connection to the greater whole. If we remain honest with ourselves, we experience the moment of creation as a moment of creative joy - as introspection and expression at the same time.

The gradual making of things while making and the gradual making of thoughts while talking is a perfect combination - and an invitation to get to know ourselves and others, as well as to relate the things of the world to what is in front of us: in our hands, in the room, in conversation.

Each workshop talk brings new guests, perspectives and methods - and invites you to leave your own mark.

In this sense, the workshop talks are also an alternative to the fast pace of life - they invite you to linger, to listen, to touch. And to ask questions together.

The question remains: Is there a common thread?

Perhaps it is precisely what emerges between the hands and in conversation. Perhaps it lies in doing things together - or in allowing things to develop without already being defined.

The workshop talkss are not a classic workshop format. They are a space for thinking, meeting and action. And a statement: that art does not only begin in the studio, but also in everyday life, in conversation. And that making things together can be a way of understanding ourselves - and each other - better.

Translated wit DeepL

The picture above was taken in Felicity Brown's studio in Norwich.