Reality Playlists—Loads of Text: Hives, Dens, Expanses

Abstract

In this volume—laid out and riso-printed by Herman Breda Enkerud & Julia Jayko Fossland—the MA1 students feature with each their 1000 word essays, which they write and public from their second term at the master program in Design at KHiO (Oslo National Academy of the Arts). This anthology contains the harvest from 2023. It results from the work during the spring term—within the framework of Theory 2 Theory development—devoted to developing logbooks (BlackBook 2) as public matter, and a backdrop for the students to dream up each their essay. For a number of the students this is a first step to appropriate writing in a setting set for collective learning, group work and individual maturing with an expanded field of media that are important for them as designers. Under the motto of involving writing in artistic practice. In the present MA program the Theory curriculum has 3 phases: 1) first term—the students develop tools adapted to their reflective style, talents and personality; 2) second term—the students apply these tools with a specialised focus; 3) third term—the students are in the “driver’s seat” and use the tools [now tested and tried up to a point] to develop their MA projects, with a final theory exam in mid-December. The students who have contributed to the present anthology are: ZOLA /YUZHUO WANG, ANNIKKEN WILHELMSEN, ALEJANDRO REBOLLAR HERES, NICOLAS VITTORI, NILS PETTER TORP BIE, LLOYD ACHIM WINTER, CHARLOTTE MATHILDE FRIIS, JULIA JAYKO FOSSLAND, ÅSTA SPARR, MATHIAS BRASK-NILSEN MALM, MAGDALENA MIKALSEN, KJETIL SMEDAL, JANE/CHONLADA PANPAKDEEDISKUL, SANDRA HOLDAL HANSEN, JOSEPHINE SASSU, JAV/ZHENGWEI WU, EVA/CHIEH-SHAN CHEN. The anthology also features an introductory editorial in which the course leader (Theodor Barth) pitches some of the topics that have been up in class (e.g. artificial intelligence), applies them in the context of the publication, and explains the categories HIVES, DENS and EXPANSES. The second file adjoined to the electronic copy of the anthology, contains so-called media references: it features an experimental attempt at referring to media that have been up for presentation and discussion in class, in the APA 7th reference style (AI assisted process in Bing).