Research Station – Research Center WdKA

PROJECTS

Lexicon of research methods

The lexicon of research methods brings together methods for research in arts and design as taught and used at the WdKA.

Conversations on Educating Research

What could a learning trajectory for research look like? What are the different approaches, methods, and contexts to teaching research within the WdKA?

Zoom-in

Zoom-in is a yearly series of film portraits following a group of students with different backgrounds, who are about to graduate at the Willem de Kooning Academy.

Collective research activities

An important part of the Research Station is made up of collective activities and events, often organised by students for students. Examples are the Reading Rhythms Club, the Re:writing group, open mic nights, research interventions and exhibitions and whatever else comes to the table.

The RESEARCH STATION is the place within the Willem de Kooning Academy where research activities, education, sources, students, teachers, researchers, and other enthusiasts meet. It is a node within a vibrant research culture that stretches throughout the WdKA and the Piet Zwart Institute, both offline and online.

We shape, connect, and make visible research and research education through:

station skills, consultations, and trainings for students and tutors;
the collection of the media library and online sources;
a student-led events programme;
publications and other forms of making public;
research of research in arts and design; what it is, does, and can be, resulting in publications and other forms of making public;
practical and strategic support in all research-related matters within the academy.

Research in arts and design has a strong focus within the Willem de Kooning Academy and can be found in all education programmes and at all levels, in the stations and the research centre. It is also still a field and educational practice in development. The Research Station plays its part in shaping, sharing, and implementing a future-oriented research education.

Research in art and design is characterised by its experimental, iterative, and applied process. There is always a component of making involved. Educating research in many ways is about opening up, articulating, and steering these processes. Research is often being carried out already in unexpected places and without it being recognised as such.

Art and design research produces experiential, sensuous, and situated knowledge (and non-knowledge!), next to contributing to theoretical and conceptual forms of understanding. Reflection and theory can take on many forms next to (academic) writing. Making public isn’t confined to the end-result of the research but happens during all phases of the project.

The Research Station hosts staff that give support in developing research skills. Research skills involve, for example, finding and using sources, writing and making public, questioning and documentation, applying and hacking research methods, articulating your own position, and reflecting on the ethics of doing research.

The Research Station offers insight and guidance into: