Summer Intensive: Participate Plzen

In 2012 I co-taught  Participatory Art and Design: international collaboration with Helen Armstrong (Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Miami University Ohio) at the University of West Bohemia in the Czech Republic. Nine students from six countries joined us for one intense week.

Please visit the Participate Plzen site.

Participate Plzeň

Participate Plzeň was an intense summer class that required students to produce work designed to invite the participation of the citizens of Plzen. To guide them in this project, we introduced various formal strategies: modular pieces that users can reconfigure, modular labor structures, template oriented work through which users might reveal their own contributions, etc. At the same time, we explored contemporary life in Plzen, asking students to identity vital issues that the projects can address.

Out discussions of strategy and context, a specific creative problem emerged as a focus for each group. Professor Armstrong and I directed students as they sought out resources for a project. Both the process and product was carefully documented through photography and video.