As part of the ongoing research project “Terroir: Mapping Data Through Material with the Wild
”, researcher Annemarie Piscaer facilitates a series of workshops that delve into the concept of terroir— a term traditionally used in the culinary world to describe how the environment affects the characteristics of produce. This research applies the concept ‘terroir’ to design education, exploring how physical environments influence materials and their narratives.
Each workshop invited participants to engage with their local environments, fostering a deeper understanding of the interplay between materials, surroundings, and personal identity. The sessions were tailored to their specific contexts, emphasizing attentive observation, material exploration, and collective reflection.
Workshop Series
Den Bosch 51° 69’ 78″ N, 5° 30’ 37″ E, Avans Masters of Arts (26 November 2024)
After visiting the “Design for the Planet” exhibition at Design Museum Den Bosch, students engaged in a guided walk and collected objects from the immediate environment, exploring the objects zoomed in, stories of locality. This workshop ended in a shared lunch with dishes sourced within 10 kilometers of the academy –eating as locally as possible. The session was part of CARADT’s lecture series, “In(di)visible Infrastructures: Bridging Overseen Worlds Series.”
Alfred University (Alfred, NY, US) 42° 15’ 15” N 77° 47’ 26” W (Online, 11 November 2024)
This online workshop was a part of the ‘History Theory & Sustainable Ceramics’ class by Wendy Gers at Alfred University. The students explored the interplay between themselves, materials and the environment. For this, the students gathered local soil and fossils –which are commonly available in Alfred. They absorbed in the textures, scents, and even tastes of the world around them, asking themselves: ‘what do you observe in the fine details of a piece of soil or a fossil?’ By closely examining the materials, they uncovered hidden stories embedded in these materials—a glimpse into the material’s journey through time. Inspired by Bennett’s theories on how “We are Walking Talking Minerals” (2010), this hands-on approach offered participants a way to reposition themselves and their ceramic work in relation to the natural world.
Rotterdam 51° 55′ 10.79″ N, 4° 28′ 31.19″ E, Willem de Kooning Academy (22 October 2024)
Students (Bachelor Art and Design Education) explored the role of making and material and how it potentially shifts our perspective on our environment. For this, the students brought materials – matter that matters to them with them. These materials were found in their own environment, such as hair from their cat, a tooth from their child, or a favorite piece of fabric. These items became the basis for crafting artifacts, jewelry and wearables. The participants collectively reflected on the role of making and materials, -the topic of their course in “Making and Material in Art Education”, through hands-on making themselves and reframed the role of materials in relationship to the natural world.
During this session, students of the Master Design and Experiment (Ceramics and porcelain) explored the interplay between materials and the environment, immersing themselves in the natural surroundings. The students collected materials –sourced from the academy’s garden and used Kaolin (the raw clay material for making porcelain, from a Kaolin mine nearby Dresden) as a main ingredient to set up a dinner table with artifacts. Their creation resulted in an off-white dinner table, culminating in a shared ‘meal’ that engaged participants with material narratives.
Breda, 51° 35′ 11.62″ N, 4° 46′ 33.46″ E, Minor Material Ecologies (23 September 2024)
Students of the St. Joost School of Art and Design Minor Material Ecologies explored the interplay between materials and the environment. For this, the students walked together with Annemarie to observe attentively, investigate the local terroir and to collect materials from their surroundings. From these findings, the students crafted wearables, allowing the terroir to influence and shape their identities. The workshop underscored the interrelation between us, the material and environmental engagement.
A Shared Exploration of Terroir
By engaging with material practices the series contributes to ongoing dialogues on making and materials in art and design education. The approach of the workshops highlights the inter-relationship between locality -the material world, and humans. These workshops form a base for the PhD research of Annemarie (started Dec. 2024) at KU Leuven in collaboration with CARADT.
