‘Disrupting our contemporary society can be a serious design goal.’
Eke Rebergen is a researcher within the Cultural and Creative Industries research group and a tutor at the Communication & Multimedia Design programme at Avans University of Applied Sciences in Den Bosch.
Eke Rebergen graduated as a product designer from the master Design for Interaction at Delft University of Technology. He also obtained his teaching qualification as a physics teacher. In addition to his role as a tutor in Den Bosch, Eke is also involved in educational developments, and course and graduation coordination.
Autonomy for the Designer
This research focuses on emphasising the autonomy of designers. Designers must be equipped to solve a client’s problem. This is never a simple fill-in-the-blank exercise, where the design solution follows from a strict sequence of logical design steps. In addition, a successful design requires a certain unruliness of the designer, who is not in service of the chosen solution direction. For this reason, despite many attempts, humans have never been successfully eliminated from the design process. A certain form of autonomy is expected from the designer within contemporary design practice.
Research Group: Cultural and Creative Industries
The research group Cultural and Creative Industries investigates the role of artists and designers as creative innovators and drivers of social and economic change. Affiliated researchers analyse the cultural and creative industries from a critical point of view and examine the conditions under which timely forms of aesthetic expression and social connectedness can actually take place within the precarious reality of this field. What economic models are required by artists and designers to create a meaningful practice within the aesthetic, social, and economic intentions of the cultural and creative industries? What skills sets are required for those artists and designers who don’t just want to follow movements, but actually shape novel social and economic models of the future?
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‘Our research group investigates the role artists, designers and cultural producers in general can play in developing the aesthetics and poetics of a desirable future.’
Sebastian Olma 
‘Well beyond their common characterisation as problem-solvers, designers have a role to play in materialising public engagement with collective concern’
Laurens Kolks
‘As a result of my current research, I ask the students the questions “what is your work” and “what works for you.’
Rob Leijdekkers
‘Performance is about engaging with versions of the self, stretching the gaze to see what others see when they look at you.’
Philippine Hoegen
‘To be able to research something thoroughly, you have to deeply engage, not just look at it from the outside.’
Bart Stuart
‘Doing research connects my practice with teaching; it strengthens and brings them closer together.’
Martine Stig
‘The most difficult and empowering thing as an artist is to stay honest about my work and me. And I'd like to help my students to get there too.’
Aiwen Yin