On 12 and 13 November, the RASL Graduation Exhibition took place. During this show, the first RASL graduates exhibited their work at De Achtertuin in Rotterdam. Amongst them were ESHCC students Mariana Gusso Nickel, Eveline van der Duim, Lotte Gerick and Dianne van der Hoeven. RASL stands for Rotterdam Arts and Sciences Lab, and is a collaboration between Codarts Rotterdam, Arts & Culture Studies (ESHCC) and Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam to maximise the exchange between artistic practice and theoretical knowledge.
In September 2016, this first RASL Dual Degree cohort embarked on what was to become a turbulent experience. The exhibition is an embodiment of the efforts, challenges and opportunities that presented themselves over the past five years. Mariana Gusso Nickel explores the potential of queer mythologies in re-organising social practices, and Eveline van der Duim speculates how one can slow down their life in contemporary, continuously accelerating society.
Above that, Lotte Gerick investigated how municipalities can support new and hybrid art forms, and Dianne van der Hoeven calls into question the manner in which narratives about psychedelic microdosing are shared on the ‘cosy web’. As stated in an article from Willem de Kooning: “this exhibition is a testimony, by 6 transdisciplinary practitioners, that true transformative potential of arts and sciences, lies in their joining of forces.”
Reflecting on the past years, Dianne van der Hoeven says,
“I look back at my time as a RASL student gratefully, as it was the perfect combination of all my interests. I not only combined academics and design, but was also able to dabble into digital experimentation in my minor Digital Craft. I especially enjoyed the days on which I had lectures at Erasmus in the morning, and classes on techniques like screen printing in the afternoon at WdKA; this rhythm led to some interesting and unexpected connections.”
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For an elaborate reflection on the Graduation Exhibition, have a look at the article on the WDKA website.
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