i don’t really know what a symposium is, but this was ni.
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based on notes during the turbine plays symposium,
written on my laptop, 16/12/22
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i’ve been to a few so called symposiums. most of the time the program consists of multiple speakers, a
moderator an audience, breaks and questions from the audience. sometimes a panel talk is also part of the
program (i also don’t think i know the exact definition of a panel talk). symposiums are a bit like
lectures but try to be more fun and easier to take in. also i’ve noticed they are made for a specific
audience, one that is already familiar with the vocabulary of a certain expertise. this week i went to a
symposium for people working with tech-art and people working in with wind turbines. it was called turbine
plays.
the start was a bit messy, the moderator didn’t introduce himself and was in general a bit rude to the
audience. he interviewed the first two speakers, the directors of an engineering study program and the
director of the local art academy. almost needless to say, both gave a very stale, general statement on their
vision/mission. both of their visions were so general that they were pretty much the same and any attempts of
the moderator to compare the institutions failed because both were saying the same thing. a moderator trying
to compare ‘the world of art’ with ‘the world of science’ is in general not something i’m
interested in. i started to dread a whole day of this kind of talk, but as soon as the second program element
started this fear melted away.
the organizers of the event started speaking and both were amazing speakers. they really made clear the
intent of the symposium, they brought people together and asked some of them to tell about what they’re
working with and asked us as the audience to make connections and see what collaborations can be made.
so this symposium has an explicit goal… this is new for me..
these events seem so often organized for the sake of organizing them. but by having a goal i did not feel
lost here anymore, the space felt less cold and the chairs became more comfortable. we as an audience were
not supposed to know each other beforehand, we were supposed to get to know each other during the event. i
suddenly had a goal, i wanted to speak to people i didn’t know.
the breaks, the very tasty lunch and drinks afterwards were meant to walk up to people i didn’t know and
get to know them. now that i’m writing this i realize that it could be that this always is the goal of
symposia… hmm not sure.
the goal was stated in this one, i think that was a smart move. the event really was a kick-off of a project
with no planned outcome, and it was nice.
i listened to:
a professor on stage talking about how proud he was of his students working on small windmills
somebody who made sure bats wouldn’t get hurt by the blades of windmills,
a photographer who presented his pictures of windmills together with his field notes
a 3d printing teacher working with very large machinery
an artist whose only language was spiralling art speak and showed images of.. nothing recognizable really…
in the break i talked with:
a cool young artist who was working on a windmill that would power a synthesizer,
the 3d printing teacher who apparently wanted to work on artistic projects and not just print vases to
calibrate his printer,
an audio tech producer who believes in subwoofers as the solution for everything,
a group of international communication students looking for internships. (they complimented my moon shaped
earrings)
