Sometimes your own aspiration is your worst enemy. When it comes to the execution of an idea your own thoughts are the most tricky part. How shall I start? Did I choose the right medium? Am I skillful enough? Did I thought enough about it? Do I have everything under control?

Well it’s not about control at all. We don’t do math. Intuition and tactic knowledge is always part of a creative process. And for this you need practice: To materialize your ideas (no matter if you make a video, a performance, or a painting) you have to do it. To be an expert in something you have to spend at least 1000 hours for it. Like learning to play an piano – you wont become a great musician just by thinking about how to play – you have to do it, again and again. Quality is very important, but it doesn’t come without scrap. So the goal of this exercise is to feel easy to make something, without overthinking it in the first place.

We do this by asking the students to Draw 50 pictures in 50 minutes based on 50 simple tasks – inspired by Brian Enos Oblique Strategies – they make abstract black&white pieces. Starting as simple as „Draw a Line“ to more complex quests like “what would your closest friend do?“ Or „how does your favorite smell taste like?“ students immerse themselves in the mood of making.

Teachers
Prof. Peter Stephan
Assistant Jacqueline Hen

Seminar
Design Basics

Weekly, Thursdays
10:00-13:00

Academy for Media Arts Cologne
Filzengraben 8 – 10, 4.02
exMedia Lab