give me half a year to process (diary) this

Introduction

“Give me half a year to process (diary) this – People, Power and Protest” was created during “Studio Image – into the wide open” in the summer semester 2023 at Libera Università di Bolzano. Studio Image is part of the Design and Art Bachelor and is supervised by Prof. Eva Leitolf, Giulia Cordin and German Duarte.

The designing artist or art creating designer Paulina Stein, is a student of Integrated Design at Köln International School of Design, member of the collective minha galera, co-founder of the interdisciplinary coworking space noplace and part of a cooperative housing project in the Eifel, close to Köln. The personal community background influences all of her works fundamentally.

During the semester abroad she decided to join a studio project of the art faculty. This decision was based on her continuous interdisciplinary approach as a base for creative problem-solving. The format of the process diary was chosen to unite the personal experience in Bolzano, a research approach and analogue visualization techniques.

In times of multiple crisis, in a new era of risk (SIPRI, 2022) this project functions as a tool for coping with the present while developing hopeful perspectives for the future.

Enjoy!

Artist Statement

A few months ago, I had a talk with a good friend about the state of the world and how activism influences it. He was convinced that things are not changing for the better, felt like he had no hope, no power. I was and still feeling the opposite way but could not provide the flawless argumentation I would have needed to oppose his strong nihilist perception. I could not stand the fact, that my friend feels this way. I wanted to convince him of the opposite, so I started working:

What kind of social movements are there and how did they shape time and space?

Which knowledge and theories exist about civil unrest and protest?

What can we learn from the past for the present and why is a look back reason to be hopeful after all?

I started with basic historical research, timelines, tables, archives and case studies on the power of people and proved: without the engagement of people there would not be the slightest glimpse of human rights in our societies – we, most probably, would be stuck in an oppressing relationship to a self-named and blue-blooded King, who occupies power and wants to extend his territory.

This process diary documents my personal way of learning by creating a visual form to approach complexity. Linearity quickly turned into illusion by interwoven processes, interrelations, phenomena and the ever-changing theory of transformation in the network of life. This work is not about a process but a process itself  – of finding out and letting go. Finding out by research, interviews, reading, writing and sketching, while letting go the expectations of an outcome, something that fits into a frame.

This project aims to reach more freedom – of thought, action, techniques, processes and knowledge. It is a resistant practice.