DAAD Research Project in Singapore

I was awarded a short-term postdoctoral fellowship by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) to conduct research in Singapore at LASALLE College of the Arts. My project is titled “Magic Medium: Investigating Artistic–Spiritual Practices in Singapore with Regard to Potentials for Resistant Education in the Context of a Culture of Digitality.”

Short summary of the research project:

This research project focuses on the interrelation of spirituality, digitality, and art within the cultural context of Singapore. Its aim is to investigate artistic–spiritual practices in Singapore with regard to their mediality in order to identify potentials for resistant education in the context of digitality. Resistance as an educational goal refers to a self-determined, emancipated, and critically reflective engagement with forms of power and oppression. Magical–spiritual modes of expression, in turn, provide access to alternative image worlds, forms of knowledge, and ways of understanding the world. At the intersection of art and digitality, these practices are examined as alternative and suppressed forms of knowledge that enable the deconstruction of patriarchal, postcolonial, and capitalist power structures.

The focus on the Asian cultural sphere is particularly relevant, as it expands Western concepts and theories of art education in the context of digitality. This is combined with a self-reflective rereading of Eurocentric reference points and blind spots within German-speaking art education, with particular attention to Joseph Beuys. The research project employs a combination of specific methodological approaches: first, semi-structured interviews are conducted with three selected artists. Zarina Muhammad, Debbie Ding, and Ho Tzu Nyen integrate references to spirituality, mythology, or magical thinking with digital principles in their artistic practices and are therefore especially suited to the research questions of this project. Methodologically, this is complemented by artistic field research inspired by Lili Fischer. This involves visiting spiritual centers and collecting extensive field data through the observation of spiritual practices and conversations with relevant actors. The interview transcripts and collected data are analyzed using Grounded Theory methodology. The research findings are evaluated with regard to their potentials for resistant education and situated within art education theory and practice. The publication of the results is intended in order to further develop the transformative potential of art education practice in critically engaging with media worlds, digitality, and spiritual ways of relating to the world.

The results of this research will be documented in publications, which I will reference here. Should you have any further questions or interest in the project, I would be pleased to receive a message. In addition to my research activities, I will also contribute to teaching at LASALLE, where I am affiliated with Prof. Dr. Woo Yen Yen in the MA Arts Pedagogy and Practice program.