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    2. Research Focus Transdisciplinarity
    More: Research Focus Transdisciplinarity

    PhD

    • Why do we need an Artistic PhD?
    • How can one apply?
    • What are the exceptions to the rule?
    • PhD Students
    • Finished PhD Projects
    • Further Reading

    Why do we need an Artistic PhD?

    Since 2013, Florian Dombois, together with doctoral candidates at fsp-t, has been developing possibilities and formats for the Artistic PhD that serve the arts themselves and strengthen artists in their mutual networking and support.

    Who formulates and writes a PhD? And equally important: who reads the work afterward and carries it forward? What do artists need in their practice, and how can PhD projects contribute to that? At fsp-t, we take a pragmatic approach to the PhD format, viewing it through the eyes of artists. We use it to reinforce a relational understanding of art based on cooperation and care rather than individualism.

    We understand research as a social network of professionals—artists who relate to each other through “sharing & challenging” and see their work as a contribution to the field of art. By contributions, we do not necessarily mean solutions to problems or answers to questions. It can also be the other way around or fall entirely outside these categories. What matters is the recognition by the actors in the field of the arts. And it need not be limited to the arts: transdisciplinarity is a valuable opportunity and resource, and we help to keep it poetic.

    PhD, fsp-t

    How can one apply?

    In principle, new admissions take place through public calls. The fsp-t is a member of the “Transdisciplinary Artistic PhD Program” (TAP), and Florian Dombois supervises within this program. Together with Michael Günzburger and Julia Weber, he founded the PhD group “Der zu teilende Teil” in 2018. In 2022, the international PhD Academy “Laboratorio Laguna” was founded together with the Venetian collective biennale urbana and the Zurich collective U5. For the time being, new admissions are only possible through Laboratorio Laguna.

    If you want to be informed when our calls are announced, please send an email to the coordinator of the TAP program: lucas.bennett @ zhdk.ch.

    PhD fsp-t

    What are the exceptions to the rule?

    In addition to the PhD groups he has initiated himself, Florian Dombois also supervises individual doctoral projects as first, second, or third reviewer in his role as a member of the graduate college “Epistemologies of Aesthetic Practices” and within the framework of third-party funded projects. These positions are advertised through the graduate college or the ZHdK website.

    [Translate to English:] PhD fsp-t

    PhD Students

    Transdisciplinary Artistic PhD Program, Group “Der zu teilende Teil” ("The part to be shared")

    Tanja Schwarz, “I have changed my mind” (AT), with the University of Art Linz, since 2020
    Esther Mathis, “Licht lenken” (Directing Light) (AT), with the University of Art Linz, since 2020
    Hannah Walter, “sonic cyborg fictions” (AT), with the University of Art Linz, since 2020
    Nadine Städler, “Kopfbedeckung und Beinfreiheit” (Headwear and legroom) (AT), with the University of Art Linz, since 2019


    Transdisciplinary Artistic PhD Program, “Laboratorio Laguna”

    Arden Surdam, “Interpositive, Internegative,” with the University of Art Linz, since 2023


    Transdisciplinary Artistic PhD Program, without group
    Sasha Huber, “Demounting Louis Agassiz – Anti-Racist Creativity Renegotiating Archive, Memory and Place” (AT), with the University of Art Linz, supervised since 2021

    Epistemologies of the Aesthetic
    Mirjam Steiner, “Rhetorics of Measurement. The Reenactments of Forensic Architecture” (AT), in the graduate college “Epistemologies of Aesthetic Practices,” with the University of Zurich, since 2018

    Finished PhD Projects

    Eirini Sourgiadaki, “Teleportation and Transportation: Approaching the ‘Impossible’ through Storytelling and Technology,” with the University of Art Linz, 2018–2025 (link)

    Christoph Oeschger, “More Than Meets the Eye: Capturing Invisible Flows and Processes,” with Uniarts Helsinki, 2017–2024 (link)

    Michael Günzburger, “Printing with Chimeras – Letting Go of Expectations,” with the University of Art Linz, 2018–2023 (link)

    Luis Berríos-Negrón, “Breathtaking Greenhouse Parastructures – A Supplement to the Arcades Project from a Caribbean Perspective (and a Call for a Careful Practice of Epistemológica),” with Konstfack and KTH Stockholm, 2016–2020 (link)

    Sarine Waltenspül, “Cinematographic Models in Transfer. Historical and Systematic Perspectives on Scaled Models in Film. Modeling Techniques, Model Deceptions, Model Aesthetics,” with the University of Basel, 2013–2018 (link)

    Haseeb Ahmed, “The Wind Egg,” with Sint Lucas Antwerpen School of Arts and the University of Antwerp, 2013–2018 (link)

    Further Reading

    • Concept Paper (2018, 2025) (download)
       
    • Florian Dombois (2019): «Art With Some T? A 35-Minute Essay». In: Hartmut von Sass (Hg.):  Between/Beyond/Hybrid. New Essays on Transdisciplinarity. Zurich: Diaphanes, 53–70 (download)
       
    • Florian Dombois (2021): «Who, How, for Whom? Or: What are we doing here?». In: Boomgaard, Jeroen & Butler, John (Hg.): The Creator Doctus Constellation. Exploring a new model for a doctorate in the arts. Amsterdam: Gerrit Rietveld Academie, 173–178 (download).
       
    • «Formate des Teilens» (Formats of Sharing) (download)
       
    • «Formate des Forderns» (Formats of Demanding, forthcoming)