Type: Collective Performance
Audio
Duration: 2:44 min
Location: Buitenplaats Briennoord
Year: 2024
Audio TW: Loud Noises and Intense Emotions
What Else is There? Symbioscene... is a collective performance directed and organized by Hooi-Ying on the assessment day of term 2.2 (year 2) Transformation Design WDKA. Hooi-Ying’s class was experiencing frustrations, anxiety and stress as a result of a badly organized term about finding solutions for climate change and the term failing to see the complexity of the problem by imposing the philosophy of the Symbioscene onto the students. The Symbioscene is a philosophy that encourages design with the well being of nature in mind, however fails to see how the current climate problem is closely related to systemic and structural problems. Performative short term solutions were encouraged whilst invested extensive research was not.
An extensive paper and project as a critique of the symbioscene can be found in project
Feeling burned out and defeated because of the lack of support and guidance from the educational department of this term, this performance acts as a disruption of the usual power dynamic that is present in an academic setting. By taking the space, the students were able to give space for closure and critique on their terms, diminishing the hierarchy and the authority of the teachers so understanding could come from equal grounds. After the performance we had a moment of reflection on this term, what went wrong and what support we would’ve wanted to see.
“All students and employees present were made aware of this performance by Hooi-Ying, a whatsapp message to participate was send around beforehand”