About

+dimensions is an artistic and design research project (2021–2024) at the weißensee school of art and design berlin, delving into discrimination-free, hybrid learning spaces, for research-based and project-oriented teaching. The methodological approach is experimental, performative and practice-based. The transdisciplinary project team represents all nine of the university’s departments: Fashion Design, Product Design, Textile and Surface Design, Visual Communication, Painting, Sculpture, Stage and Costume Design, Theory and History, and Foundation. The group members are both individually active in teaching and research in their areas of expertise, as well as connected through common projects and goals. Through this network, knowledge transfer is facilitated from and into the departments and the university community at large. In addition, the exchange expands through external university collaborations. Each semester, the group engages with a new main common topic, which is addressed by the +dimensions dialogues event series, and accompanied the +dimensions publications series. +dimensions is supported by the Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre.

Project Team

Juana Awad, Volo Bevza, Elaine Bonavia, Paulina Grebenstein, Madeleine Madej, Thomas Ness, Julian Netzer, Stefanie Rau, Lara Roßwag, Henrike Uthe

Juana Awad

Artistic researcher and lecturer, Theory and History

Juana Awad studied Semiotics and Drama/Theatre Studies at the University of Toronto (CA), Fine Art Media at the Slade School of Fine Art UCL London (UK) and Cultures of the Curatorial at the HGB Leipzig. Her principal interests lie at the intersections of knowledge production and aesthetic practices, the effects of institutional processes on the reception of art, and the political potential of arts and culture presenting. She has been responsible for curatorial projects in Canada, Germany, Colombia, Argentina, India and England. Professional positions include director of the 3D Film Innovation Consortium at York University, programming for the Toronto International Film Festival, co-director of the Carnival of Cultures in Berlin, scientific coordinator of the German Research Foundation– Research Training Group “Knowledge in the Arts” at the Berlin University of the Arts. She is currently researching and teaching on decolonial theories and practices at the weißensee school of art and design berlin.

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Volo Bevza

Artistic researcher and lecturer, Painting

Volo Bevza studied stage design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kyiv (UA) from 2010 to2014, where he graduated with a Master’s degree in 2015. This was followed by studies in fine arts at the weißensee school of art and design berlin, where he graduated in 2019 as a master student in the class of Prof. Friederike Feldmann.
Bevza’s work deals with the omnipresence of the internet, focusing on the question of the role of painting in the post-digital age. He relies on the hybridization of the painting process to open up new, critical perspectives within the medium of painting. Themes such as the critical failure of digital tools, the shattered dream of egalitarian social media, and democracy in jeopardy as a result, form the background for his artistic practice.
Volo Bevza lives in Berlin and works as a visual artist, lecturer and curator.  

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Elaine Bonavia

Artistic researcher and lecturer, Textile and Surface Design

Elaine Bonavia is an architectural design researcher working at the intersection of computational design, art and technology. She has curated exhibitions and previously worked extensively within the self-organized international European Architecture Students Assembly (EASA). During her studies, her research theme focused on adaptive architecture and bending-active structures. She is a complex modeling specialist and has worked on the design and construction of various architectural pavilions through the development of computational tools and material research. She was actively involved in various research projects at the University of Stuttgart within the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) and Institute for Building Structures and Structural Design (itke)). Since 2020 she has been teaching in the Textile and Surface Design department at the weißensee academy of art and design berlin where she is currently involved in research on Augmented Reality and textile production processes for the creation of architectural material systems.

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Paulina Grebenstein

Artistic researcher and lecturer, Product Design

Paulina Grebenstein has a degree in product design. After semesters abroad in Norway and Taiwan, she graduated with her Bachelor and Master degrees from weißensee school of art and design berlin with a focus on user experience, climate adaptation and design for the planet. Her final project “urban:eden” was awarded several design prizes and supported by the Design-in-Tech accelerator Design Farm Berlin with a scholarship for further development. Her work focuses on viable visions for current social and environmental issues, which are approached through the means of user experience, service, urban, product, and sustainable design. 

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Founding a VR/AR Laboratory, Christine Reeh-Peters , Patricia Ribault, WINT Design Lab: Felix Rasehorn & Robin Hoske, Verena Melgarejo Weinandt, Visions in Design

Madeleine Madej

Artistic researcher and lecturer, Fashion Design

Madeleine Madej studied experimental fashion design at the Berlin University of the Arts and at Danmarks Designskole Copenhagen (DK). She worked as a strategic designer for international clothing companies for several years, and in 2013 she began teaching fashion design courses in parallel at various universities such as Berlin University of the Arts, HTW Berlin University of Applied Sciences and others. At weißensee school of art and design berlin, she has been teaching digital design, illustration and presentation techniques for fashion designers as an artistic lecturer since 2020. Furthermore, Madej researches the interplay between technology and design in the process of creating fashion on an avatar in three-dimensional space.

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Julian Netzer

Artistic researcher and lecturer, Visual Communication

Julian Netzer studied visual communication with a focus on New media at the Berlin University of the Arts. Since then, he has been working as a cross-media designer, media artist and lecturer. In his work he explores the peripherals of real and virtual environments and the implications and possibilities of emerging technologies such as machine learning, virtual and augmented reality. His work has been shown at the European Media Arts Festrical / INIT Exhibition and Vienna Art Week (AT), among others. At the weißensee school of art and design he teaches mainly in the field of digital media and interaction design. As a freelancer, Netzer works as a designer and developer of real-time 3D applications and interactive art installations.

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Stefanie Rau

Artistic researcher and lecturer, Art and Design Foundations

Stefanie Rau’s work moves between the fields of conceptual design, text-based artistic practice and teaching. She first studied Visual Communication at the Berlin University of the Arts and completed her Master’s degree at the Critical Studies Department of the Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam (NL). There she developed an artistic writing practice articulated through lecture performances, essay films or installations. Until 2021 she was part of the graphic design team of Missy Magazine. In 2017 she co-founded operative.space, a studio for conceptual design practices and since 2019, she teaches at the weißensee school of art and design berlin in the foundation department.

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Lara Roßwag

Artistic researcher and lecturer, Stage and Costume Design

Lara Roßwag studied stage and costume design at the weißensee school of art and design berlin. Throughout her studies, she received the German Academic Scholarship (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes) and gained practical experience as an assistant at various theaters and in numerous projects of her own, both in film and at theater houses. In 2019, she was awarded the “Bild-Kunst” special prize for “best costume design” at the International Hof Film Festival. She finished her studies with the production “Die Lage”by Thomas Melle, which premiered at the Staatstheater Stuttgart. She works as a freelance stage and costume designer both in theater and film. As part of her artistic research she explores the intersection between film and theater.

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Henrike Uthe

Projectmanagement

Henrike Uthe studied communication design and media art in Halle and Istanbul. She has been working as a designer in Berlin since 2011. She co-founded the design studios Rocco Park and Rimini Berlin. In addition, she has also graphically designed numerous exhibitions with scenography studios, such as for the International Building Exhibition 2010 and the Jewish Museum Berlin. Since 2013 she has been actively involved in art education, among others at the Berlin University of the Arts, at weißensee school of art and design berlin and at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts. She is also a co-initiator and member of the Fokusgruppe gestalterische Forschung (FGGF).

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Thomas Ness

Lead

Thomas Ness is professor of Embodied Interaction in the department of Product Design at weißensee school of art and design berlin and principal investigator in the interdisciplinary research and development cluster “Matters of Activity“ at Humboldt University of Berlin.
With a background in designing physical interactions, his focus is on exploring and prototyping visions for implementing new technologies in social contexts. In his professional career, he has worked for international clients in the automotive and technology industries as well as for educational and cultural institutions. He was a founding member of CIRG, a Berlin-based invention design firm. At the weißensee school of art and design berlin, he currently leads digital transformation, among other projects.