KABK Art and Design Research Practices, 2020

interview series

Walking as a Research Method in Art and Design is a video interview by the Lectorate Design at the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague, in which Lector Alice Twemlow visits the landscape designers Krijn Christiaansen and Cathelijne Montens (KCCM) to explore the research method of walking from a design perspective. In their serene home-work space near Noordwijk, they discuss how and why KCCM made this form of research central to their work.

In particular, they discuss a speculative urban planning project in Saga City, Japan, in which the designers attempted to reactivate the city’s extensive system of ancient waterways, find points of entry for local communities and map connections between them. In addition to their initial archival research, mapping of the waterways, interviews and conversations with residents, KCCM conducted 24 walks, during which they collected the memories, stories, images, impressions, and objects that the canal network contained. In practical terms, this meant wading in the creeks, videoing their progress from a frog’s-eye-perspective, but also dredging and excavating artefacts from the water beds and making rubbings and photographs of structures on the banks.

Check out this link for more information.

director of photography: Roel Backaert, camera and editing: Yannick van de Graaf, music: Lance Laoyan, script: Martijn de Heer

KABK Art and Design Research Practices #1 on Vimeo.