The »WimmelResearch-Fellowship« will be awarded as part of a joint project between Robert Bosch GmbH, Akademie Schloss Solitude and Wimmelforschung. The collaboration is based on the development of Platform 12, an experimental space designed by the artistic duo Wimmelforschung in collaboration with Bosch as part of Bosch’s new center for research and advance engineering.

The platform serves as a creative hub and room for reflection as well as communication for all researchers. It offers an environment that allows its employees to work independently from the organizational structure of the company. As an essential feature, Platform 12 contains a permanent collaboration with Akademie Schloss Solitude, in the framework of which artists of various disciplines intervene into the company’s structure and organization as indirect observers and instigators from outside.

CENTRAL AIM

The purpose of the fellowship is to support encounters as well as interdisciplinary exchange in the context of science, economy and art. The collaboration’s aim is not the production of a specific artistic work, but the encounter and the process of intercommunication itself.

The central aim of Platform 12 is the creation of a variable and open setting in which artists and employees are working simultaneously on their projects, encounter one another and exchange ideas. The concept intends for the artist to be present at Platform 12 for the entire duration of the fellowship. She or he should contribute to the platform with her or his own extrinsic artistic reflections and aesthetic settings vis-à-vis the company. These can be constructed visually, conceptually, or in interactive or performative form. The artistic works can alter the space and/or deal with the working practices of the employees.

BENEFITS

• The funding period amounts to maximal 3 months


• A stipend amounting to Euro 1,150 monthly (plus one-time expenses incurred by the fellowship holder travelling to and from Stuttgart from his or her primary place of residence)


• If applicable, a project-related budget for the realization of a project


• A combined apartment studio, furnished with electricity, water and heat free of charge


• For the duration of the fellowship the respective artist in her or his role as agent will be mentored by Wimmelforschung and Akademie Schloss Solitude.

REQUIREMENTS

The »WimmelResearch-Fellowship« addresses artists coming from the disciplines of architecture, visual arts, performing arts, design, literature and time-based media, who have a serious interest in interdisciplinary exchange. A willingness to open communication and sensibility towards the specific working environment are essential. An active examination and artistic reflection of the respectively encountered working conditions in the context of Platform 12 are required. The decision on content and form of expression of the work are however principally open and left to the artist.

• Individuals can apply for a fellowship. Persons up to 35 or if older who have completed a university or college degree within the past five years are welcome to apply. Several fellowships are also awarded regardless of the applicant’s age. Currently enrolled university or college students (at the time of application) will not be considered for selection


• The fellowship is a residence fellowship; continuous daily presence (Mo-Fr) on Platform 12 is mandatory


• Prior to the fellowship there is minimum one-day attendance mandatory for orientation as well as a first meeting with Wimmelforschung and Robert Bosch GmbH in Stuttgart and an interview before and after the fellowship


• Good language skills in English are essential, language skills in German are favored

The next fellowship will be awarded from October 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016.

The deadline for all applications is September 1, 2016, 12 p.m. CET/MEZ.

Image: photo - Bosch