la mer blessée

Fachklasse Gestaltung des bewegten Bildes
GProf. Kathi Kæppel

← Summer 2023

GProf. Kathi Kæppel

la mer blessée

Fachklasse Gestaltung des bewegten Bildes

In 2020, the UdK Berlin declared a climate emergency and thus joined demands and initiatives at the university to support the topic of climate justice with various projects.

The project la mer blessée in cooperation with Sea Sheperd Germany, an international, non-profit marine conservation organization for the preservation of biodiversity and the marine ecosystem, served to expand our knowledge of the sea, the largest ecosystem in the world, and of effective measures to protect endangered species, specific habitat types and habitat requirements. The Moving Image Design class actively participated in the "Baltic Sea Campaign 2023" and dealt with topics such as species protection and climate change.

The aim of the project was to shed innovative light on the threats to the sea through film and to create artistic works, animations, films or videos using the possibilities of the moving image. The focus was not only on environmental destruction, but above all on the relationship between humans and the environment, the slow processes of change ('shifting baseline syndrome') and the lack of a reference system for our actions. The works pursue a documentary or experimental approach - narrative/non-narrative/anti-narrative. In any case, they are independent, artistic works that transport the students' personal thoughts uncompromisingly into society.

To accompany the project, we went on an excursion to Heiligenhafen with Sea Shepherd and filmed with filmmaker Till Beckmann in Sauen, read a book, and watched documentaries and interactive formats. The design project was complemented conceptually and methodologically by Rachel Romanowsky's seminar "Notated Thoughts - Introduction to Hand-drawn Animation" and a workshop with Florian Thalhofer, new media artist, researcher and co-founder of the Korsakow Institute, lectures and screenings.

overview of the projects