Anja Groten (b. 1983, DE) is a designer, researcher and organiser based in Amsterdam. Groten holds a degree in Communication Design from Niederrhein University of Applied Science, Krefeld and a Master degree in Design from Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam.
Anja heads the Design Master program of the Sandberg Instituut Amsterdam, Master of the Rietveld Academie and supervises PhD candidates in Artistic and Design Research at the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, Leiden University.
In November 2022 Anja completed a PhD on collective material practices, which was developed as part of the NWO-funded research consortium “Bridging Art Design and Technology Through Critical Making.” The research resulted in two symposia, the dissertation "Figuring Things Out Together. On the Relationship Between Design and Collective Practice" (PhD. Diss, Leiden University, 2022) and a publication titled Making Matters. A Vocabulary of Collective Arts (eds J. Wesseling, Florian Cramer, Valiz, 2022).
Groten's current research reconsiders material-based research and knowledge sharing by moving away from the view of skilled practice as a solitary effort to seeing research through making as a collective and interconnected experience. Drawing on trans*feminist hacking principles and critical making, Anja's research aims to make tangible and reimagine digital materiality while resisting extractive tendencies. Promoting regenerative design principles, she addresses the environmental and social impact of digital technologies and resource depletion, emphasizing art and design’s role in tackling these challenges. She argues for an intersectional approach to such challenges, which requires collective and interdisciplinary approaches to design and art making, that are yet to be fostered conceptually and practically within the creative industries and educational institutions.
A conversation with Julia Ihls (Bio Design Lab), Marjolijn Bol, Clem Edwards (The Material Kinship Reader) moderated by the Material Research Group.
Materiality – Presentations and conversation by Agustina Woodgate, experts from the DLR (The German Aerospace Center) and students from Cologne International School of Design (KISD) and Parsons The New School.
Materiality – Rietveld and Sandberg students are invited to join our workshop Material Temporalities on 6 November. This workshop offers a rare opportunity to visit and work in the Atelier Building of the Rijksmuseum. During the first part of the workshop you will receive an in-depth introduction to the workshops and laboratories at NICAS, exploring different temporalities of art-making through the lens of material-based research. In the second part of the workshop students will be invited to engage in exercises and discussion evolving from their own material experimentations through the lens of preservation and restoration.
Materiality –
Materiality – This workshop brings together the students of the TXT bachelor department, the Garden Department and other living organisms in a collective site of material research to engage with material practices weaving together human and other-than-human knowledges.