anual

N. Castillo-Rutz & P. Purg (eds.)

 anual
Education for Innovation
through Social Values

edited by N. Castillo-Rutz
& P. Purg
 MAST Project Partners 6

Preface 8

1 Introduction
1.1 Forces of MAST
11
11
1.2 Components of a MAST Module 13

2 The MAST Challenge 23

3 Curriculum
3.1 MAST Minimal Competence
24
24
3.2 The Module Graduates 25

26 Innovation Catalyst

4 Guidelines (ECTS) 40

4
 5 MAST Implementation 41

5.1 Challenge lab 44

5.2 Intensive Learning Events 44
5.3 MAST Hybrid Interfacing Academy 51
5.4 Other Events — Pop-up Synergies 60

Pictures 62

6 Current Interpretations 82
6.1 UMa (University of Madeira) 82
6.2 TUGraz (Graz University of Technology) 83

6.3 UNG (University of Nova Gorica) 83

6.4 Long-term Sustainability 84

7 Accompanying Formats 86
7.1 MAST Career Development Guide 86
7.2 The Learning Velocity Experience 87

7.3 The Online Course 87

7.4 The Business Plan 88
7.5 Evaluation Strategy 88

90 Contacts
94 Imprint
MAST Project - Partners

For more, visit mastmodule.eu/partners/

University of Nova Gorica School of Arts is a higher education institution
rooted in the regional environment. It unites the academy with researchers and
experts from diverse research departments and external institutions. The School of
Arts has successfully led large-scale and award-winning international projects such
as ADRIART, HiLoVv, IDEATE, etc.
Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute (M-ITI) is a research and
innovation centre located in Portugal. It’s cutting-edge core is the research on
Human-Computer Interactions and Digital Creative Media.
Graz University of Technology (TU Graz)
as well as research-oriented masters and PhD programs grounded in engineering
Institut of
Spatial Design focuses on developing spatial solutions and the impact of social
dimensions on space.
Kersnikova Institute serves as an institutional frame for three progressive
venues: Kapelica Gallery, the Hackerspace Rampa, and the BioTehna laboratory. This
institute seeks to give a contemporary form and meaning through the collaboration
with international centres dealing with investigative arts, science, and cutting edge
technologies.
Culture Action Europe (CAE) is a European network of cultural organizations,
artists, activists, academics, and policy-makers. CAE‘s mission is to raise awareness,
about the contribution of culture to the development of sustainable and inclusive
societies by enhancing cooperation, exchange, engagement, and dialogue between
various players across the sectors of art and policy.
The Croatian Cultural Alliance (CCA) is a European organization that
represents artists, curators, and professional cultural workers. It promotes critical
thinking and new forms of cultural policy and management which forsters artistic
and intellectual engagement at the intersections of art, culture, science, technology,
and society.
Associated partners: EQ Arts, Universidade da Madeira (UMa), Stromatolite,
University of Arts Belgrade, the Institute for Development and International Relations
(IRMO, the Hakan Lidbo Audio Industries, the European Creative Business Network
(ECBN), the European Digital Art and Science Network, and Kitchen Budapest (KiBu).

6
 Abbreviations

ASET Art Science Engineering Technology

AST Art Science Technology
CCI Cultural and Creative Industries
CCS Culture and Creative Sector
CDG Career Development Guide
DIP Discourses in Practice
DITO Do It Together
DIY Do It Yourself
HEI Higher Educational Institution
HIA Hybrid Interfacing Academy
IA Interfacing Academy
ILE Intensive Learning Event
LVL Learning Velocity Lab
LVE Learning Velocity Experience
MAP Media Arts and Practices
MC MAST Challenge
MCL MAST Challenge Lab
MFA Master of Fine Arts
MIC MAST Innovation Cycle
MMI MAST Module Implementation
MSc Master of Science
SDG Sustainable Development Goals
ESV European Social Values
SIP Selections in Practice
STEAM Science Technology Engineering Art
Mathematics
STEM Science Technology Engineering Mathematics
TIP Techniques in Practice
Preface
The MAST project revolved around how Social European Values can be woven into
interdisciplinary education through a curriculum for innovation, by combining art,

MASTmodule participants of a pilot program were able to respond to challenges on

such current topics as The Future of Work and Solidarity. Along with the two annual
academic cycles of 2018–2020, progressive pedagogical solutions were tested, with
a cross-disciplinary approach, and situated knowledge sharing, attempting to resolve
the paradox between technological and social innovation agendas.
Re-imagining innovation in European terms is fundamental to increase the global
economic competitiveness of the European Union while preserving its values.
Technologies are always political, and have a social impact, by codifying certain
values into material culture; thus enabling or limiting individual and societal
possibilities. Unlike science, technology proves to be a form of legislation outside
the traditional space of politics – mostly developed by corporations and governed
by the private sector. Technologies are seldom democratic nor are they transparent.
Science is being productively challenged by citizen participatory practices and co-
production, and, at the same time, increasingly dominated by pragmatism.
The MAST consortium consists of three different universities, and three NGOs,
contributed with different perspectives; the former through digital art, architecture,
and technology; and the latter with production, networking, and policy. Industry,
research, arts, and science, as well as various additional components, entering

that combined curriculum co-design, mobility, partnering strategies, teaching

methodologies and coherent peer criticism.
The Manual represents selected topics and the most valuable, condensed knowledge
legacy from the MAST project, gathered between April 2018 and November 2020,
on a journey through over 20 events (Intensive Learning, Pop-Up, MAST Symposium,
Interfacing Academy, etc.) and over 60 meetings of the project group. Developing a
curriculum for rethinking Social European Values. The project involved over 30 artists,
scientists, curators, innovators, activists from across creative and cultural industries,
as well as technology, natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Another 50
students and alumni have experienced the manifold intensive workshops, symposia,
festival events, exhibitions, and critical round tables reaching over one thousand
stakeholders, external to the project. Their feedback was utilized for the selection of
contents for this manual.
Next to the backgrounds on teaching and research in the (seeming) paradox between
social values and the science-based technological progress, the Manual presents the
Innovation Catalyst in its full and complex detail.

8
The Manual embeds the Innovation Catalyst within the developed

process through the MAST curriculum, which introduces Art

Thinking before Design Thinking in the innovation cycle structured
along ten key stages.
At the University of Nova Gorica, the developed Challenge Lab
course presents the core of the Carrier Module developed in the
MAST project. At the Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute
(M-ITI) where a physical Challenge Lab Space was established,
the module is implemented along with a mentoring curriculum,

Technology (TU Graz), it is implemented as an optional module

within different master subjects, encouraging an exchange
between students and faculty, through Erasmus+. The involved
NGOs, the Kersnikova Institute, the Croatian Cultural Alliance,
and the Culture Action Europe, made a crucial contribution to
the module‘s development, and strategically embeded it in their
own continuous activities. Remarkable and fast synergies, across
Europe, enriched the activities of all these institutions.
The idea of producing the Manual emerged from the combination
of best practices made during the project and the conjunction of
lessons learned across the implementation. In particular, during

brainstorm conducted the group into gathering all the information

in a reader/text collection, bringing together essential ideas of
the MAST project.
The Manual can, but does not necessarily have to be read in a
linear manner. For deeper reading on certain topics, the Manual
links in several parts to further documents and documentations
(including extensive video materials from symposia, round tables
and lectures, among others) at the mastmodule.eu website. The
models, experiments, and inspirations presented in the MAST
Manual have particular value for innovation, art, and design
educators; it presents new methods and tools to develop
teaching and learning approaches that may involve a broad
range of stakeholders of a much-needed novel pedagogy, both
intrinsically innovative, and critical.

9
Fig. 1
Knowledge in context

Country

Eth
in
ma

ica
Do

lO
&

rie
lds

nta
Fie

Art
Science

tio
European
Techno-
n
logy Social
Values

MAST
Challenge
t Co
men nsti
rlia tut
ion
Pa

Cultural Context
 1 Introduction

1.1. Forces of MAST

Observing the needs that upcoming graduates will have confront in today’s world

towards Europe’s social innovations. The ideal landscape would naturally be the

be reimagined or reworked; any institution, with an established program, might

Module surrounding the topics recognizes the many cases in which a university, a
school, or a project consortium may not be able to create fully new programs due
to political or economic obstacles — whilst an adjustable module to the different

Module can be an add-on or be used to build a program anew. Which begs the
question: what is necessary for a conjunction of subjects to be considered MAST? A
module or new program must be supported by the three forces of MAST: Art, Science,
and Technology. Three forces that may be roughly analogized to political terms, are

Between these three areas lies a vast space, and many types of classes and
concentrations exist within the borders of AST. It could be a computer science course
that teaches network theory emphasising on solidarity, or an architecture class that
focuses on accessibility for the disabled and the elderly.
Any MAST Module Implementation (MMI) must be built proactively on European
Social Values (ESV). That means actively framing the implementation to lead to
innovations which will reinforce Europe‘s social advantages, work to actively resist
the neoliberalism approaches that favor weak labor, disruption, and the erosion of
social safety nets. A MAST Challenge (MC), even if it only takes place in one class,
during one semester, is another necessary element for an MMI. It provides the
conceptual framing and the context of both the student and faculty work, bringing
the learning process into close contact with the concrete real world issues. It may
manifest in courses, workshops, ILEs, assignments, projects, and, perhaps, as a natural
consequence, in a thesis.
MAST is aimed to be a generally appealing (easy-to-take as well as easy-to-teach)
module, an open articulation of a master-level curriculum that may be taken up

own variety, topicality, etc. When an institution or consortium plans an MMI, it must

11
Fig. 2
The Forces of MAST

Art
Science
MAST
Technology
Challenge

MAST

European
Social
Values
carefully combine these three forces, creating a student experience that combines
basic principles (ESV), an educational context (MC), and professional training for the

1.2. Components of a MAST Module

While the Forces of MAST are large conceptual categories, the way in which they are
implemented in actual curricula, and the way MAST will be governed going forward,
will be the result of both an international MAST Working Group, a best practice model
syllabi, and curricula, and coordinated actions and topics (the MAST Challenge).

1.2.1. MAST Challenge Lab (MCL)

MCL is the Module core course designed to introduce students to a subset of methods

(typically the Module’s opening class) from one of many undergraduate concentrations

of the methodological diversity, as well as a concrete experience in implementing

some of these methods and tools.

MCL is a full-semester course (2-3 months) that starts with an articulated MAST
challenge related to a concrete topic (e.g., housing, transport, among others.). It
ends with a solution in terms of a response to the challenge, gradually covering the
courses learning outcomes, and thus of the MAST module. ESV should be properly

having successfully
completed the course):

>> AST Research:

>> Art Thinking: be able to apply Art Thinking methods and tools, combining
them with Design Thinking, to develop critical and unconventional breakthrough,
processes, services, and products.
>> Innovation Catalyst: be able to foster, facilitate, coordinate, lead radical

(individuals, groups, or institutions) and methods.

>> AST Innovation: be able to bring ideas via modelling of innovative solutions
to actual applicable services/products that respond to real-world issues with a
sensible impact and sustainable legacy approach.
>> Ethics:

13
Fig. 3
The MAST methods
or MAST Innovation Cycle (MIC)

1 Challenge Identify the topic by determining a set of relevant questions that lead to
a deep understanding of the issue at stake.

Create a varied expert group (artists, designers, entrepreneurs, scientists,

2 Team inventors, philosophers, researchers, etc., whether they are individuals, groups
or institutions) in order to establish an innovation team.

Creating a scaffolding of policies, strategies, laws, conventions and

values, in order to arrive at a clear ethical framework for the process and its
3 Rules
and envisioning social sustainability).

Mapping of the existing cases, good and bad practices, their theory and
4 Mapping implementation. Understanding of these cases inside of their
ecosystem(s), i.e. in the cultural, historical, political economical context.

understand the existing practices mapped. Deciding about the time-frame

of the process of innovation.

By referring to already known artistic ideations, the perspectives on the

6 Art
topic are changed. Artworks and artistic ideas are explored to create a mind
Thinking
shift and inspire, generating different and new questions.

Understanding and utilizing the possibilities in creative solutions, the

7 Design
potential scenarios, demos, prototypes, models etc. which brings about
Thinking multiple possible solutions.

Designed solutions (as proposals) are chosen or prioritized. Creating

more detailed scenarios, demos, pre-testing etc. In the design paradigm
8 Modelling this is usually called prototyping (of both non-functional and functional
kind). At the end, one solution is chosen.

Testing the full solution (prototype) in the real and tangible context. This
9 Applicability might show the need for iteration of any of the previous “stages”.
The solution is applied, implemented for real and in the real.

Final evaluation of change or transformation, leading to lessons learned,

10 Impact and several kinds of legacy (experience, skills/knowledge, network, data
sets etc.) as well as sustainability (longevity) solutions.
interdisciplinary study and work (preferably under consideration of policies &
strategies)
>> Project & Team Work: be able and motivated to participate and contribute
in successful and well-managed team projects. The MCL varies in detail across
institutions and locations. In an instance of the course taught in TU Delft (NL), both
the relevant challenge topic and the resources available to the course may differ
from an implementation at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava (SK). However, the
module is geared towards being easily implemented at both scenarios. Such local
variation is, at the same time, appropriate and desirable. Nonetheless, the MAST
Board, which determines the challenge, will offer recommendations and model
syllabi, to accomodote resources and context, ensuring the project’s legacy and its
sustainable continuation.
For example, central to the MCL design is a matrix of methods aggregated from

central MAST wiki with relevant texts, references, and particular explanations of
the various methods. The wiki resource is to be understood and utilized as a living,
expanding space for structured online collaboration, representing the interests and
contributions of the growing community of institutions implementing the MAST
module.

1.2.2. Domain: AST

MAST understands the synergies between Art, Science, and Technology and its

or the MIT Media Lab, festivals like Ars Electronica and others. However, we believe

this context, MAST seeks to cultivate and nurture an AST hybrid citizenship and to
produce Innovation Catalysts to lead this manifold transformation.
Working in Ubiquitous Computing at the famed Palo Alto Research Center, Scientist
Rich Gold, described four key endeavours that contribute to making our world:

serve to move minds or molecules?

or, at least, defocuses from the currently dominant paradigm of design (thinking). It
does so not to diminish its importance, but rather to point out that moving minds
(that then move realities, produce better services and innovations) is ultimately
more critical to the AST nexus. The artistic methodologies are largely unexplored
for this reason. Artists are more likely to practice a form of asymmetric authorship

in which they create based on value proposals rather than design briefs. There are

15
Fig. 4
Rich Gold’s quad chart of ASET

Patrons
Universal
Peers
Art Science

Speculative Speculative
Design Engineering

Users Design Engineering

Costumers

Move Minds Move Molecules

(This picture has been reworked

from original)
many methodological lessons to be learned from art practice, and transformed for a
better, more social, and sustainable innovation.
One fundamental tenet of Gold’s matrix is that engineers and designers belong to

but rather to clients. MAST predicates that technology can serve a higher calling. By
taking basic research (science) and having artists apply it, rather than engineers, a
very different set of material outcomes and options are available for society.

in how work is conducted, how value is measured, in funding, in education, and in

communication. Nonetheless, Gold’s experience and our own, is that artists and
scientists gravitate toward each other precisely because their goal is some form
of universal truth, and that their work situation is one of ultimate independence. A
scientist team who reports a molecule‘s weight does not have their funding agency
ask them to make it 20% lighter. Likewise, an artist’s sculpture may be negatively
judged, but no one tells them to change the colour to match their living room.
MAST privileges co-equal relationships between art and science; not artists offering

scientists both on research and application. In many ways, this puts artists on a
parallel track with engineering and applied science, and indeed many practitioners

is here to prepare them.

1.2.3. Art Thinking

The key curricular novum in the MAST module is a consistent introduction of Art
Thinking as a core stage in the Innovation Catalysis process. The key student‘s
objective is to become able to apply Art Thinking methods and tools, combining
them with Design Thinking, to develop critical and unconventional breakthrough
processes, services and products.
Oxman’s Cycle of Creativity is transformed in
the following way: Engineering is replaced by Technology. The two circles of the
inner structure are introduced to show the predominant processes inherent to Art
(Interpretation as the key to the protocol of mental Abstraction), Design (Innovation,
in the narrow sense, where Iteration is the key protocol), Technology (Interfacing,
where Engineering takes place), and Science (where Invention happens within the
paradigms and methodologies of Research):
For Art Thinking to be inserted as the key stage of innovation, abstraction is the
thinking-away from the artistic perspective, which is inherently pluralistic and can
sustain internal difference and diversity as a rigorous intellectual process:

17
 Fig. 5
The original ASET chart

Key / A : Applied, NA : Non Applied

Perception & Perception &

culture Culture Nature nature

Information

e
nc
ie
Sc
A
rt

Philosophy
Perception

NA NA

A A
Behavior Knowledge

NA NA

A A
Production

Economy
En
n
ig

gi
es

ne
D

er

Utility
in
g

Production & Production &

culture nature

Neri Oxman - Chart of Productivity

Rework from: Oxman, N. (2016) Krebs Cycle of Creativity (KCC). In: Ito, J. Design and Science. Can design advance

date: 13.01.2016 .
 Fig. 6
Adaptation of Art Thinking Diagram

Key / A : Applied, NA : Non Applied

Perception & Perception &

culture Culture Nature nature

Information

e
nc
ie
Sc
A
rt

Inv
n en
Perception

io
at n Re t
tio se

io
e

ac a
Id

n
rc
r
st

h
Philosophy
Ab

NA NA
A A
Production Production of
of Meaning Knowledge
NA NA
A A
En

Economy
g
Production

Int
in
on

er
er
n

ti ing
tio

ra
fa

Ite a ci
ng
nov
In
n
ig

Te
es

ch
D

no

Utility
lo
gy

Production & Production &

culture nature
We have taken the Neri Oxman poposal for Art, Design, Science and Engineering (ADSE) interrelations as a
source this chart where we are showing how four practices of human activity are structurally connected.
However, we have abandoned the reference to Krebs cycle where aerobic organisms are generating energy
through oxidation, since Krebs cycle is unidirectional, the interrelations between the ADSE are pluridirectional.
We have also change the production of behaviour as of Art and Design output into production of meaning.
Fig.7 Abstraction in relation.
Fig.8 Art in relation.

Invention Abstraction Innovation

An idea that develops by looking at or

thinking about a number of different things.
Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary

Art Thinking Art Design Design Thinking

Intuition, imagination, inspiration, creativity

spontaneity, abstract sensing, embodiment, oversensitivity,
serendipity, investigation, story telling, dedication
The methods and tools used in the artistic practice are those elements of the
innovation process that bring about radical, positively disruptive innovations, based
on plural views and approaches. They principally consider the individual experience
and viewpoint while remaining holistic in terms of the systemic approach:

1.2.4. Context: The yearly challenge

A yearly challenge is determined by the MAST working group of the MAST consortium
partners1. It serves as a context by which to apply the methods of AST, and a broad
topic setting for the courses of the module. The next section focuses on the challenge
and its applications.

(c) Purg

1 https://mastmodule.eu/partners/

21
2020 Future.Human@Work,
Nova Gorica, SI (c) Gmajner
 2 The MAST Challenge

An appropriate MAST challenge is a framing or context under which students

and faculty work over the span of a year. It affects curricula, directs research and

disciplines, and should be derived from the Pillars of European Social Values2 and/
or the Sustainable Development Goals3, but can be abstracted from them (not just a
single SDG or pillar). Each academic year the MAST challenge changes.

Key features of a good MAST challenge articulation:

>> It is clearly related to ESV and the SDG
>> May reach across different principles (pillars)
>> Should be approachable across different disciplines
>> Should provide general information and resources on European Social Values
>> Provides a clear (annual) challenge timeline
>> Gives access to a database of relevant links and (excerpts) texts, current research,
analytical and critical writing, or other relevant data
>>
participatory observation. The challenge may also come externally, e.g. from the
industry, a creative hub, or perhaps a community in need of a special service.

Yearly, the MAST working group will create an online bibliography of relevant
materials for the challenge. The process will be coordinated through a bibliographic
service (Zotero, among others) and allow for suggestions and contributions from the
various schools and community members. Aspects of the bibliography will remain
the same from year to year, but most of the material dealing with the challenge itself
will change.

3 https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/sustainable-development-goals_en (Last seen: 02-

03-2021)

23
3 Curriculum

The creation of this module entails that it needs to be made not only compatible with
the existing master programs at the three Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) of
the current MAST consortium, but also to conform with all the national accreditation
requirements; with the Bologna process; and with the European Higher Education
Area. While MAST has the Bologna philosophy at its core, there is still a great deal of

the existing programs must be carefully considered.

MAST is a module that will complement the existing master programs by embedding
the ESV (such as social justice, strong labour, gender equality, and culture) into the
fabric of new digital innovations. This requires the integration between the values
of art, humanities, engineering, and science, to create a repertoire of techniques. The
MAST structure consists of 30 ECTS, which is the equivalent to a semester-long set
of courses. This will enable students engaged in other programs to take the MAST
module, either as an intensive semester-long training, which can include mobility
between the partners, or interwoven with their existing programs, possibly leading
up to a full 2-year master course of 120 ECTS.

3.1. MAST Minimal Competences

The curriculum is being designed to enable any MAST graduate to have a minimal
AST experience. Concluding the module, each MAST graduate should:
>> Have experienced the CCI real-life environment
>> Have been mentored by relevant people from different disciplines and
institutions
>> Have experienced Inter-institutional and/or international mobility
>>
disciplinary teams
>> Have taken responsibility for their own work and its social effects
>>

24
 3.2. The Module Graduates

competencies:
>>
(startups, exhibitions, projects, services, products, civil initiatives, etc.)
>> Understand the social impact of innovations in a broad sense
>>

Module Implementation will acquire the following transferable skills:

>>
interdisciplinary study, and work across policies and strategies.
>> Conceive, develop, complete and evaluate successfully well-managed team
projects.

2020 On Solidarity, Funchal, PT

(c) Thümmel

25
Innovation Culture As Imaginary Terrafo
The Role of the Innovation Catalyst in Designing Radical Inn
Artist-driven research and experimentation with new and more accessible technologies

of modern electronics, which years later became a part of our audio-visual everyday life.
New Tendencies1

artists and a group of engineers from Bell Laboratories in New York. In a period of 10
months they worked on art projects that used high-tech machinery and solutions. At the
end, they showed their results at the 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering event which
took place between October 13th and 23rd of the same year. Some of the new technologies

optic camera, infrared television camera, Doppler sonar device, portable wireless FM
2
. A mere three years later, the innovative
laboratory Xerox Parc was established. In this lab, visionary engineers were joined by
visionary artists and members of humanities and, together, they worked on creating
innovations that were often over twenty years ahead of their useful applications. Similar
3
Nokia Bell
4
and X - The Moonshot Factory (2010)5.

even today remains one of the most important institutions for presenting a cross-
section of art, technologies and society. An excellent example of the result of mixting
culture and technology. In the over forty years of the Linz festival, scientists and

artists created artworks that interpreted and expanded the user’s applications beyond
their original intent and limitations. The newly formed connections, and the often

the Ars Electronica festival into an annual manifestation of transdisciplinary projects,

which show the state-of-the-art techno culture of our times. With the establishment of
the Ars Electronica Futurelab6
position, which was built through the hosting of hundreds of artworks at the festival
and obtaining an excellent insight into the developing intermedia production with the
annual Prix Ars Electronica award in which over 4000 artworks compete every year. In
turn, the AE Futurelab is the geographically nearest example of cooperation between
art, science and industry; which develops speculative and prototype projects through
which one can monitor and consider the near future that awaits us.

6 Ars Electronica consists of the Museum Ars Electronica, AE festival, and AE Futurelab.

26
aginary Terraforming
Designing Radical Innovations

Hacking the Nerds

The creative subversion of mainstream technologies, which we have been following
through artistic projects for decades, opens an array of interpretations of the various
ideologies that were responsible for the technological applications as well as a better
understanding of the technological and user capabilities and potentials that could be
released through a different, more emancipated, and creative utilization. It is possible
to predict the development of technologies through radical artistic projects in which
the cohabitation of people (and other living creatures) is brought to the extreme with
machines. On the other hand, one can -through artworks in which technology is brought
to the unexpected applications- easily notice its limits and potentials. The cooperation
between scientists and engineers, encouraged by the intuitive, emotive, and spontaneous
approach of intermedia artists can be seen in the establishment of creative spaces
governed by different, speculative conditions and approaches. Such spaces emerge from
the special construction of imaginary situations. This situational uniqueness implies
exceptional creative frictions, taking the participants in the creative process through
challenges to overcome their personal and expert points of view, as well as the generally
accepted social norms.
The artists are fully aware that new paths open new doors, which is why they

inhabited by new epistemology and hermeneutics that will complement the experiential
side of art creation. Recognizing emerging processes and phenomena, and having an
in-depth understanding of them, becomes an entry point for other participants in the
innovation process. Successful cooperation between artists, scientists and engineers
surpasses the merely mutual servicing of all involved. The cooperation does not develop

articles or neatly presented engineering solutions, on one hand, or a technical solution

made to suit the artist, on the other. We can talk about meaningful cooperation when

successful, an Innovation Catalyst needs to establish the conditions and circumstances in

which all participants can participate on an equal footing; use a language that they all
understand; have an in-depth understanding or feeling of the other’s work; and are ready
to walk down unknown -and often problematic- paths. Paradoxically, for true leaps in the
thinking and, consequentially, for the innovation process to take place, every creative
mind needs to overcome or distance themselves from the values that qualify them as
experts. We call this value, which was created in specialized and hermetic institutions of
knowledge7, research platforms and industrial plants they came from, situated knowledge.
This knowledge is characteristic of optimized processes that are deterministic and
oriented towards productivity (i.e. focused on a product or a concrete effect).

7 Such hermetic, strictly purpose and goal-oriented experts are colloquially known as nerds. https://

27
Embracing the Unknown
In artistic research laboratories and situations, a particular creative cooperation among
artists (the work of whom addresses the contemporary society saturated with technology),
scientists (who understand that in pure science, meaning needs to be found outside of the
ivory towers of academia) and engineers (who know that hard work does not necessarily lead
to a better society). This creative interaction has become a synonym for radical creativity.
New spaces of visionary thought, allow them to surpass the existing epistemologies, and
are created through art projects that challenge our senses and mind with new, unusual,
scandalous and sometimes ethically questionable works. Over the past twenty years, social
changes have been caused by omnipresent technologies, occurring overnight, and have

or services often degenerate into their opposite original intent, or are discovered to be an
unnecessary dead end for the consumer. The concept of a consumer-led society, which is
not interested in responsible, ethical and sustainable use, is based on desirable products

technologies to hack, subvert, iterate or even invent new technological solutions, teaches us

and incorporated into the lives of individuals and society, as the meaning and importance
of including technology into human existence are generated through works of art. This
production of meaning (art), through artistic ideations, complements the production of
knowledge (science), and the production of value (economy).

breaking works of art have been emerging for over four decades, which possibly makes
the international intermedia art scene one of the most penetrating interdisciplinary
practices. Artistic projects that emerge within these frames often push the boundaries of

(not by the traditional criteria of measure in the art-market, but in the numerous invitations
to exhibitions, their exposure, and the expert panel prizes that received by these projects,
around the world). However, as a rule, such avant-garde art projects do not have a mass
following, which is a result of their non-conformist radicalism, explicitness and visionary

emotions, experience, and thought still largely remain ghettoized to expert circles.
Alongside the successes of the previously mentioned cross-sectorial innovation platforms
and the value of technology, culturalization has also been recognized by the European
Commission8 , has aimed improving
innovativeness, by means of incorporating art projects, events and discourses encourageing
the inter-connectivity between art, science and industry, with the goal of improving
innovativeness. These mechanisms foster innovations through numerous consortium
projects, in which cooperation methodologies are easily formed. In turn, they should provide
the European economy with means increase and improve its’ innovativeness in the creation
of visionary, ethical and sustainable solutions. Networks and platforms emerge from the

8 ICT ART CONNECT https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/ict-art-connect-activities-lin-

and Technology.

28
most successful project consortiums, which are, as a rule, formed as open institutional
organizations. They also are formed with the intent of generating sustainable synergies and
ensuring a more stable and supportive environment for their innovative outcomes.
Methodologically, the inclusion of artistic ideations leans upon the tradition of so-called
Design Thinking. Over the past twenty years, Design Thinking has managed to enter the
innovative processes throughout the economy. In this context, the most important victory of
Design Thinking is that it has managed to occupy a permanent position at the very beginning
of the innovation process, as opposed to a merely step before the product or service needs
to be optimized for the market. With their knowledge and experience of end-users, designers
are included into the planning of solutions. Designers are good at imagining themselves in
the role of users and through their empathy, contribute to the solutions that the users will
gladly use or even internalize to the extent that they will become a part of everyday life.
Designers have proven to be unmissable in the search for answers to complex questions

Since the designers are good at solving questions, the most important observation is
where do the key questions originate from? Do the questions arise from a problem, another
question, or merely a symptom, consequence of the problem? The online archive of The
Atlantis magazine includes Derek Thompson’s article: Google X and the Science of Radical
Creativity10. This article describes the life of an innovative platform. Design Thinking is at
the very core of new inventions; thus, we would like to quote a part of Thompson’s text
as a key reference to the beginning of the innovation process: „Moonshots don’t begin with
“. At
this point, we want to establish the conceptual difference between the creative approach
of designers and that of artists11
answers to the questions, while artists - through the abstraction of the sensory-cognitive,
emotional, psychological, material and other elements - create a space for imaginary worlds,
which are not yet symbolically marked, might be never expressed in words, and may become
an item of endless interpretations. Artistic creativity leads to the emergence of new, never
before seen, heard or experienced spaces, the meaning of which still needs to be found. These
imaginary spaces, epistemological white spots, which need to be inhabited with meaning,
represent questions in their own right. Questiona as a space (topoi) of something that, so
far, has not been located and does not implicate direct answers, but rather encourages us
to experience and contemplate, and which arises in us through our perceptions, feelings,
emotions, and speculations, which are triggered by our senses.
Art Thinking is an important and relatively new concept that we want to include in the

festival, at the Future Innovators Summit in September 2016, when Hideaki Ogawa and
Marcus Scholl presented the methodological approach to co-operation between artists,
scientists and engineers. The two authors came up with the Art Thinking concept, while
cleverly leaning upon the historic contribution of the syntagm Design Thinking. By linking
it directly to the theoretical legacy of Design Thinking

10 https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/11/x-google-moonshot-factory/540648/

11 The difference is truly only conceptual, as the boundaries between the creativity of a designer or
that of an artist are not strictly separated. Designers also have a highly developed visual intelligence
and are not linear in their work, especially when they deal with speculative innovations, the solutions of
which often lead to opening new questions as regards the possibilities rather than providing answers.

29
of innovation, even though science and economy would usually be quick to reject it (with
rare exceptions). The general understanding of art is full of prejudices in regards to it‘s
incomprehensibility, randomness and disruptiveness that confuses people and, if the work
of art is not beautiful and pleasant, also repulses and scares them. With the invention of
the syntagm Art Thinking
for possible use in the same way as Design Thinking was used in various ways within the
innovative process.
At this point, we will not delve into the characteristics of Art Thinking, but we should keep
in mind that it differs from Design Thinking in the fact that it enables the emergence of
new questions, and that it, in the process of innovation, it usually precedes the Design
Thinking stage, as the latter is mainly focused on the search of concrete answers to the
posed questions and concrete solutions to the problems. The introduction of Art Thinking
into the innovation processes brings with it a certain disruption, which places the starting
point, i.e. the reason or the need for the innovation, under question. To perform Art Thinking
in the same way (or at least a similar way) as it takes place in artistic research and creativity,
we need to establish the methodological consensus amongst the innovators themselves.
Within artistic projects, this consensus is usually established spontaneously, as artists form
the group of co-workers based on their personal preferences and usually establish a strong
personal contact with others in the group. Within the innovation process, we need someone
to coordinate, facilitate and moderate the various phases of innovation work. The process

the phases and the expected results is known as Innovation Design. This process is led by
an Innovation Catalyst12, who has a good insight into innovation methodologies, has access

and engineers and is in contact with the development policies and various other social
processes that cover an array of stakeholders.
In 2011 the Harvard Business Review published Roger L. Martin’s essay The Innovation
Catalyst13, the author describes in great detail the way in which the transformation of the
marketing company that had realized the full strength of participatory problem solving was
described in great detail. To a greater extent group work combines Design Thinking with
pain-storming, brainstorming, fast prototyping, experimenting and quick tests that provide
Innovation Catalyst, but
rather on the effects of the guided Design Thinking processes, thus the role of the Innovation
Catalyst is described merely as a moderator within the innovation process. Regardless of the

that the Innovation Catalyst should have, we believe that this article serves as a gradual entry
into the understanding of the role of a facilitator within the innovation process.
Other online records use the wording Innovation Catalyst. However, most of these texts
on innovations address the encouragement of process modernization within individual
companies or industrial platforms14. None of these texts differentiate between an Innovation

precisely describes the emergence of works of art, and has been used in the vocabulary of intermedia

and presenting works of art) was established in London. https://www.artscatalyst.org/

30
Catalyst and an innovation manager or a head of the R&D department. The corporate
understanding of Design Thinking as the driving force of corporate changes, which wishes to
create innovations within the system while taking into account the changing circumstances,
cannot be considered as innovation, but merely as an iteration of the same principles, which
are, as a rule, limited by the starting points of the corporate system. In this view, Design
Thinking should be considered in the function of corporate motivational practices, through
which employees are encouraged to actively participate in corporate culture. The innovation
blast of these innovations is almost negligible. However, they greatly contribute to the
working atmosphere within the company.
Having said that, a number of resources may give us a different perspective on Innovation
Catalysts. References linked to the most important innovation laboratories in the world15,

and technology have been coming closer together, and European policies that have
recognized the power of artistic ideations, encouraging radical production, service and
social innovations in the digital and post-digital age, are some of conditions that provide
Innovation Catalyst, in the sense
we are describing. That is, having active knowledge of the theories and practices of
artistic creation, and also acquainted with the various concepts of the economy of social
and product innovations. Such an Innovation Catalyst will systematically help develop
innovative culture by connecting the most creative individuals, who will critically analyse,
intuitively and systematically research, and create in the verge of the limits of the possible.
The Innovation Catalyst is thus not seen as the most enthusiastic employee (enthusiastic
in regards to innovations) within the company, but as a mission, with all of the necessary
professional ethics, theory and activities that will lead to a more thorough, sustainable,
secure and ethical innovation.

innovation process, we have to accept the fact that real systemic and breakthrough
innovations cannot be simply made to order. The illusion that it is possible to achieve
wonderful innovations by putting together a group of experts for two hours has unfortunately
become rooted through the practice of short workshops or training sessions within or
outside of organizations. If this premise were true, there would be an endless stream of
wonderful innovations, whenever and wherever they were needed. Obviously, this is not
the case. For an innovation to have the opportunity to truly emerge, we have to carefully
establish the conditions and circumstances in which experts can, in unusual, and sometimes
even incomprehensible ways, contemplate, research, experiment and create prototypes,
even though this in itself does not ensure that an innovation will be reached. At least, not
within the desired timeframe and at the designated place.
We need to accept the fact that the path to true innovation is usually long and risky, which
means that we need to provide the innovation team with a feeling of safety and the right
to fail. By giving the innovation team the feeling of safety, this inalienable right (which

improves the working conditions. The proposal for forming the innovation process is compiled
as a map with ten thematic sections, all of which are necessary for the understanding,
organization, research, creation, experimentation and evaluation. The open format enables
us to establish an innovation design that will suit the challenge, which means that it will

15 Parc, MIT Medialab, Nokia Bell Lab, Google X-Moonshot factory, Ars Electronica Futurelab.

31
Innovation Process Road Map:
The Nonlinear Topology of Innovation in 10 Steps

individual steps is recommended. However, this sequence is not mandatory and even in an
ideal situation it is most commonly not implemented linearly or sequentially.

The Challenge
A challenge can arise spontaneously as a reaction to changed circumstances, as an
imbalance or as a problem that emerges from a logical upgrade of the existing situation.
This can emerge within a process of spontaneous, intuitive research and creativity (push) in
creative research laboratories, or as a commission that addresses a certain social problem
or desire for a new product (pull) which the client passes onto the Innovation Catalyst16.
Innovation Catalyst is to establish
an in-depth understanding of the issues and starting points, for which solutions need
to be found (pull). In the event that the ideas emerge from within an existing group of
innovators, independently of any demands, the role of the Innovation Catalyst is to overview

or outlets in the real sector and address the possible clients, including the end-users (in a
market or any other model).
Working with an established team of researchers and innovators has certain advantages,
as the Innovation Catalyst can foresee the conceptual range of the group. When the creative
research platform is comprised of various laboratories, the process of obtaining new ideas
is given a great advantage, as the laboratories can complement or even critically evaluate
each other. However, the historic experiences of some of the most successful laboratories
have taught us that the freshness and sparkle of ideas can be easily suppressed by the
pressures of deadlines, the hasty demands for working products and the unrealistic
expectations of clients and markets. A quick solution to the large and relatively expensive

faster innovation processes, their solutions usually fail to bring lasting and radical ideas
and novelties.
Whether the Innovation Catalyst will engage in an existing research platform from which
they will select innovators with a laboratory background or they will establish an ad
hoc team of innovators also depends on how radical the innovation blast they wishes to
achieve. As a rule, an ad hoc group is suitable for less ambitious innovations, which do
not cross multiple disciplines or sectors and which demand a lesser degree of in-depth
analysis and interdisciplinary experimentation.

the Innovation Catalyst and his team of innovators need to solve through innovation design. The challen-
ge is often an expression of the interests of a group, company or selected decision-makers as repre-
sentatives of society. Client is thus a topological group which the innovators see as a legal and formal
entity (director, mayor, president).

32
 Innovators (The Team)

ideas will emerge if the team consists of expert specialists as well as broad thinkers,
who are capable of spontaneous reactions while leaning solely on lateral thinking and
intuition. The advantage of specialists is shown in their quick assessment of the existing
possibilities that is a result of their expert knowledge of the sector, however, the in-depth
specialist knowledge can also be a handicap that makes it impossible for the expert to
notice the deeply internalized limitations of their expertise (situated knowledge). On
the other hand, the emergence of good ideas can be aided by broad thinkers who have
the capability of contemplating large systems from which patterns emerge (emergent
knowledge17), and who can place the specialist knowledge into an entirely new context.
The role of the Innovation Catalyst lies in the meaningful creation of innovation teams,
establishing good chemistry amongst the innovators, knowing how to present the
problem that needs to be solved, and then lead the entire process which could take
hours or months. The process of assembling a team of innovators can range from hiring
existing research-creative laboratories, institutes or platforms in which the individuals
know and trust each other, to assembling new ad hoc teams, outside the safe environment
of co-thinkers.
Regardless of the situation in which the Innovation Catalyst facilitates the co-creation
process, one of his toughest tasks is to, as a partner in the dialogue, encourage the
processes that lead to the emergence of creativity for as long as possible. One of his
key tasks is to provide an environment of trust, spontaneity and a feeling of saftey. His
capability of translating the language of artists into a language that can be understood
by scientists and engineers and vice versa, is of key importance for the cooperation,
as this helps the team surpass the limitations of placed knowledge. To a great extent,
the feeling of saftey can be aided by the capability to embrace the unknown and the
assurance that even failure can be treated as success, because what may initially appear
to be a failed step, often represents an opportunity to learn new lessons.

Ethics (principles)
The inclusion of artists and designers into the innovation process implies the inclusion
of humanistic sciences, which means that the basic cultural and intellectual standards
are taken into account. Similar to morals and laws, which enable social reality, the ethical

instructions, apparatuses or even processes, invisible. In the theory of appearance emergence has been
recognized in the sense of cheating the view already from the 17th century onwards (teratology), while
in newer times we talk about emergence in clinical psychoanalysis or when treating large data samples
from which we can deduct useful data for a particular need.

33
principles help form the path that reveals new possibilities. Of course, these principles
are not unambiguous, as the standards are constantly changing. The dichotomy between
morals and ethics gradually changes the values which are not shared by all parts of a
global society, thus, it is important to establish a consensus between the client and the
innovators in regards to the values and principles that the innovators should take into
account in their work. These same rules need to be internalized by the client, who with
this acknowledgement and internalization, accepts the responsibility for the execution
or use of innovation in accordance to the principles within the frame of which it emerged.
In general, innovators can lean upon the 17 goals of sustainable development18, which
have been advocated by the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development since
2015. The typology of the principles change in relation to the measures addressed by
the future innovation. Thus, it can be political in the broadest sense, or theoretical or
philosophical in the niche-oriented examples. Regardless of the size of the problem they
address, it makes sense for the principles to be linked. Taking into account the generality
of the principles that strive to improve the lives of people globally, the ways of solving
problems and the means used to solve these problems can quickly become obsolete
and, therefore, should thus always be considered in the light of the most up-to-date

solid practices should be chosen. We need to take into account the cultural environment
in which we work, it‘s absorption capacity and readiness for innovations. This is why it
is also necessary to consider the ways of preparing and developing the capacities and
potentials of the target society within which we want to spread the innovation.

Mapping
The innovators need to be informed in regards to the existing solutions, similar or identical
cases as well as any previous attempts of dealing with such cases, as this could help the

The second level of mapping, one of key importance for the understanding of the starting
points of the challenge, are the eco-systemic connections, which represent the marginal
conditions of the issue. These starting points can be qualitative, quantitative, focused on
contents, conceptual, social, material, etc. and they represent the broader picture into which
the solution of the challenge should be placed. In this map, one can see the emergence of
the possible connections with other categories, a tool that may provide new possibilities
for solutions, or even expansions of the starting expectations. Alongside mapping, the
existing attempts and solutions, as well as the possible ecosystem connections, the
Innovation Catalyst might also want to map the individual experts who can be drawn into
the innovation teams (outsourcing).

2021)

complemented, expanded or substituted, and not as a reference to the natural ecosystem, in which the

and animal life (zoe) by its developed civilizational values, upon which the production mechanisms

natural order of things, in which predatory species are given a special mention.

34
Prior to the beginning of the innovation process, detailed research will harmonize

rule, these starting points do not indicate the future solutions. They do, however, show
what type of solutions will not be offered by the innovators. In this phase, the series
of no’s that the team of innovators gather during their analysis should be presented
to the client as the possible directions in which the solutions will be sought, and will
depend on the internalization of the frames that have emerged from various analysis
and studies. The meeting with the client should not be merely a part of the established
protocol, for it should also include a detailed analysis of the activities, production
possibilities, work ethics, etc., that are of key importance to the client’s company or
organization. It is of the upmost importance to the innovation process, that the team

the ontological starting points (general analysis) combined with a good understanding
of the particular starting points (client) of the problem that the team of innovators
will attempt to solve are important. The client needs to be involved in this process, as
without precise information from the innovators, the client can easily fail to understand
the possible solutions that the innovation process will provide.
At this point the Innovation Catalyst has the opportunity to evaluate the work performed
based on the starting points which they used to set up the team and the innovation
process, as well as any eventual new criteria that may have appeared (and were

the steps that were carried out so far, including expanding the innovation team or
substituting it’s members.

Art Thinking
Taking into account the topic that had emerged during the process of solving the
problem, the Innovation Catalyst can invite an artist into the team or personally prepare
a selection of artworks that address the chosen theme. Regardless of whether the
innovators include an artist or whether the Innovation Catalyst himself has come up with
a selection of art projects, it is the task of the Innovation Catalyst to appropriately explain,
translate the artistic principles, methods, effects, and the poetics of the artworks to the
other members of the team. The works of art are often impossible to verbalize as their
narrative is coded in the direct experience of the viewer/participant. Thus, the role of
the Innovation Catalyst also includes guided visits of artistic events or locations, viewing
works of art (exhibitions, installations) and similar situation, with which they attempts to
sensitize the innovators to the unspoken, which can only be felt in the works of art. The
reactions to these feelings become the starting points for the practical hermeneutics
and situational epistemology. In this sense Art Thinking does not focus on the creation
of works of art, but is an attempt to understand imaginary dimensions, which emerge
through artistic creation. To develop the needed susceptibility, the task of the Innovation
Catalyst is to explain the idiolect of the author (a single artistic explanation of the
method, way of perception, compositional principles, the semantics of materiality, etc.) to
the innovators in the group, and bring their attention to the experience and intelligence
that is used to perceive a work of art.
35
In some cases, through a selected work of art, it is possible to recognize the space
(or multiple spaces) from which the new meaning emerges, while in other cases the
principles that can be discovered through the artistic idiolect, to help the innovators

creative process. The only rule in this phase of the innovation process is that there
are no rules. This means that we are, in this phase of innovation, left to our intuition,
a selection of noes and don‘ts that we have amassed during our analysis and an open
structure of elements that offer themselves in an endless selection.
At this point the Innovation Catalyst is of key importance, for they takes care of the
presentation of the various artistic narratives with which they offers speculative support.
They also must insist in helping the innovators avoid reaching generalizations or two-
dimensional solutions, as his task is to lead the innovation group to a certain ultimate
point, at which the ultimate question will arise, which will in turn, lead to the ultimate
answer.

Design Thinking
There is no precise distinction in the way artists and designers work, as the creation
of works of art are, to great extend, governed by existing technologies, materials
and procedures. An important difference can be found in the design and goals that
the two practices follow. As previously mentioned in the section on Art Thinking, this

to be given a meaning. The meaning is given through sensory-perception processes,

which address us through physical, mental and emotional levels. In Design Thinking
the available elements and resources that the designers creatively iterate from the
very beginning of the innovation processes are contemplated in a structured way.
The various methods of Design Thinking use a number of steps to develop the process

ascertainment, to research work (in which the ideas emerge in the form of prototypes
through a hands-on approach) and materialization, in which the best prototypes are
tested, implemented and evaluated in regards to their success in addressing the
problem. To avoid solutionism, productivism and economism, which we recognize as
negative sides of Design Thinking (as undesired by-products of hasty decision making),
we should persist from reaching conclusions too quickly, as these emerge as a result of
unambitious expectations.
The role of the Innovation Catalyst, who has been made aware to contemporary research
and artistic practice, is to encourage truly radical innovations by introducing Art Thinking,
which uses in-depth addressing of the starting points to positively subvert the various
existing quick-delivery methods. At this stage, they needs to introduce the interventions
of speculative design, which is in fact some sort of vector derivation of solution-oriented
designer thinking that has been attached to the imaginary starting points that have
emerged through Art Thinking. The understanding of imaginary constructs is taken as
the basis within these speculations. These constructs which have emerged through
artistic ideation, are prototyped and modelled with various materials, protocols and

36
actors and the possible scenarios that the innovation could offer are included into the
contemplation.
Product-oriented Design Thinking is not excluded with the introduction of speculative

criteria of optimality, while the other assumes the life of the product or service in ideal
(idealized) circumstances. Speculative design thus offers an ideal possibility that can
serve as a provider of good information in regards to the ideal (so far non-existing)
circumstances for the product or service. Such an insight into the possible scenarios
provides the client with a basis for an informed and thus optimized decision in regards
to the product or service, for which a decision needs to be reached.

Connecting the Dots

The usual understanding of the innovation process is that the process ends once the
initial problem has been solved with a proposal for a product or service. However, as it
is radically new, and ahead of its time, a truly radical innovation is merely the beginning
of a successful implementation of the solution at the end of the Design Thinking process
which shows the various empty spaces. From the viewpoint of applicability, these voids
can be seen either as dangerous or as new opportunities. For a better understanding of
the newly emerged situation, one needs to perform an iteration of the mapping process
in the same way that it was performed in the pre-innovation phase. Because one needs
to use similar tools in order to determine the actual or eventual connectivity of the new
innovation. The connectivity of the existing possibilities, and the emergence of the new
opportunities, might create emergent pictures within the empty spaces that could not
have been imagined before the creative and innovative process began.
At this point, we can, in agreement with the client, bring the innovative process to an
end or use the newly emerged situation for a new cycle of the innovation process in
which the Innovation Catalyst could change the members of the innovation team and
repeat the meeting with the investor as well as change the Art Thinking and Design
Thinking process.
If the client considers that the new opportunities are of key importance for successful

Innovation Catalyst can diversify the innovation process, continuing the

work with various groups that seek symbiotic connections with the initial innovation
and may use it to create an ecosystem based solution.

Innovation Resilience
Even if the innovation process ends in a concrete product or service, its’ future can be
uncertain. For the innovation to successfully see the light of day, the Innovation Catalyst

innovation. This process can be carried out with the initial group of innovators, or a new
group can be established, as there is a great chance of emotional attachment to one’s
work. This can easily obstruct the innovator’s ability of noticing the relatively obvious
dangers, weaknesses and mistakes of the innovation. The Innovation Catalyst needs to be
able to provide the new group with all and any information that has emerged during the
37
development of the product or service, and at the same time, remain objective. Testing
the innovation in regards to its resistance to failure (failure as a service - FaaS20) can
also be an independent activity with which the innovation process can be started, as
the weaknesses of the tested product or service can indicate whether these should be
set differently. FaaS is a protocol that tests the system that has been established within
the innovation process. It helps us ascertain whether the innovation that we propose
and know rather well, is robust and resistant to sudden, unpredictable events (Chaos
Engineering)21. Testing the resistance of the innovation through external penetrations22
is a completely different process; not even the Innovation Catalyst knows where and
in which ways it could possibly hit. Even though the Innovation Catalyst ordered and
enabled these tests, they is in the same boat as his innovation team. They would have
to face challenges, until then, unknown to them, of several factors, including coming
up with a new way of thinking, a disorder, a change and new information. Resistance to
mistakes can also be tried in other ways, leading to the realization of the robustness
of the innovation. In the event that the innovation cannot be changed, the Innovation
Catalyst has to estimate what is the chance that the client’s new product or service will
23
, as this provides good criteria
for measuring the success of the innovation in the later estimates of the product’s or
service’s direct and indirect effects.

Impact
Nobody is perfect. Thus, the success of the Innovation Catalyst is determined by his
monitoring of the life of innovations in the real world, and by periodically evaluating their
success. The conditions and circumstances behind the emergence of the innovation change
constantly, increasing the probability of a short-lived innovation. Today’s innovation can be
outdated and inappropriate by tomorrow. Temporal distance is a relentless judge, and if the
innovation was measured far into the future it is likely to have greater longevity.
Preserving contacts with clients, who can report on the inner problems (those reported by
users) provides key information for the understanding of the scope of interactions that were
not taken into account during the innovation process. With a better understanding of the
effects that the innovations have produced, the Innovation Catalyst increases his knowledge
base, which they can put to good use in the future planning of innovation processes.
Apart from the effects that the innovation brings or fails to bring to the client, it is very
important that the Innovation Catalyst also monitors the effects that the innovation has on
end-users (individuals), society as a whole and the environment (animate and inanimate
nature).

in the system’s capability to withstand turbulent conditions in production. https://principlesofchaos.

23 Risk mitigation: avoid, acceptance, reduction of control, transference, https://accendoreliability.

38
 Innovation Catalyst as a Non-Profession
During the innovation process, one can stumble across numerous obstacles and
problems that can prevent a new product or service solution from seeing the light of
day. This is why the innovation process needs to be designed in a way generated by the
issue from which the challenge emerged, and not be tailored to the expectations of
the clients, users or the innovators themselves. The independence and neutrality of the
Innovation Catalyst play an extremely important role, as they is the leader on the journey
into the unknown and, as such, needs the freedom to select the team, time and space,
as well as the tools that will enable the team to truly focus on their work. They should
not be governed by career rules and professional deontology, as his mission should be
governed by his skills and reputation.
With ad hoc innovation design tasks, this maneuver space focuses on micro-processes
with which the work of the innovators can be facilitated in spaces that are temporarily
intended for innovation. Thus, one can expect that the Innovation Catalyst will focus
predominantly on the client, his problem and the possible solutions and scenarios.
Innovation processes that take place through research and production platforms
(HUBs, laboratories, etc....) and in which the Innovation Catalyst can work with multiple
innovation teams, make it possible for the Innovation Catalyst to focus on establishing an
innovation culture in which innovators are submerged into the imaginary realities that
they have constructed through endless project or semi-projects, which, in turn, makes
it easier for them to address the various challenges. Laboratories such as Parc, MIT
Medialab, Nokia Bell, or Ars Electronica Futurelab serve examples that reveal that groups
that emerge in an exceptional innovation culture, are exceptionally successful in their
inventions and innovations, regardless of whether or not they are searching for solutions
to external challenges, namely, if they are offering home-grown innovations to the real
sector.
In the latter case, the Innovation Catalyst is a person who, within an innovation platform
that is composed of several laboratories, encourages research, experimentation
and creativity and through who establishes, though this process, some sort of an
imaginary space governed by externl limited conditions of space-time. In a metaphor
of simultaneous discovery and creation of new territories, this imaginary ‘terraforming’
functions as a prototype for a future society in which the possible scenarios for a better,
i.e. safer, more sustainable and more ethical life are tested.

Jurij Krpan
Kersnikova Institute Art Director
Ljubljana, April 2020

39
4. Guidelines (ECTS)
Preface
MAST proposes implementing the following set of courses, offering building on
each partner institutions’ existing expertise and utilizing the synergy among art,
sociology, computer science, critical design, and science and technology studies,
thus offering complimentary training in the existing programs. In this structure,
there is a balance between theoretical and practical training recommended for 2nd
cycle study programs and for aspects of technological training, consistent with the
Bologna Process. This balance is not based on a simple curriculum succession of
university-directed units, but the integration of content in a teaching and learning

means that each unit needs to be designed according to other related courses,
resulting in complementary efforts that materialize in the systematic pursuit shared
of projective methods. However, the theoretical training will not be neglected, and
will offered whenever possible associated with the practical proceedings.
The MAST module proposes to achieve those minimal experiences and competences
based on the proposed course structure. It may be implemented within larger
curricular entities such as a thesis or an entire Master Study Program.
>> Online introductory course (1-2 ECTS)4 as a generic preparatory course

clarifying the ethical implications within the innovation process/paradigm. The ECTS
value of 1 or 2 ECTS points may be later added to a course quota, or to any other
summative curricular structure in a program.
>> MAST Challenge Lab (8 or more ECTS) is a full-semester course that starts
with the articulated MAST challenge related to a topic and ends with a solution in
terms of a response to the challenge and relates to all of the learning outcomes

along all the key stages. This is a common semester-long course, based on a real-life
challenge, evaluated/feed-backed by an external committee in the end, repeatable
annually.
>> AST Workshop (4 or more ECTS) is an intensive course (usually 2-4 week)
focused on a topic within the intersection of Art, Science and Technology, and related
to the MAST challenge. Ideally, these are guided by mentors from different disciplines

4 https://mastmodule.eu/online-course/

40
In the MAST project, this is a local intensive workshop course, prepared collaboratively
by the consortium partner, topic-related to the challenge, and that implies mobility
and co-mentoring in the domain of AST.
>> Smaller “courselets” (Optional - Maximum 12 ECTS) are individual

often imply shorter mentorship sections and may interface with real-life work
environments, as well as with the MAST challenge. This is an occasional workshop
course focusing on a coherent set of skills, amounting to the MAST module.
>> internship/work-placement (8 or more ECTS) this learning activity
integrates student work with the non-academic sector such as projects or other
works within CCI organization (for example an NGO, or a company, among others).
The student is mentored from the academic side and co-mentored from within the
cooperating organization. Both the progress of learning and the work itself are

of AST.

5. MAST Implementation

The MAST consortium developed a concise curriculum and experimented during two
academic years (2018-2020) through courses or workshops as Intensive Learning
Future
of Work, and second: Solidarity, it was decided to construct the Challenge Lab as
a fundamental structure to implement the challenge and to continue creating a
variety of courses that would exemplify the MMI.

41
Unicult-MAST 2 - 16
Pilot Program July 2018
Rijeka, Osor, HR
Face-to-face
22
Se

PROGRESSIVE PRODUCT
PROTOTYPES 9 - 23
Nov 2018
Funchal, PT 31
Face-to-face
31

FUTURE.HUMAN@WORK 11 - 15
Rethinking, Art, Science March 2019
and Technology
Nova Gorica, SI 2
Face-to-face Ju

ALGORITHMIC SPACE
STUDIES 8 - 12 2
Workshop April 2019 Fe
Graz, AT
Face-to-face

Unicult-MAST
HYBRID INTERFACING 20
ACADEMY 1-6
N
Rijeka, HR July 2019 Nov 2019
18 - 19
Face-to-face

42
 of the MAST project

8
MAST
22 - 23 Hybrid Interfacing Academy
Sep 2020 Ljubljana, SI
hybrid

8
31 July - ein|sickerung
31 Aug 2020 Workshop | Exhibition
Graz, AT
hybrid

2019 STORIES OF
2-6 THE NEIGHBORHOOD
June 2020 Workshop
Graz, AT
online

2-7 SOLIDARITY 2020

19 Feb 2020 Workshop
Funchal, PT
Face-to-face

MAPPING
20 - 22 Art, Science and Technology
Nov 2019 Workshop
9 Nova Gorica, SI
Nov 2019
18 - 19

Face-to-face

MAST Symposium
Rethinking Art, Science and
Technology
Workshop
Nova Gorica, SI
Face-to-face
5.1. Challenge Lab
The Future of Work
which served as scaffolding for the entire development of workshops and readings.

contributed to a better understanding of the MAST Challenge. For the second year of
pilot implementation, the MAST Challenge revolved around the idea of Solidarity, so
the Challenge Lab was called The Solidarity Lab. Taking place at M-ITI (Portugal) in

version of the now designed MAST Challenge Lab. The MAST Challenge Lab is

possible to see the evolution of the MAST Challenges.

5.2 Intensive Learning Events (ILEs)

To develop the curriculum, the MAST consortium created different ILEs, a series of
workshops where the community came together to exchange and experiment within
AST.
During the MAST Project, ILEs were organized by the MAST consortium in different
locations in Europe. Being most of the events organized face-to-face (7) and some

and formats of the ILEs.

These events had an average duration of 1 week and each had a participation, on
average, of 10 students and 3 mentors (Fig.10). In most cases, mentors were from
different institutions and, in all the cases, they had a mixture of different backgrounds.
All of them had the involvement of at least one academic partner, and 62% (5/8) of
NGOs and 50% (4/8) of Industry. The format of the ILEs varied, being a mixture of
hands-on and conceptual work around 75% (6/8), with 50% (4/8) of them combining
it with regular lectures, and 62% (5/8) leading to the materialization of some type of
prototype, either individually (62% or 5/8) or in group (50% or 4/8).

by TU Graz, was an add-on to the curriculum master elective Space Material

Detail, a subject of the master of architecture at the university. The experimental
ILE consisted of a collaboration between the media art gallery esc medien kunst
labor, the University of Performing Arts Graz (KUG) within the Institute of Electronic
Music and Acoustics (IEM5 6
)

5 https://iem.kug.ac.at/en/institute-of-electronic-music-and-acoustics.html
6 https://almat.iem.at/
44
with the help of invited artists. With this elective, students had the possibility of
approaching technology through ALMAT, and at the same time, experimenting with
the focus point of the Institute of Spatial Design, by developing concrete models for

Graz focuses on practical knowledge that warrants the MAST student experience

summer of implementation (2020) around the solidarity challenge, the TU Graz core
group decided to opt for a hybrid solution with two ILE options: ILE 8a (online)
called Stories of the Neighborhood, and ILE 8b (in-person), on the practical set up of
the exhibition 7
.
was the subsequent collaboration of the constellation of institutions of

workshop Algorithmic Space Studies8 by students of the universities of Nova Gorica

(SI), Madeira (PT) and TU Graz (AT) were considered. Out of six projects, the design

selected to be realised in a further treatment and at scale 1:1. The visual installation
was implemented in connection with a new algorithmic sound installation by Hanns

implementation. The spatial display was created with the support of Nayarí Castillo
and Franziska Hederer as experts on spatiality and installation art. The sensor design
was created by Richard Dank. This interdisciplinary project was an experiment taking
place within the debate on interactions between art, science, and technology. The
exhibition was part of the Graz Cultural Year 2020 parcours Algorithmic Segments .
A second book called Spatial Experiments in Art, Science and
Technology complements this Manual and serves as a showcase of
the MAST implementations.

5.2.1 ILEs Data Analysis

The following cluster analysis focused on investigating clear processes and
methodological structures implemented during the ILEs. The set analysis started
by resorting to MAST website10 and TU Graz‘s Research Catalogue pages11. These
sources were used to gather information about each ILE (Fig.10). For this analysis,
it was decided to concentrate on the methodology used at each ILE and establish a
relationship with the 10 steps of the MAST Innovation Cycle (MIC) model proposed
by the MAST project. The MIC model proposes the following ten steps: 1-CHALLENGE,

7 https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/711664/711665

10 https://mastmodule.eu

view/711664/711665

45
 Fig.10 Format of and participation
in the Intensive Learning Events

Duration/days
Conceptual
Academia

Hands On

Prototype

Individual

Students
Lectures
Industry

Mentors
Group
NGO
1 Unicult-MAST 15 10 3
Rijeka, Osor, HR
PROGRESSIVE PRODUCT
2 PROTOTYPES 15 9 4
Funchal, PT
3 FUTURE.HUMAN@WORK 5 9 3
Nova Gorica, SI
ALGORITHMIC SPACE
4 STUDIES 5 22 2
Graz, AT
5 World without human - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ljubljana, SI; Bratislava, SK
MAPPING
6 Art, Science and Technology 3 9 2
Nova Gorica, SI
7 SOLIDARITY 2020 5 10 5
Funchal, PT
STORIES OF
8a THE NEIGHBOURHOOD 5 11 2
Graz, AT

8b ein|sickerung 30 10 2
Graz, AT
MAST
9 Hybrid Interfacing Academy 2 12 -
Ljubljana, SI
Total 5 9 6 5 7 7 5 5 5 7 10 3
(average)
2-TEAM, 3-RULES, 4-MAPPING, 5-BENEFICIARIES, 6-ART THINKING, 7-DESIGN

Excerpts of data available from each ILE corresponding to each of the MIC 10 steps
were placed in the corresponding intersections between each ILE and MIC. These
excerpts were later encapsulated into hashtags.

more data. For instance, each MIC‘s step had an average of 20 hashtags, but the TEAM
step had a total of 28 hashtags.
The hashtags were then ordered into relevant groups „by mapping the similarities
or dissimilarities on various dimensions“ according to Henry et al12., using Miro13, an
online collaborative whiteboard visual platform. The goal was to determine patterns

contexts in which they are enclosed. First, the generated hashtags were placed
on Miro‘s digital platform on individual colour-coordinated post-its. A colour was
assigned to each ILE. These posts-its were organized in columns on the designated
10 steps of MIC. Later these elements were grouped according to their meanings,
resulting in 17 groups.
The resulting analysis can be found in Fig.11 and Fig.12. Cluster 1 (DEVELOP MODULE)
contains a single hashtag within with the same name. It is followed by cluster 2
(PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT), with four examples reinforcing the stakeholders‘
needs throughout the ILEs process. The third cluster (STAKEHOLDERS), with four
hashtags containing #University Academia Creative&CultureSector. The
subsequent clusters, (STUDENTS) and (MENTORS), with 2 and 4 post-its respectively

cluster (INTERNATIONAL GROUP), named after the one post-it encompassed by this
group. Cluster 7 (TOGETHERNESS), with four hashtags, emphasizes the proximity of
which the stakeholders need to be in this process and establish a close mentor/
mentee relationship. Cluster 8 (AST) encloses 23 coded data that relate to Art,
Science, and Technology by referring #ASTPoject, #AST or #ASTPractices
(CONNECTION), links AST and cluster 10 (CALL FOR INNOVATION) with 31 hashtags.

with a call for #InnovativeSolutions. Cluster (METHODOLOGIES), with two hashtags,

strengthens the need for a #MethodologicalDevelopment that should be established

stakeholders share their knowledge and assess the way they would like to investigate
their explorations, either through #GroupWork or by #IndividualWork as indicated by
cluster 13 (FORMAT). Cluster 14 (MAKE) with 43 hashtags, accentuates the mentors

12 Henry, D.B., Tolan, P.H. and Gorman-Smith, D., 2005. Cluster analysis in family psychology research.

13 www.miro.com

47
Fig.11 Intensive Learning Events
of the MAST project
and mentees examination from exploring possibilities to #IdeaMaterialization
relative to their situatedness. In a #DIYWorld, the students must explore their
soft and hard skills and their #ArtisticIdeation should be achieved by a myriad of
conceptual and material possibilities. Cluster 15 (FUTURE THINKING), as indicated
by the only hashtag, permeates and connects the previous cluster and the sixteenth
one (SITUATEDNESS) by acknowledging the need for a #SpaceUnderstandment and by
being #InspiredBySurrounding which ultimately may lead to new #FormsOFCoexistence.
Cluster 17 (CAREER), with three hashtags like #CareerPerspectives, infer that new
models of apprenticeship must be investigated with the full commitment of all
stakeholders in order to achieve new forms of understanding and coexistence.
A second methodology using text analysis tools was also used to analyze the content
and methodology implemented in the different ILEs, KH Coder14, a free software

We computed the co-occurrence of words (verbs and nouns) from the syllabi of all
the ILEs15. This analysis rendered a co-occurrence word network diagram. A co-
occurrence network diagram16 shows words with similar appearance patterns, by
connecting them by lines (edges) according to their frequency of appearance. Only
co-occurrences with a correlation value higher than 0.2 are considered for this
analysis.
The co-occurrence network diagram shows that the main concepts of the ILEs,
according to their frequency of appearance, were STUDENT, DEVELOP, WORKSHOP and
NEW, followed by CREATE and NEIGHBOURHOOD, then by SOLUTION, INNOVATION,
FUTURE, SPATIAL and METHODOLOGY.

triangles being the most relevant ones: FUTURE + INNOVATION + CATALYST and

of the MAST project, for example that using artistic practices and that the focus on
innovation and its impact on the future of our societies as enablers to innovation.
The remainder of the diagram shows a highly interconnected network around the
most frequent words. This diagram places the STUDENT next to DEVELOP cluster,

RURAL + SETTING). The STUDENT cluster and DEVELOP cluster are also connected
through the METHODOLOGY, highlighting the role of RELEVANCE, PRACTICE, AND
INSTITUTIONS in the methodological choice. The clusters STUDENT and DEVELOP
are also connected to WORKSHOP through a web describing the processes. These
processes involve PROJECT, SITE-SPECIFIC, EXPERTS – MENTORS – PUBLIC, and

14 https://khcoder.net/en/
15 https://mastmodule.eu/events/
16 Higuchi, K. (2016). KH Coder 3 reference manual. Kioto (Japan): Ritsumeikan University

50
in GROUP to perform TASKS in the WORKSHOP. These processes are also connected
to the CREATE cluster through values (SOLIDARITY and FUTURE). The STUDENT
cluster is also connected to CREATE through the WORK node and UNDERSTAND-
MODEL-ELEMENT. The CREATE and the NEW clusters are mediated through the
ART – COMMUNITY – FIELD triangle, indicating the mediating role to arts in the
creation of innovation. Connected between the METHODOLOGY and NEW clusters

– RELATIONSHIP – SHAPE – PLACE) as well as actions (LIVE – DEAL – OWN – FORM

– MEAN – BUILD – STUDY – BRING – THINK ).
From this analysis we can conclude that the MAST methodology to social innovation
places the student at the core, who engages stakeholders with a complex dialog
and a critical thinking process for creating innovation with social values through
art, and relying on a methodology that primes the understanding and situatedness
of solutions. Other events change dramatically the implementation cadence as
response towards the situation of pandemics.

5.3. MAST Hybrid Interfacing Academy (HIA)

2020, exploring in what ways can the artists’ imagination and their creative tools bring
about true novums at the crossings of technology and science, tackling the most complex
challenges of the future, both for society at large, and the industries in particular?
At this concluding event of the MAST project, participants from various of disciplines

priorities for the future of Europe, and created alliances for forward-thinking future
actions. The event itself presented the pinnacle of the MAST project, supported by
Creative Europe, dedicated to developing an applied study module at the intersections
of AST, combining methodologies and practices that intertwine the academic sphere
with the Culture and Creative Sectors (CCS) closely.
The range of events included a symposium with four keynote speakers. The HIA
also featured a speculative situation to stimulate new pivotal points of innovation
processes with a radical approach. Different stakeholders were brought together to
ideate primarily within the artistic realm by adopting the methods and formats of
the Challenge Lab, which is also the core of the recently accredited master study
module of MAST. In addition, an overview of best practices and experiments on how
Art Thinking could empower future Innovation Catalysts was shown in an exhibition,
and presented live at the event by MAST students and mentors. Moreover, two policy-
making workshops have been organised with a strategically architectured lists of
participants: one pivoting around matters of education, the other in the realm of

51
Fig.12 Co-occurrence network
diagram from the ILEs‘ syllabi
industry.

5.3.1 MAST HIA Showcase

An exhibition of students’ works was presented in the real space of a gallery. The
video showcase17 takes you on a tour through the minimalist HIA exhibition at
Kersnikova Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia (September 22-23, 2020), touching upon
some key events and ideas of the MASTModule-EU project, presented by Peter Purg
(UNG-MAST project leader); and Simon Gmajner, from the Kersnikova Institute,
including narratives of MAST alumni and students caught on video along several
ILES as pilot workshops18 for the MAST module.

5.3.2 MAST Symposium 2020

The goal of this cutting-edge panel discussion with individual keynotes was to bring
together policymakers, artists and academics, in a debate about the interdisciplinary
challenges of open innovation in the AST interface. Artists and designers shape an
important relationship between science, technology, and human beings, thereby
using this dialogue to stimulate innovation centred on transversal competencies
and unconventional thinking. The combination of artistic research and participatory

of science and technology, and to transforming their socio-economic impact. It is

necessary to create a context of possibility for developing these skills, knowledge
and tools from experimental and collaborative environments, research methods in
art, social sciences, sciences and technology, and cultural studies. Participants:
>> Viviane Hoffmann – Deputy Director-General for Education, Youth, Sport and
Culture, European Commission
>> Barbara Stacher – European Commission, DG EAC, Cultural Policy Unit
>> Michela Magaš – Innovation Catalyst who bridges the worlds of science and art,
design and technology
>> Marko Peljhan – Media artist, professor and entrepreneur; new media arts and
technology
>> Peter Purg – Assoc. Prof. PhD. UNG-MAST project leader
>> Tere Badia – Culture Action Europe (workshop moderator).

18 https://mastmodule.eu/the-mast-module/

54
5.3.2 MAST Education and Policy Workshop
The key aim of the workshop20 was to discuss the AST‘s potentials blend in higher
education for pedagogy, research, and, especially in radical innovation. The workshop

opportunities, in order to prototype both formal and non-formal implementation

formats for a common European future in AST education. The workshop primarily

least it sought to represent the employers’ view from a broad range of CCIs including
the NGO sector and the tech industry. The policy makers on EU and national scale
were invited to explore the viability of policy support and potential changes, with a

the education systems at large. Participants:

>> Peter Friess – Future Media, Social Network Innovation, Science-Technology-
Arts / Media Policy, European Commission, DG Connect, Brussels, Belgium
– University of Rijeka, Academy of Applied Arts, professor and
Vice-dean, Executive Director of CAS SEE, Croatia
>> Christophe De Jaeger – Director GLUON, BOZAR Programme Manager BOZAR
Art & Research, Brussels, Belgium
>> Jana Javornik – Director at the Higher Education Directorate, Ministry of
Education, Science and Sport, Slovenia
>> Robert Manchin – Culture Action Europe President, Belgium
– Head of the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and
Management, professor of Cultural Policy & Cultural Management, Cultural Studies
and Media Studies, University of Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
– Vice-dean for R&D at Academy of Fine Arts, University of
Ljubljana, Slovenia
>> Peter Purg– MAST project lead, UNG, Slovenia (workshop moderator).

5.3.3 Industry Collaboration Workshop

The workshop‘s21 aim was to clarify policy directions that encourage a synergetic
approach between the art sphere and the industry. Such collaboration seeks a more
sustainable and ethical economy, alongside social innovation solutions reached
through the collaboration between the art sphere and the communities. The
workshop addressed primarily artists with a broad understanding of the arts‘ role
in contemporary society. A secpmd group adresses were art researchers involved in

20 https://vimeo.com/showcase/5565582/video/461317484
21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH4_FZdDK3U&feature=youtu.be

55
the investigation of contemporary technological and societal phenomena. Finally,
the workshop included art producers who are facilitating art laboratories, and art
laboratories in which artists, scientists, and engineers collaborate on joint projects.
The workshop‘s participants were thus the artists with whom the partners in MAST

investigative arts (konS project - a platform for investigative arts), experts in different
art supporting activities, producers of artworks, as well as scientists and engineers
who are collaborating with artists in art laboratories.
>> Facilitated by Jurij Krpan, Kersnikova Institute
>> With various participants of the different universities and general public.

3.5.4 Challenge Lab Discussion

The Challenge Lab discussion22 was presented in a setting similar to the Situation
Room – within which an interdisciplinary group interested in taking part in an
innovation process is put in front of a challenge, to provide technological innovation,
an application of technological innovation in society, or social innovation. The four
participants represented each aspect of the MAST mix: art production and facilitation,
pedagogy, innovation management, science, and technology. Such a process is to be
facilitated by an Innovation Catalys
AST study modules, such as MAST, herein presented as the facilitator (J. Krpan). The
discussion gives a deeper insight of the terms such as: Challenge Lab, Innovation
Catalyst, and Art Thinking, and presents the entire Challenge Lab with the 10-step
innovation cycle as the core of the MAST module syllabus. Participants:
>> Simon Mokorel – Project Designer and Design Engineer, Innovation Manager
>> Jurij Krpan – Art Director at Kersnikova Institute, as Facilitator
>> Sergi Bermudez i Badia – Professor at Madeira Interactive Technologies
Institute
>> Peter Purg – Assoc. Prof. PhD. University of Nova Gorica School of Arts.

3.5.5 UNICULT @ MAST

The UNICULT @ MAST23 took place at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
Rijeka. The topic of the 6th Edition of Unicult2020 was: Culture in Transition – Heading
The subtopic focussed on Professional
and Personal Development in AST where the MAST CDG was discussed, and is to
be presented eventually along with the shared experiences and perspectives from

22 https://vimeo.com/showcase/5565582/video/461317283
23 https://www.facebook.com/MASTermodule

56
2021
2018
Progressive
Unicult-MAST,
Prototype,
Rijeka,
Funcha,
Osor, HR
PT
(c) Thümmel
(c) MAST
2021 On
Progressive
Solidarity,
Prototype,
Funchal, Funcha,
PT PT
(c) Thümmel
The online speakers and pre-recorded lectures addressed students, policy makers
and leadership structures in arts and culture, but were suitable for the general
public. Participants:
– Head of the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and
Management, professor of Cultural Policy & Cultural Management, Cultural Studies
and Media Studies, Serbia
>> Lev Manovich – A world- renowned innovator in Digital Humanities and
theorist of Digital Culture and Media Art
>> Michela Magaš – Innovation Catalyst who bridges the worlds of science and art,
design and technology
>> Jan Fabre – Multidisciplinary artist, playwright, stage director, choreographer
and designer, Belgium
>> Luk Van den Dries – Dramaturge and Professor of Theatre Studies at the
University of Antwerp, Belgium
>> Ivana Jozic – Dancer and actress at Troubleyn, Belgium
– Artist, photographer and director
>> Daniela Urem – Producer and founding president of the Doors Art Foundation,
New York (USA), and the Croatian Cultural Alliance – CCA Croatian Cultural Alliance.

The roundtable discussion24 addressed the methodologies, good practices and

outputs of the different ILEs as pilot workshops25 for the MAST module. In an in-
depth conversation with facilitators and students involved in the activities, the event
presented the best experiences. IT provided vivid examples of future educational
approaches within art, science, and technology studies, that may model or even
directly build their programs:
>> Keynote speeches by Lev Manovich, introduced by Daniela Urem and
Nayarí Castillo-Rutz.
>> Open discussion with Lev Manovich – with Hanns Holger Rutz,
Nayarí Castillo-Rutz, and Franziska Hederer (TU Graz, MAST mentors)
>> Duarte Luis de Sousa, Carolina Silveira, Helene Thümmel – MAST
Students from University of Madeira, University of Nova Gorica School of Arts, Graz
University of Technology

24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM7V0xEThCg&feature=youtu.be
25 https://mastmodule.eu/the-mast-module/

59
>> Facilitated by: Nayarí Castillo-Rutz, and Franziska Hederer, Assoc. Prof.,
Institute of Spatial Design, Graz University of Technology.

5.4 Other Events: Pop-up Synergies

duration in addition to the events of the project itself. Within the different project
ILEs Pop-Ups and other dissemination strategies, synergies were always sought,
establishing contact with other projects and initiatives.

5.4.1 PIF Camp

PIFCamp is a 7-day hacker-base set in Slovenian nature, where art, technology

would join a one week prototyping session and get in touch with the projects and
individuals (or collectives) that have been successful in upgrading their DIY / DITO
methodologies and prototypes into business solutions. Two of the MAST students
were able to join and a mentor from Kersnikova Institute as the facilitator of the
pop-up event.

5.4.2 Mast Symposium, Pixxelpoint

Festival, which were planned as sister events. Both explored an open variety of topics
among AST, discussing them through different prisms of the festival topic: Checked
Reality. The Work at the Interface Continues.

5.4.3 Bozar
In January 2020, Culture Action Europe collaborated with BOZAR LAB and Joint
Research Centre (JRC), the partners facilitated a multifaceted evening Occupying the
Middle. On Transdisciplinary Research to debate on the status quo of transdisciplinary

research in setting this new paradigm. The three-part session brought forward the
MAST project, showcasing the real-life results of MAST students using problem
Art Thinking as a key
competence in creating more profound, plausible and sustainable solutions. Great
emphasis was put on the importance of forming the next generation of Innovation
Catalysts
big and small organizations.

60
5.4.4 Algorithmic Segment - xCoAx - Graz Kulturjahr 2020

26
producing the transdisciplinary exhibition

the umbrella project Algorithmic Segments27 in the framework of the Cultural Year
2020 fostered by the city of Graz and Conference on Computation, Communication,
Aesthetics & X (xCoAx 2020)28 Exploring the potential of algorithms as material
to evoke the conjunction of art, science and technology. The synergy produced a
coherent amalgam of institutions and people that will keep sustaining relations
in the region. Students were invited to develop, work and participate in a real CCI
experience from conception to implementation, constructing a multi-sensorial space.

5.4.5 MAST HIA Sessions

The HIA represented an important moment of crystallization in the relation with the
CCS. The event gathered several experts, practitioners and students in an amalgam

about the present

26 https://almat.iem.at/
27 algorithmische-segmente.mur.at
28 https://xcoax.org/

61
2018 Unicult-MAST Pilot, Osor, HR
(c) MAST
2018 Unicult-MAST Pilot, Rijeka, HR
(c) MAST
Funchal, PT (c) Gobec
65 Funchal, PT (c) MAST
Nova Gorica, SI (c) MAST
Graz, AT (c) MAST
Academy, Rijeka, HR (c) MAST
Academy, Rijeka, HR (c) MAST
(c) Vidmar 70
71 (c) Purg
Technology, Nova Gorica, SI (c) Bonelli 72
73 Technology, Nova Gorica, SI(c) Vidmar
2020 On Solidarity, Funchal, PT
(c) Thümmel
2020 On Solidarity, Funchal, PT
(c) Thümmel
2020 Stories of the Neighbourhood
(c) MAST 76
(c) Rutz 78
(c) Rutz
2020 MAST Hybrid Interfacing Academy
Ljubljana, SI (c) MAST 80
 2020 MAST Hybrid Interfacing Academy
Ljubljana, SI (c) Godec

81
6 Current interpretations

As seen in previous sections, the MAST Module was implemented differently across
the various institutions and consortium partners. Here some examples of how they
interpreted the implementation.

6.1 UMa (University of Madeira)

At UMa, the MAST-program was implemented by using the elective courses and
project components of the Master of Interactive Media Design (MDMI) program. MDMI
students have chose 3 electives (7.5 ECTS each) during their program and realized a
project work (45 ECTS). Among the offered electives Advanced Topics in Informatics
consists of 3x 2-week intensive mini-courses. These intensive mini-courses each are
different every year and are used to tackle areas that no other courses address. They
are generally provided through invited or guest lecturers. Therefore, this is a perfect
umbrella for implementing the AST workshop component of the MAST curriculum.
Besides, other electives can be created to address the courselets on a need basis,
depending on each year‘s MAST challenge.
Finally, the internship/work-placement and the MAST Challenge curricular
components would be both combined in the MDMI project for MAST graduates.
This project that amounts to 45 ECTS would require co-mentorship and internship/
work-placement in the non-academic sector and implement the MAST Challenge in

designed and implemented at the University of Madeira. This is a laboratory that

has been designed to support our teaching activities and MDMI with a portfolio
of technologies and setups that enable quick experimentation and prototyping at
the intersections of AST, combining methodologies and practices that intertwine

curriculum, it can be embedded into the MDMI program through its current accredited
curricular structure, preserving its normal functioning for non-MAST graduates, but
at the same time offering the possibility of AST training through the MAST module an
elective and project. Also, given the current Erasmus+ agreements between our HEI,
the implementation of AST workshops co-mentored by UNG or TUG is guaranteed
even after the end of the MAST project through faculty mobility agreements.

82
 6.2 TUGraz (Graz University of Technology)
At TU Graz the MAST-program has been implemented in a couple of electives inside
the master studies of architecture at the faculty of Architecture / Institute of Spatial
Design. These courses are: Space Material Detail (Seminary) with 6 ECTS, Space
Experiments (Exercise) with 3 ECTS and Spatial Perception (Lecture) with 1,5 ECTS.

of AST. In further developments or iterations of the MAST Module, the faculty of

the IRG will serve as a connection point, allowing students from the other partner
institutions to be part of the subjects that incorporate MAST ideas and methodologies.
There is an open possibility to keep the MAST fromed relations with added programs
as an Erasmus+ warranting the MAST Module Implementation in the future. At TU
Graz the module is an add-on structure, and it is implemented mostly within its
conceptual framework.

6.3 UNG (University of Nova Gorica)

UNG has accredited the complete module (teaching+thesis, 30+30 ECTS, cca) and

Media Arts and Practices (MAP) program, , since it was deemed too demanding as a
process to integrate it as a joint programme accreditation, as it that falls under the
massive transnational accreditation procedure at the national accreditation agency
SQAA . Thus, a much more probable and viable solution is a robust MAST module
that is a real joint endeavour with an obligatory student experience obtained at
TUG and in MITI, but with a vertebrae of the Progress Track and the Studio modules
including courselets within modules of TIP (techniques in Practice) & DIP (Discourses
in Practice).Within the current program but under a separate and new accreditation
as a module, the MAST provision is mapped against the MAP program´s existing
courses as follows:
>> 2 ECTS - the online introductory course – The ECTS points may be later
added to the course quota of SIP (Selections in Practice), or any other summative
curricular structure in a program
>> 3 x 8 (24) ECTS – The MAST Challenge Lab as a full-semester course within
MAP program becomes one of the Carrier Modules (8 ECTS of different complexity or

>> 3 x 4 (12) ECTS – AST Workshop as a Studio course of MAP; is a local intensive
workshop course, prepared collaboratively by the consortium partners. Topic-related
to the challenge, which implies mobility and co-mentoring in the AST‘s domain (4

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MAP master program).
>> 12 ECTS of smaller courselets – within the TIP and the DIP courses of MAP,
these are 2-4 ECTS short courses that provide the student with sets of skills and
knowledge either generally relevant for the of AST.
>> 8 ECTS of internship/work-placement – relates to the Selections in
Practice (SIP) course that brings students outside the school environment to gather
real-world relevant skills, network etc.
>> 30 ECTS – in total may be obtained for AST-embedded for thesis development,

Within MAP this is the big Master Thesis course of 24 ECTS and its prerequisite of
Master Thesis Preparation (6 ECTS).
In total this amounts to 88 ECTS (almost three quarters from the 120 ECTS total of

implementation of the MAP program.

6.4 Long-term Sustainability

The MAST sustainability plan describes the ways in which each one of the partners,
both individually and the project consortium as a whole, intend to turn their
involvement in the MAST project. and the project’s outcomes into future possibilities,
to support the development of their current activities, and to possibly lead the launch
of new activities.
All partners highlighted the importance and network of excellence that the MAST
project has brought about, starting to form a community of practice. The three

to strive for teacher and student exchanges between them using the developed MAST
curriculum and methodologies, such as the Challenge Lab, within their existing and
planned programs. In this respect, the rich material developed and the free online
course will be useful in the study material.The major project’s outputs that will have
the most value for sustainability are:
>> MAST curriculum development: an accredited master-level module within a
partner network of supporting services and curricular collaborations .
>> Establishment of a physical Challenge Lab, for the implementation of the MAST
methodologies, in the interactive media domain.
>> Methodologies and policies: MAST Challenge Lab methodology, AST domain, Art
Thinking.

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>> MAST online courses and study modules.
>> Online digital resources: MAST symposium video talks, Video lectures and
Podcasts = PodMASTs.
>> Digital documentation of: workshops, pop-up events, policy discussions, MAST
challenges and Interfacing Academies.
>> Guidelines: Career Development Guide, best practices book all assembled in the
MAST Manual.
>>
>> Business plan on how to widen and deepen the impacts of MAST .
>> Repository website featuring primary materials, resources, online course, and
events as well as social media community.
>> Creation of a community of practice and MAST alumni informal network that
ensures the sustainability of results beyond the project’s lifetime.
>> Reports: Report on need analysis of the target groups, project methodologies
and practices, dissemination, evaluation report, sustainability plan listing the main
outcomes and possible sustainability roadmaps.
The project has an important relevance on a policy level as well. It has enabled
international collaboration on the intersection of the disciplinary and sectorial
boundaries between AST. Disciplinary science cannot cope with the complexity of
contemporary issues, such as environmental problems or the impacts of technological

knowledge domains and need non-disciplinary and problem-focused approaches.

Therefore, interdisciplinary work is in the best position to solve boundary problems
between disciplines, to interrogate their assumptions and methods and to create
a place beyond expertise territories getting into the gaps between the so-called
disciplinary silos. The project’s members, and the European Institutions, have a role

the complex challenges Europe and the world are facing today.
During the project’s implementation, several formats were created and documented
as extended parts and outputs of the MAST project.

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7 Accompanying Formats
Preface
7.1 MAST Career Development Guide

automation. According to the Future of Jobs Report from the World Economic Forum,

for today‘s workforce will change. However, new future jobs will also be available to
university graduates –mostly related to education, creation and innovation. While
advancements in technology may combine to provide students with the tools to

also open up a world of new career opportunities. In fact, the essentials for future
employment involve using human skills such as creativity, emotional intelligence,
analytical and critical thinking, active learning with a growth mind-set, judgment
and decision making, interpersonal communication skills, and leadership skills and
cultural competence, among others. Jobs in AST will take many forms, and therefore
will require a range of abilities and training. The MAST CDG gives you an overview
of career opportunities in art, science and technology, along with ways to get started
and additional resources. Directing the career-management upon mechanisms like
work placement, internship/scholarship schemes, residency, incubation and mobility
schemes/models will bring about an innovation ecosystem as an approach to
corporate innovation. In doing so, universities will be a source of people and ideas,
and a conduit to new start-ups to establish of innovative strategic programs for
university-industry relations.

Developed as part of the AST program, the guide documents the needs of emerging
practitioners undertaking the new module, guiding them around the knowledge
and skills needed throughout the process as students. It compiles a wide range of
resources for artists focusing in the development of the future skills, personal and
professional as:

>> Identifying business opportunities

>> Designing and testing future prospects
>> Planning business logistics
>> Balancing between being an artist and a business person

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 7.2 MAST Learning Velocity Experience30
MAST Learning Velocity Experience (LVE) was conceived as an experiential, career
development, project-based space and an extended workbench where students work,
individually and/or in teams, guided by mentors and industry leaders, outside of the
classroom. Together they apply concepts of innovative thinking and hypothesis-
driven startups towards the development of their careers and proactive partnerships
to reinforce the university-corporate-government-NGO axis of interaction, within
the European innovation context, and its career development. Under MLVE faculty,
students were able to develop and experience skills throughout the entire innovation
process, including start-up formation, foundation skills, divergent-thinking, intermedia
creativity, problem-solving and cross-cultural empathy, and social inclusion geared
towards the improvement of quality of life.

and additionally held as part of the MAST HIA at the Museum of Modern and
Contemporary Art Rijeka. MAST students were provided with an opportunity to
be mentored by world-renowned artists and authorities on innovation, cultural

through the Unicult platform.

7.3 MAST Online Course

The free of charge online course was developed as a knowledge transfer tool that
would help the students identify challenges within the digital, entrepreneurial and

emerging technologies. The course will be used in the entry stages of the MAST
module.
The course guides students through methods that promote innovation. It was
created jointly by inputs from consortium members, students, innovation and
business professionals, and led by the Kersnikova Institute. Jointly, we designed a
course in which students get to know intermedia art, which thematises contemporary
information technologies, cybernetics, biotechnologies, and a variety of tactical
media and their impact on society.
By developing an understanding of creative principles and contemporary artistic
practices, the students gain deep insight into the epistemology of artistic projects,
which leads them to a different, creativity-oriented understanding of the world we
live in. They learn to draw the inspiration needed to create ideas about different,

creation of the Challenge Lab.

87
bolder values more imbued with solidarity and ethics, values that should become
a guiding principle in addressing the challenges on the path towards achieving a
future that is friendlier to humans and nature. A better understanding of intermedia
art leads to a better understanding of the times we live in, and hence a better
understanding of what kind of world we wish to live in – and how can we help shape
it – in the future.

7.4 The Business Plan

The plan was primarily intended to be developed by Kitchen Budapest, a partner
exiting the MAST project consortium. Following Kitchen Budapest‘s exit, the partners
redistributed the tasks with the Business Plan development being taken over by the
Kersnikova Institute. The task was to develop a proper business plan of how to both
deepen and widen the relevant impacts of MAST, meet the project’s objectives, and

or legacy of the project activities. The task was then co-led by the company UNIJA
Accounting and Consulting Services company and the Kersnikova Institute.
The aim of the MAST project in the future is to succeed in the education of future
Innovation Catalysts that will be able to lead innovation processes for more
sustainable, safe, ethical products, and services. The Innovation Catalyst would be a
main driving force for the future of work where people will be engaged in a creative,
collaborative and solidarity-inspired economy. The economic analysis showed

MAST project. They also considered the set business model of the MAST project
to be sustainable in the long run, as the project from 2022 onwards shows self-
sustainability. They estimated that the project is low-risk, as it is an innovative idea
and a clear business model with a professional team that we believe, can face all the
challenges and risks during the project.

7.5 Evaluation Strategy

warranted the smooth development of it. Constant SWOT analysis produced exciting
insights into the project in its various stages. For most events, stakeholders were
confronted with different questionnaires, vital for restructuring the project within
the implementation years, while an external independent evaluator observed the
process. The MAST project overpassed all obstacles during its implementation,
producing an interesting conglomerate of experiences and lessons learned and
cementing the path for future projects in AST. The module is a successful example of
experimental methods that change educational parameters.
88
Nova Gorica, SI (c) Smrekar
Contacts
MAST network
mastmodule.eu

Akademija umetnosti Univerze v Novi Gorici

University of Nova Gorica School of Arts
Vipavska 13, 5000 Nova Gorica, SI
+386 51 336 770 | info.au@ung.si
www.ung.si/au | au.ung.si/en

M-ITI
Madeira Interactive Technology Institute
Campus Universitário da Penteada

mdmi.uma.pt/

TU Graz, Institut für Raumgestaltung

Institute for Spatial Design
Rechbauerstraße 12/II, 8010 Graz, AT
+43 3168736481 | kontakt@raumundgestalt.at
www.raumundgestalt.at

90
Kersnikova - Zavod za kulturo, umetnost in

Kersnikova ulica 4, 1000 Ljubljana, SI

kersnikova.org/

Culture Action Europe

Rue Ravenstein 23, 1000 Brussels, BE
+32 2 534 4002 | contact@cultureactioneurope.org
www.cultureactioneurope.org

Croatian Cultural Alliance - CCA

www.ccalliance.eu

91
Experts involved in Development and
Implementation 2018 – 2020

University of Nova Gorica School of Arts

Faculty Guests
MAST Symposium 2019 presenters Anja Ibsch, Chris Csikszentmihalyi,

Laure Keyrouz, Maria Judova, Marko Peljhan, Nayari Castillo-Rutz & Helene Thümmel,

M-ITI Madeira Interactive Technology Institute

Faculty Sergi Bermúdez i Badia, Chris Csíkszentmihályi,
Gonçalo Nuno Ramos Ferreira de Gouveia, Diogo Cabral, Cátia Jardim, Alexandra Mendes,
Catarina Correia Guests Petra Zist, Roberto Cibin, Kristen Scott, Nishant Shah,
Manuel Beltrán

Graz University of Technology

Faculty Nayarí Castillo-Rutz, Franziska Hederer, Carlotta Bonura
Visiting faculty Hanns Holger Rutz, David Pirrò, Richard Dank, Reni Hofmüller Guests
Daniele Pozzi, Jamilla Balint, Markus Metz, Georg Seeßlen
Collaborations ALMAT – FWF PEEK AR 403-GBL | almat.iem.at, esc medien kunst labor,
Kulturjahr 2020 (City of Graz), Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics (IEM) | Graz
University of Performing Arts (KUG)

Kersnikova

Dejan Kaligaro, Simon Mokorel

CAE
Robert Manchin, Tere Badia, Kornelia Kiss, Natalie Giorgadze

Croatian Cultural Alliance

Staff
Unicult Faculty
Lev Manovich, David Batstone, Hakan Lidbo, Niels Righolt, Andrew Dubber, Anke Schad,

CPP Faculty

Partners Troubleyn Jan Fabre, Ulay Foundation, SITI Company Anne Bogart,
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Rijeka, Molekula Rijeka, University of Rijeka,

92
 Students and Guest Participants involved
in Development and Implementation

University of Nova Gorica School of Arts

Nabil N F Almanssour, Miha Godec, Sandra Jovanovska, Abiral Khadka,
Vasily Kuzmich, Carolina Carqueja e Silveira, Rawan Hourani
Guest participant Jatun Risba

M-ITI Madeira Interactive Technology Institute

Duarte Luís de Sousa, Telmo Gonçalves, Maria João Gouveia, Diana C. Gonçalves Mendes,
Ana Filipa Gomes, Roberto Rodrigues, João Costa, Alexandra Freitas,
Tiago Dias

Graz University of Technology

Tom Biela, Eva Huber-Groiss, Beatrice Koch, Xhylferije Kryeziu, Beatrice Raith,

Croatian Cultural Alliance

93
Imprint

Editors Nayarí Castillo-Rutz & Peter Purg

Co-Authors

Design
Proofreading Duarte de Sousa, Franziska Hederer, Melissa Moreno-Dines

Photos
Hanns Holger Rutz, Matej Vidmar, Miha Godec & Sandra Jovanovska
Illustrations Duarte de Sousa, Jurij Krpan & Helene Thümmel
Typeface Montserrat by Julieta Ulanovsky & PT Sans by Alexandra Korolkova,
Olga Umpeleva (Libre Font by Womxn)

Digital image service Nayarí Castillo-Rutz & Helene Thümmel

Copyright University of Nova Gorica (School of Arts), N.Castillo-Rutz &
P. Purg (eds.) as well as all the text authors, photographers, illustrators and the
graphic designer.

Printed by A-Media
Published by School of Arts, University of Nova Gorica, Vipavska cesta 13,
5000 Nova Gorica, Slovenia

Year First Edition, 2021

Issue information
the European Union

ISBN
COBISS.SI-ID

94
 All works in this book as well as the Innovation Catalyst Online Course and the MAST
Hybrid Interfacing Academy event series were produced within the MAST project,

author(s), and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which
may be made of the information contained therein.

95