In pedagogical fields and especially in art pedagogical ones, ideas, actions, and responsibilities are often still reduced to individuals. However, social and technological infrastructures, as well as things and spatial situations, influence the abilities and possibilities of action of engaging persons.
This assignment gives brief instructions on examining who is involved in what constellations. The aim is to understand what mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion are involved in social structures, especially in the context of digital culture.
This assignment is designed to introduce university students to new materialism ideas but can also be carried out with students in school without this background. The aim is to understand social determinants, even without knowledge of the corresponding theories. Therefore, a classroom or workshop situation is offered where relationships become apparent and negotiable without prior knowledge.

• The teacher, organizer, or workshop leader prints out the attached cards in the appropriate number.

• A1
  Take some time to observe yourself closely in your present environment. Move around as you observe, look out the window, and look at the other people here.
  What is influenced by digital culture and what is not?
  Write down every one of your observations on one card and pin it to the wall.

• A2
  Go for a walk in the neighborhood for half an hour. Observe what has been digitally influenced and what has not. Take notes.

• A3
  Look at your observations from the walk and check if the terms you wrote down in the first step are still correct. You can now change or add things to them.

• A4
  Now the tasks attached to this assignment become relevant:
  Please, complete 3 of the 8 tasks given.
  You are entirely free to choose.
  You have 5 minutes for each task.
  (I will then show a countdown of 5 minutes with the video projector, without sound. These videos are easy to find on YouTube.)
  I print out the tasks on A6 format and attach index cards and paper (depending on the task) to them with clips. This requires a little more preparation, but it makes the session easier.
  The results are sorted and hung on the wall with adhesive tape. It is helpful to define areas on the wall for this.

• A5
  Clustering: In groups of 3, choose a hashtag you want to work on.
  Form clusters, and look for similarities and contrasts.
  Be prepared to present your sorting in 3 minutes.

• A6
  Scenarios:
  In groups of three, choose three of the hashtags you have addressed. Think about how the situations described could be a little less exclusive. Build a scenario for the year 2045 with whatever material you have. Think big. Everything is possible for now.
  You have 30 minutes to do this.
  (The teacher should ideally provide materials such as wool, cotton wool, paper, pens, cardboard, …). Any material is allowed.

• A7
  Present your vision.

• cards human-thing-constellations
  http://annemariehahn.com/?p=159

This assignment is a very basic introduction to possible links between new materialism theories and inclusion. No literature is needed to conduct the assignment, yet the following works constitute the theoretical background:

• Barad, Karen (2012): Agentieller Realismus. Über die Bedeutung materiell-diskursiver Praktiken. Berlin: Suhrkamp.
• Haraway, Donna (1988): Situated Knowledges. The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective. In: Feminist Studies, Vol. 14, 1988, S. 575-599.
• Klein, Kristin; Kolb, Gila; Meyer, Torsten; Schütze, Konstanze; Zahn, Manuel: Einführung: Post-Internet Arts Education. In: Jane Eschment, Hannah Neumann, Aurora Rodonò, Torsten Meyer (Hg.): Arts Education in Transition, Zeitschrift Kunst Medien Bildung | zkmb 2020.
• Meyer, Torsten (2015): Ein neues Sujet. In: Torsten Meyer & Benjamin Jörissen (Hrsg.), Subjekt Medium Bildung (S. 93–116). Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
• Schillmeier, Michael (2010): Rethinking Disability: Bodies, Senses, and Things. London: Routledge.
• Stalder, Felix (2016): Kultur der Digitalität. Berlin: Suhrkamp
• Waldschmidt, Anne (2017): Disability Goes Cultural. The Cultural Model of Disability as an Analytical Tool. In:  Anne Waldschmidt, Hanjo Berressem, Moritz Ingwersen (Hrsg.): Culture – Theory – Disability. Encounters between Disability Studies and Cultural Studies. S. 19–27. Bielefeld: transcript.

Annemarie Hahn for the symposium „Teaching artistic Strategies. Playing with Materiality, Aesthetics, and Ambiguity”. FHNW Academy of Art and Design Basel, May 2022

Author’s Encouragement
This assignment is planned as an introduction and to raise awareness of the relationships of human beings in certain material settings under digital conditions. The aim is to get to know one’s own relativities and privileges by working on one’s involvement in material structures and then speculatively reusing them for future scenarios.

Prior Knowledge and Preparation
The teacher must print out the individual work assignments (attached) beforehand and provide pens and paper. The results should be hung on the wall with adhesive tape. For scenario thinking (A7), it is essential that some basic materials such as wool, cotton wool, and cardboard are provided as a stimulus.
A timer for the 5-minute tasks is helpful, but not necessary.

Additional Tools

• index cards
• tape
• pens
• printed work instructions