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Beuys, Transdisciplinarity and a Sustainable Future

The SSRU explores transdisciplinary creativity and vision towards the shaping of a humane and ecologically viable society. It engages with Joseph Beuys’ thinking and work, its influences and new developments, and insights from different cultural and disciplinary contexts. Together these inform the field of contemporary social sculpture and connective practice.

Connective Aesthetics and Agents of Change

Our work as agents of change includes connective thinking and practices, which explore the role of imagination and different modes of thought in transformative process.We see a strong link between Shelley Sacks’ work on “responsibility as the ability-to-respond“, processes of enlivenment in our Lab for New Knowledge and an Eco-Social Future, and the aesthetic process.

Connective Practice towards Social and Ecological Justice

Linking artists, activists, projects, members of the public and researchers from various practices, thought spaces, and regions of the world, the SSRU creates opportunities for dialogue processes, transdisciplinary research and connective practices that contribute to creative transformation, social and ecological justice and the shaping of a humane and non-exploitative world. Informed by an expanded conception of art, we are active both within and beyond the sphere of art.

Participation, Dialogue and Collaboration

We hope you will contribute to the field by participating in the events and activities of the Social Sculpture Research Unit and its related projects. These can be found on this site and also via the Social Sculpture Research Unit Facebook group. There is also an Opportunities section on this site, which describes several ways that you can get actively involved.

Social Sculpture: ‘Another world is possible’

Our territory and practices are wide and varied because social sculpture has to do with exploring new values, new forms of thinking and new ways of being in the world. One of the key projects of the SSRU that scales out the social sculpture insights is University of the Trees: Lab for New Knowledge and an Eco-Social Future. The UOT: Lab focuses on capacity building and exploring new forms of knowing.