Pedagogical framework: Becoming visible - instead of being represented

Before the actual design experiments begin, it makes sense to take a step back. Not to plan something. But to clarify what sustains us. Because what we are practising here has more to do with more than technique. It has to do with perception. With attention. And with the confidence that design can be a path - not a destination.

Anyone who embarks on this process begins with an attitude, not a method. That is why this prologue is not a foreword in the traditional sense. It is a space. A space for thinking, a space for perception, a space for opening up. It does not mark the beginning of a curriculum, but the transition to a practice of seeing.

Historical trace: Who was Catharine Rembert?

Catharine Rembert worked quietly. Her path ran on the fringes of the established systems - and it was precisely there that it developed strength. In a post-war period full of upheavals and new orders, she saw design not as an ornament, but as a form of engagement with the world and perception.

Her pedagogy was simple, but not simplistic: Reduce. Observe. Repeat. She believed in the power of repetition, in the inconspicuous. And she trusted that every creative act is also an inner movement. The exercises suggested here are also in this tradition: They do not offer solutions, but opportunities to become aware.

Learning to see: spaces, lines, material

Design begins with seeing. But not with a quick glance - but with a lingering one. Positive and negative space, line and void, material and gesture - these are not vocabulary, but relationships. Whoever draws a line decides. Whoever leaves a space, trusts. If you touch material, you leave a trace - and receive a response.

Wax has a different voice than chalk. Shadow speaks differently than form. Even a digital tool is not neutral - it also shapes. And we learn to listen to it.

Analog and digital - no contradiction

Chalk, tablet, paper, AR - we don't differentiate by technology, but by attitude. The undo lock on a tablet becomes a training room for decisiveness. A digital glitch is not deleted, but read. Design with digital means is part of our reality - it demands the same attention as any other trace. Perhaps sometimes even more.

What counts is not the tool - but how we encounter it. And what we make visible with it, for ourselves and for others.

Seeing diversity, shaping diversity

Design is not neutral. It is made - and read. By different people, in different languages, with different senses. In this context, inclusion is not "thought through", but taken for granted: Not everything has to be the same for everyone - but everything can be made accessible to many.

We create by hearing, touching, reading, drawing and speaking. And above all: together. Difference is not an obstacle. It is the material from which our common language is created.

Design in context

Design is a relationship. It does not stand for itself - it resonates. With a space. With another form. With a line that is not ours. Design also means: listening. And sometimes: abstaining.

What we learn here can be applied not only in sketchbooks. It also applies to the way we enter rooms. How we speak. How we show ourselves - or not.

What this pedagogical framework means - and what it doesn't mean

When we talk about a pedagogical framework, we don't mean a fixed plan. Not a sequence of exercises that lead to a defined goal. We mean a space with orientation - but without direction. A framework that supports but does not hold. A context that gives form - without shaping.

This framework is permeable. It allows questions, deviations, pauses. It sees itself as a sounding board for processes that are not linear. As an invitation to think along - not to follow.

It is not a structure in the classical sense. It is a creative space for perception - open, fragmentary, repeatable. And that is precisely why it is sustainable.

What this framework wants

This framework does not want to explain. It wants to open up. To create spaces in which something can emerge - in one's own gaze, in gesture, in exchange. It understands design not as a result, but as an encounter: between seeing and doing, between doing and leaving, between form and fragment.

He offers no recipes. Instead: Exercises that make you more attentive. Texts that accompany rather than evaluate. Methods that lead to questions, not solutions.

Because what we are practicing here is more than just drawing. It is a school of perception. For what becomes visible - and for what we consciously leave open.

Chapter 1: The line as a decision

_A focus on gesture, presence and perception_

A line is never just a line. It is always a decision, a placement that makes something visible and at the same time conceals something else. Catharine Rembert taught us to draw lines consciously and deliberately. A line here means presence, an attitude in space. The line challenges us to take responsibility: For what we make visible and for what we leave out.

This is exactly where we start in the "Silent Drawing" exercise. A single line, drawn in sixty seconds, without setting it down, without taking it back. What sounds like a restriction at first becomes a liberation over time. Because if you can't go back, you have to decide - for direction, for tempo, for tension. It is as if the pen overtakes your thinking and deepens it at the same time. Every little swerve, every abrupt turn carries meaning. Not because it is perfect, but because it testifies: I was there. I have sensed. I have made up my mind.

Many participants say after this exercise:_

"I realized for the first time that I hesitate before I start." Or: "I didn't know that I could think in lines."

It's not technical drawing that happens here. It is looking inwards - and at the same time stepping out. The line becomes a trace of the moment.

Digital tools help to make this moment conscious. With tablets and so-called "undo lock", the undoing is blocked - for three seconds, for five. There is a whole field of mindfulness in this short delay. The gesture we make remains. It remains visible, even if it is not perfect. And that is precisely where its power lies.

In reflection, we don't talk about whether a line is "beautiful". We ask: What does it say? What decision does it contain? What was felt, what was left out? The line becomes a language - a language that needs no words. And the more you listen, the clearer you realize: a line can scream. Or whisper. Or simply stand still without having to explain itself.

Task: Silent Line

Goal: Draw a single line in a set period of 60 seconds. No setting down. No taking it back. During (or afterwards) document your thoughts or feelings: in writing, via audio recording or through a conversation.

Variants for deepening:

Repeat the exercise daily for a week - in the same format or with varying tools.

Use different media: pen, charcoal, light, thread in the room.

Try the line not on paper, but in space - on a pane of glass, with chalk on asphalt or digitally in AR.

Learning objectives

Raise awareness of design: Understand that every line is a conscious decision.

Focus perception: Paying attention to movement, materiality, direction and pause.

Experience reduction as a creative attitude: Restriction leads to concentration.

Enable self-reflection: Making the inner process visible through accompanying language or notation.

Pedagogical principles

Process before product: It is not about the "beautiful picture", but about experiencing line as action.

Value-free observation: feedback describes the effect and potential impact - without judgment.

Stimulate questioning thinking: What does the line trigger? What other possibilities would there have been?

Allow iteration: repeat the line - not to improve it, but to understand it better.

Possible learning methods

Self-study / individual work - The exercise is integrated into your own sketchbook as a daily ritual - every day at the same time, using a fixed medium. In addition, a short written reflection or an audio journal can help to record changes in perception. Repetition becomes a training of the eye.

Studio group / guided setting - In a group, a shared space of silence is created. Everyone draws at the same time without speaking. This is followed by a dialogical observation: "What do I see in your line?" - No evaluation, but resonance. Visibility is created through exchange, not comparison.

Digital format / distance learning - The task is provided as a short video instruction or text impulse. Participants upload their results (line, photo, reflection) to a shared digital gallery. The line is thus not only visible, but also documented - as a trace of an individual process.

Experimental implementation / performative variants - The line is not drawn, but moved: with a rope in the room, with a beam of light in the dark, with chalk on the asphalt. The documentation is photographed or filmed. The line becomes a gesture in space - made visible through movement.

To think further

The line is the starting point - but never the destination. It is like the first step on an empty path: visible, clear, but open to what follows. Anyone who has learned to consciously draw a line begins to see things differently - more clearly, more calmly, perhaps even more courageously.

After all, if a line can say so much, what do all the other decisions we make every day say?

Chapter 2: The space in between

_A focus on perception, tension and the invisible_

It is easy to pay attention to the visible. It is more difficult to sense the space in between. But this is precisely where the power lies. The space in between speaks, it breathes, it is not empty but full of potential. Dialogue arises in it. The exercises with distance and empty spaces teach us to listen carefully, to pause and to give space - to the unspoken, the unsigned.

What we initially perceive as emptiness is often the opposite: presence in a different form. The space in between is not a "non-place", but a place of in-between. Tension arises between two lines. Rhythm arises between two forms. Meaning is created between what is said and what is not said.

In one exercise, we place two simple shapes next to each other - cut out in analog form or placed digitally in the AR space. And then? Then we wait. Move them. Bring them closer. Remove them again. We observe what happens in the room - without anything "moving". A participant once said:

"I saw for the first time how the distance itself speaks."

This experience not only changes how we create. It also changes how we perceive.

It is often this intermediate space in which a work comes to life. It makes room for what is not clear. For associations. For open questions. For resonance. And this resonance - it cannot be forced. But it can be perceived if we become quiet enough.

We also experience these spaces in language. A pause, a pause, a hesitation - they can say more than words. In design, we learn not to fill such moments, but to trust them. Emptiness as expression. Not as a lack.

Digitally implemented, e.g. through an AR sandbox, this emptiness even becomes tangible: A real perceptual space is created between two virtual objects. You can walk around it. You can see how light falls. How perspective changes. Suddenly it becomes clear: the space in between is not neutral - it is active. And we are part of it.

This way of thinking also changes our approach to design as a whole. We no longer just ask: What am I depicting? But rather: What space do I open up? For whom? For what? And what do I consciously leave free?

Task: Composition of spaces in between

Aim: Create a constellation of two (or a few) simple shapes. Position them in such a way that the space between them becomes the actual subject. Work with paper shapes, objects in space or digital AR placements.

Impulses for the work:

Proximity vs. distance - how does the tension change?

Horizontal vs. vertical - how does the space work?

Empty space vs. overlapping - when does something become too much? When too little?

Documentation: Photograph or sketch the constellations at different stages. Reflect in writing or orally: What did you see? What has changed?

Learning objectives

Learning to consciously perceive and shape spaces in between

To develop sensitivity for tension, rhythm and balance

Expand creative thinking from the object to the relational space

Strengthen mindfulness for emptiness, stillness and non-action

Pedagogical principles

Promote material and spatial resonance " Take emptiness seriously as a powerful creative tool.

Observation instead of interpretation " What happens in the space - concretely, without symbolic interpretation?

Asking instead of defining " "What changes if...?" as a recurring impulse.

Enable process-oriented work " There is no finished picture - only a process of approximation.

Possible learning methods

Self-study / studio work - The exercise is worked through at your own pace: Participants arrange objects in the room - analog or digital -, photograph or sketch them, vary light and distance. The focus is on seeing: Where does tension begin? What emerges in the space in between? A silent school of observation.

Group exercise / presence format - Shapes are placed together in a group - at the table, on the floor, on the wall. Observation focuses less on the individual and more on the relationship: how does the effect change through small shifts? Impressions are exchanged in a circle. No evaluation, just perception.

Digital / online studio - Virtual forms are placed using AR apps or collaborative whiteboards. Participants work in a shared space - seeing each other, commenting, shifting. Design becomes a social practice here: every placement influences the whole. The screen becomes a resonating space.

Body-space exercise - shapes and distances are experienced with one's own body. Two chairs, a cone of light, a step forwards or backwards. Closeness and distance are not only seen, but felt. The impressions are then sketched, described and put into perspective. The body thinks with you.

To think further

When space is not a "background" but a carrier of meaning, everything changes. Design becomes the opening up of spaces in between - not the filling in of surfaces. The space in between teaches us that non-action can be just as expressive as action. And that if we take design seriously, we not only set the forms - but also decide what we leave free.

Chapter 3: Form as a relationship

A focus on resonance, interaction and creative togetherness

Nothing stands in isolation in the world. Every form is related to others. Catharine Rembert's method always emphasized this interconnectedness. When we place a form, we have to consider its neighborhood. How does it work alongside others? What resonance does it generate? Design becomes the art of relationships, the sensitive perception of the interplay of elements.

We often believe that we are "designing something". But the truth is that we always design the space in which this something works - and how it relates to other things. A round shape next to an angular one changes our perception. Two shapes of the same size at different distances create rhythm. Asymmetry can mean unrest, symmetry stillness.

In one exercise, we work with cut-out paper shapes or digital shapes. They are not simply laid down, but positioned in relation to each other - sometimes close, sometimes offset, sometimes overlapping. It's not about making a beautiful picture. It's about feeling: When does tension arise? When does harmony arise? And what happens when I turn or move a shape slightly?

Some arrangements seem to speak. Others seem to drown each other out. One participant put it like this:

"I realized that my form is only really there when it looks at the other one."

This way of seeing means understanding design as relationship work. I don't just put something in the room. I react to what is already there - and add something to it. This attitude not only trains the eyes, but also the mind: designing means listening. And responding.

Digital tools such as browser-based whiteboards or collaborative composition platforms can make this dialog visible: Many people are designing in the same field at the same time. Every intervention changes the whole. Design becomes a social gesture - not an individual expression.

Task: Form composition as a relational gesture

Aim: Create a small composition from 2-5 simple shapes. The focus is not on the shapes themselves, but on the interplay: on proximity, distance, size, alignment and effect. Work analog (paper, cardboard) or digital (graphics program, AR platform).

Reflection questions:

Which form has the strongest presence and when?

How does the effect change if you rotate a shape or move it only slightly?

Where do "relationship lines" emerge, where does emptiness arise?

Which form reacts - which leads?

Documentation: Work in several variations. Take photographs, make notes, name them. Perhaps a series will emerge - or a single constellation that remains.

Learning objectives

To strengthen relational vision: Looking at shapes not in isolation, but in relation to each other.

To develop creative sensitivity: Awareness of balance, tension, density and rhythm.

Make decision-making processes transparent: Consciously observe and reflect on every change.

Trying out social design: Shaping as feedback with others, rather than just as an expression of one's own will.

Pedagogical principles

Relationship instead of control: design is not brought "over" the material, but is created in resonance with it.

Sensitization through variation: repeated change of small parameters promotes deep seeing.

Promote descriptive language: In retrospect, observations are shared - not judgments are made.

Making participation visible: The effect of a form is not independent - it is created through interaction.

Possible learning methods

Individual work in the studio - shapes are cut out of simple materials - pieces of paper, areas of color, found objects - and arranged on a surface. On the table. On the wall. It is not about the final image, but about seeing in the process: What happens when I move? What is revealed at a distance? The composition is photographed, reflected - not evaluated.

Partner exercise / dialog form - Two people work alternately on the same surface. One form is set - then the other reacts. A creative dialog is created without speaking. What is created by the other person? Where does tension arise? Where does retreat occur? One form responds to the other - like in a silent conversation.

Digital / Online - Several people create simultaneously in a shared whiteboard space. Forms are placed, moved, added to - every action changes the whole. Screenshots document the process, audio recordings accompany the reflection. Here, design becomes a shared practice: visible, dialogical, open.

Spatial work - the space itself becomes a surface. Objects - cushions, chairs, stones - are arranged in such a way that they enter into a relationship. The result is not a collage on paper, but a constellation in space. They are viewed by walking, feeling, from different angles. The documentation: photographic, sketchy, narrative.

To think further

Relationships are not just something that takes place "between people". They also occur between shapes, colors, sounds and thoughts. Those who learn to think in relationships develop a different form of consciousness - one that does not want to dominate, but can respond. The form asks - and you answer with another. Meaning arises in between.

Chapter 4: Reduction as access

A focus on clarity, concentration and the essentials

Reduction does not mean renunciation, but clarity. Less form means more space for meaning. A circle, a line, a surface - their very simplicity opens our eyes to the essentials. These exercises teach us to make conscious decisions and to appreciate the power of simplicity. Reduction makes visible what is often overlooked.

Those who reduce must choose. And those who choose take responsibility. At a time when abundance is often confused with quality, reduction has an almost radical effect. It invites us to slow down, to pause, to deliberately leave things out. What remains when everything unimportant is removed? What still has meaning when decoration, effect and overload disappear?

We encounter this attitude in different ways in our design practice: We work with just one color. Just one form. Just one material. Sometimes it is a line on a blank background, a single shadow on white paper. Or a thin layer of wax on an old piece of cardboard. Such works seem simple at first - until you get involved. Then they begin to speak. Quietly, but deeply.

Digital media can reinforce or challenge this process. A black and white composition on the tablet, deliberately without filters, without an undo option. The line is right. The contrast is right. Or: a surface is inverted, mirrored, cropped - until only a fragment remains. Digital reduction often means holding back the impulse for "more". This is a creative discipline.

One participant once described it like this:_

"I had to admit to myself that I added things because I didn't know when enough was enough." Reduction is also a mirror.

Task: Making the essential visible

Aim: Create a work that consciously reduces itself to what is essential to you. Reduce form, color, material or technique - but keep the message. Work with a single tool or in a clear format: e.g. only black and white, only circular shapes, only lines on empty space.

Impulses for reflection:

When do I feel that it is "enough"?

Do I feel better when there is more - or when there is less?

What becomes more important when I look at it in isolation?

Optional extension: Create two versions: one crowded, one reduced. Compare. What changes?

Learning objectives

Sharpening creative judgment: Learning when a composition is complete - even without "a lot".

Experiencing reduction as a creative tool: Not as a limitation, but as an access to depth.

Strengthening the ability to reflect: learning to justify and evaluate your own decisions.

Cultivate mindfulness for the inconspicuous: Perceiving the silence between forms.

Pedagogical principles

Less is more: quality is not created through effort, but through awareness.

Decision instead of effects: Every intervention is a statement - and does not always have to take place.

Sensing instead of stacking: design as a path to the core, not to abundance.

Allow incompleteness: Even the unfinished can make a statement.

Possible learning methods

Studio work (individual) - reduction is practiced here as a decision: One tool. One color. One form. In series or as a single sheet. It is not about variety, but about deepening. Every repetition sharpens the eye. Every limitation opens up new paths. Less becomes access - not renunciation.

Digital experiment - Digital tools are deliberately limited: an invert filter, a black and white layer, targeted omission through "negative fill". What remains visible when colors are removed? What gains significance? Reduction is not simulated here, but provoked - through technology as a perceptual impulse.

Comparative exercise - A work is created twice: once in maximum fullness, once in radical reduction. Both versions are then viewed - side by side, on top of each other, translucent. What remains when the superfluous is missing? What is missing when the essential remains? Reduction becomes a question, not a solution.

Guided group exercise - The group creates in silence - each one for themselves, with reduced material. Afterwards, discussion in a circle: "What has reduced us?" Not: What is beautiful? But rather: What was left out - and why? The room becomes a sounding board for decisions, doubts and clarity.

To think further

Reduction is not the opposite of design. It is its essence. Those who reduce make clear decisions - and at the same time take themselves back. There can be more truth in a single point than in a hundred patterns. Once you have experienced this, you will see things differently in everyday life: tidier, calmer, more conscious.

Chapter 5: The shadow as depth

A focus on substance, sharpening perception and inner movement

Shadows are not just darkness, they are depth. They give substance to a form and invite us to look beyond the surface. By consciously using shadows, we learn to see not only what is obvious, but what is hidden, what is deeper. This practice creates awareness of subtle perception and inner resonance.

A shadow does not show itself - it shows that something is there. It is a trace, an echo, an imprint. And at the same time it is intangible, fleeting, changeable. When we work with shadows, we enter an intermediate area: between light and dark, between form and dissolution, between visibility and mystery.

In one exercise, we place a simple object in a single light. The form recedes - the shadow becomes visible. We do not draw the object, but only its shadow. Or we photograph it, move the light source and observe how the projection changes. A line created by shadow is no less precise - just quieter. And sometimes more meaningful.

Digital tools help us to examine shadow spaces: A LiDAR scan, for example, shows how depth is measured algorithmically - what falls by the wayside? And what can be made visible through digital inversion that previously remained hidden? Here too: Shadow is not just optical. It is conceptual.

One participant once said:_

"I thought I only saw the outline. But I recognized myself in the shadow."

Shadow work is also mirror work.

Task: Designing with shadows

Aim: Investigate the creative power of shadows. Use an object of your choice - e.g. a hand, a shape, an everyday object - and stage it with a light source. Draw, photograph or digitize only the resulting shadow.

Impulses for reflection:

What does the shadow tell you that the shape does not?

What changes when the light changes?

What does "depth" mean when it cannot be felt but is visible?

Optional extension: Use a digital tool (e.g. AR or LiDAR) to analyze or distort the shadow perception - for example through inversion, projection or 3D mapping.

Learning objectives

Strengthen sensitivity for indirect forms: Perceive shadows as carriers of meaning.

Learning to understand and create visual depth: consciously using light-shadow dynamics.

Promote the ability to abstract: Thinking from object to effect.

Deepen self-perception through design: What is reflected in what is not shown?

Pedagogical principles

Slow down perception: Shadows require patience and a close look.

Take the invisible seriously: Not only the explicit has meaning.

Allow association: The shadow as a projection surface for emotion, memory, the unconscious.

Rereading materiality: A shadow needs no brush - only light.

Possible learning methods

Studio work (individual) - An object, a light source - that's all you need. The shadow is cast on the wall or on paper, observed, sketched or photographed. Perhaps it will later end up in a sketchbook. Perhaps it remains fleeting. The drawing does not follow the form, but the light.

Digital exploration - shadows are not only observed, but created - using digital means. LiDAR scans or invert functions make visible what remains hidden to the eye. Shadows distort, multiply and dissolve. Here, design becomes a training of perception in digital space.

Guided group exercise - Objects are illuminated in a circle - one after the other, wordlessly. Each person sees the shadow of the other, picks it up and translates it into images or language. This creates a chain of reactions, associations and interpretations. The shadow becomes a conversation partner - even without words.

Moving shadow work - Using a flashlight or a mobile light source, the body moves around the room. Shadows emerge, distort and disappear. A camera captures what the eye can barely grasp: the fleeting nature of the gesture. Design in motion - made visible through light and time.

To think further

Creating shadows means turning to the invisible. We learn to hear where no one speaks. To see what doesn't shine. And to recognize that depth does not always lie where something is laid on thick - but often exactly where something almost disappears.

Those who perceive shadows see more - even in everyday life. In faces. In rooms. In breaks. Perhaps design is strongest where it steps back - and leaves room for depth.

Chapter 6: Repetition as insight

A focus on deepening, patience and learning over time

Repetition is not a mechanical act. Rather, in Catharine Rembert's teaching, it is a path to depth, to continuous self-exploration. By doing the same exercise over and over again, we always discover something new. Repetition is patience, it is trusting that the essentials will only be revealed little by little. It becomes a meditative process, a school of close observation.

What appears to be the same at first glance reveals its differences at second glance. The same line, drawn the next day, appears different. The same shape, cut out again, feels different. Repetition does not create routine, but resonance - a subtle vibration between hand, eye, thought and feeling.

A repeated action begins to be more than just technique. It becomes a kind of conversation with itself. Every repetition is a small question: Am I still here? What do I see today that I didn't see yesterday? What changes - in the image, in the body, in the gaze?

A seven-day line ritual, the same form, the same time every day. Or: a composition, set anew every day, from the same elements. Sometimes the change is minimal, barely visible. Sometimes surprisingly radical. And both are valuable. Because it is not the size of the change that counts - but the awareness of it.

One participant said:_

"It wasn't until the fourth day that I realized how much I didn't trust the paper." Repetition not only shows progress - it shows patterns. Even internal ones.

Task: creative repetition

Aim: Choose a simple exercise or shape (e.g. a line, a surface, a shadow image) and repeat it every day - for at least five days. Document the process through drawing, photography or audio.

Options for variation:

Same format, but changing materials

Same motif, but changing mood

Same medium, but changing time of day

Reflection: Keep a short journal for each repetition. What was different? What stayed the same? When did it start to become easy - when difficult?

Learning goals

To experience depth through repetition: Learning to deal with subtle differences.

Cultivate patience and attention: Understanding design as a process over time.

Anchoring self-observation: reflecting on the perception of internal and external processes.

Train conscious differentiation: Being able to see and name even small shifts.

Pedagogical principles

Iteration as a path to knowledge: Learning is a cyclical, not a linear process.

Process instead of evaluation: the focus is not on the "better" result, but on the inner movement.

Trust in slowness: depth is not created through speed, but through repetition.

Transparency in the process: every repetition is visible - no "correcting", no "hiding".

This series of learning methods - in line with Chapter 6: Repetition as insight - can also be wonderfully formulated in your familiar, calm style. The language remains condensed, pictorial and open, so that each method is more than just an instruction: it invites you to experience it.

Possible learning methods

Self-study / ritual - Repetition becomes a daily moment of return. Always at the same time, with the same material - a line, a gesture, a shadow. Then a short follow-up: a thought, a mood, a word. Not for evaluation - only for securing traces.

Group setting / comparison - everyone works on the same motif for several days. At the end, the resulting series are viewed together - silently, side by side, without hierarchy. The exchange reveals what has changed - in the line, in the gaze, in the attitude. Repetition becomes a collective insight.

Digitally accompanied - The repetitions are documented as a timelapse - photographically, on film or in a series of screenshots. In retrospect, differences become visible that go unnoticed during the action. Digital layering makes time tangible - not technically, but sensually.

Body-oriented - Not the hand, but the body repeats itself: a gesture, a movement, a posture. This repetition is captured in drawings or words. It is not about perfection, but about feeling. The body thinks along - and shows what has been inscribed.

To think further

Repetition is not repetition if you look at it with different eyes. Every iteration tells a story - even if it hardly differs from the previous one. And perhaps this is precisely the realization: that seeing is a question of attention, not of variety.

Those who allow repetition open themselves up to a different time. A time in which depth is not created through change, but through repetition. Design thus becomes an inner rhythm - and one's own gaze becomes an instrument that is tuned ever more finely.

Chapter 7: The collage as an understanding of form

A focus on fragment, context and creative openness

Collage is not just the assembling of parts - it is a space for thought. It allows for contradiction, rupture and reorganization. It brings together fragments that were never intended for each other - and yet they begin to speak to each other. It is the artistic acceptance of the unfinished, the multi-layered, the non-linear.

The collage combines all the previous chapters: the line emerges as a fragment. Spaces in between become perceptible. Forms meet anew. Reduction manifests itself in omission. Shadow remains as a field of traces. And repetition becomes a structure in the background. Nothing has to be complete - but everything has meaning.

Sometimes a collage begins with a cut. A piece of newspaper. A color field. A digital scan. Sometimes it starts with a mistake: A tear. A stain. A gap. But this is precisely where its power lies. Collage is the art of working with what is there - not with what would be perfect.

Digital tools extend this practice: AI inpainting can suggest empty spaces without filling them. Negative fill techniques deliberately leave gaps. Scans of drawings meet digital glitches. And yet: the gesture remains decisive. Collage is not a style - it is an attitude.

One participant described it like this:_

"My collage was like a conversation with all my sketches - and also with what I didn't draw."

The end result is not a finished picture, but a field of vision. A statement that turns parts into a whole - not through completeness, but through presence.

Task: Fragment meets fragment

Aim: Put together a collage that takes up at least three different creative traces from your previous process (e.g. line, shadow, form, fragment, text, blank space). In doing so, consciously work with the unfinished, the flawed, the accidental.

Possible materials:

Analog found objects (paper, newspaper, photo, note, thread, silhouette)

Digital components (screenshots, AR objects, scans, digital glitches)

Self-created elements (sketches, repetitions, negative spaces)

Reflection: Name what meets. And what does not. Where you have abstained. What you have cut out - and why. Your collage doesn't have to explain anything - but it can ask questions.

Learning objectives

To translate compositional thinking into relationships: Understanding the fragmentary as a creative language.

Tolerating and using ambivalence: Consciously create breaks and contrasts.

Working across materials: Combining analog and digital equally.

Develop visual statements with a personal reference: Experience design as a medium for reflection.

Pedagogical principles

Openness instead of perfection: Collage thrives on the unfinished.

Dialogic design: Understanding fragments as voices in the picture.

Mistakes as form: The tear, the cut, the gap - none of this is weakness.

Linking instead of adding: not everything next to each other - but with each other.

Possible learning methods

Individual studio work - The collage is created as a final work - not planned, but collected. A new picture is put together from sketches, shadows, fragments, lines and repetitions. Not a best-of, but a conversation between the parts. A condensation of what was - and what results from it.

A joint project - everyone brings fragments - a piece of paper, a line, an expression. The result is a shared surface: a collage of voices. What one person begins, the other continues. What seems lost is reconnected. Design becomes a shared language, without many words.

Digital-hybrid collage - The elements come from various sources: analog found objects, scanned sketches, digital effects. Photoshop, Procreate or tablets are tools, not filters. The change between haptic trace and digital intervention is not concealed - but consciously shown. The collage as a hybrid thinking space.

Serial collage work - three variations with the same means: the same papers, the same color surface, the same line. But each version places the pieces differently. Once rhythmically. Once fragile. Once open. The difference is not sought - it arises. And makes visible what creation through repetition really means.

To think further

A collage doesn't demand that you know everything. It only asks whether you are prepared to listen. To the parts. To the gaps. To yourself. It is a place where everything is allowed to come together - not to smooth itself out, but to show: I am not one picture, I am many. And each one speaks differently.

The collage is not the end. It is a mirror. And sometimes: the beginning of a new language.

Chapter 8: Infinity, the eighth thought

_A moment between condensation and expanse_

At the end of the process - or perhaps at its most permeable point - there is a thought. Not a summary. Not a result. But a trace. Something that remains. And at the same time leads on.

Each participant formulates their own text - a thought. No longer than a hundred words. Not a statement. No answer. Just one sentence. One rhythm. A fragment.

This thought is printed risographically on tracing paper. Not as a crowning glory. Not as a label. But as an overlay - placed over the resulting work. Like a filter that does not conceal, but lets it shine through.

The result is a quiet dialog: Between text and surface. Between gesture and reflection. Between what has become visible - and what lies beneath. Between what is said - and what continues to have an effect.

The thought is a condensation. But also a transition. A final gesture that does not close, but opens.

Infinity means here: Nothing is over. The line continues. The space remains open. Thinking shifts - from the hand to the gaze, from paper to time.

Glossary - terms in context

Eighth thought - A personal text that emerges at the end of the creative process. Not a summary, but an echo - a sentence, a fragment, a gesture. Is printed risographically on tracing paper and placed over the artist's own work.

Relational space - design not as an arrangement of things, but as a dialog between elements. Between space and form, form and form, human and material. Making relationships visible - not just objects.

Collage - not the gluing together of parts, but the visualization of polyphony. Fragment, break and gap as part of the whole. An attitude that allows contradiction - and creates meaning from it.

Understanding form - not the knowledge of forms, but the feeling for their effect. How form shows itself, meets, contradicts. Design as a sensitive reaction - not as mastery.

Gesture - A graphic or physical expression that does not decorate, but makes something visible. Every gesture carries a decision. Every gesture can be an attitude.

Infinity - A principle, no end. Design does not end with the work. It remains open - in memory, in space, in thinking ahead. Infinity is an invitation not to close processes, but to carry them forward.

Empty space - not lack, but space for resonance. What is not shown can still speak. Blank spaces are an invitation to association - and to silence.

Line - More than a trace - a decision in space. A line connects, separates, questions, holds. It is a sign of an attitude. And often: the beginning of everything.

Materiality - Every material has its own language. Wax speaks differently than chalk, light differently than paper. Design begins when we listen to the material - and not just work with it.

Negative space - The space that is created when something is left out. Not a background, but a counterpart. An active part of the picture - often more powerful than what is shown.

Reduction - Not renunciation, but concentration. Omission is a gesture of trust: that the essential is enough. Design through clarity, not through abundance.

Resonance - An interplay between perception and the world. Design not as an expression, but as a response. Resonance means: something responds - even if it remains silent.

Shadow - Not darkness, but depth. Shadow is a trace - of light, of the body, of the in-between. Those who see shadows also see what is hidden.

Perception - The beginning of every design. Not just seeing, but listening with all the senses. Design as a school of perception: for what is visible - and what remains open.

Repetition -Not routine, but deepening. Repetition makes what is open clearer. The gaze becomes calmer. The gesture becomes more conscious. Learning through repetition - not through variety.

Intermediate space - the place where meaning is created. Between two lines, two voices, two moments. The space in between is not empty - it is alive. It is the space of dialog.

DREIFISCH
Greifswalder Str. 242
17121 Loitz
Germany

https://dreifisch.com

Herr Anselm Bonies
039998 95900

support@dreifisch.com

Welcome - I am Anselm Bonies, a creative companion who sees the interplay between color, form and design as the heart of my work.

In my world, everything revolves around the symbiosis of photography, film and graphic design. For me, creative work means not only creating impressive works, but also telling stories and opening up dialogs - in close collaboration with you. I see myself as someone who not only designs, but also accompanies. As a creative partner, I work with you to develop visual experiences that leave a lasting impression and get to the heart of your message.

What can you expect from me?
Whether you want to build a strong brand identity, create a unique visual experience or tell a story that touches your audience, I have the experience, flair and technical know-how to bring your ideas to life. My goal is to realize your vision as precisely and individually as possible, creating a creative process that not only meets your expectations, but exceeds them.

Your project - unique and personal
My work is more than just creating images and designs. It is a process of transformation: together we develop an idea that takes shape, comes to life and leaves its mark. My focus is always on translating your message into powerful, visual forms of expression - customized and tailored to your goals.

Get to know me
How others see me? The best way to find out is to see for yourself. Give me a call or send me an e-mail and experience how your ideas become tangible, creative works. I look forward to getting to know you and breaking new ground together - where color, form and design merge to create unique moments.

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Would you like to find out more about Gedankendusche: Critical thinking through creative action, conduct an interview or plan a publication? I'm happy to answer any questions, press inquiries or creative collaborations.

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E-mail: support@dreifisch.com
Phone: +49-39998-95900
Website: dreifisch.com

This release was published on openPR.