GRFX-808B: Plan B: Spirit of Bauhaus S2

When the Bauhaus was originally conceived, one of its primary intents was to address and capture the 'eternal human spirit' in art, design, and architecture. It sought and cultivated wonder, the utopian, the radical. It promoted 'look- ing' as an intellectual pursuit and considered every action in life as a medium for creativity. The Bauhaus was revolution- ary in its re-linking of the arts, crafts, life, and manufacturing. Driven by socialist ideals, it created a curriculum of new forms that helped craft the 'modern.' It did so by forging an art, design, and industry education bound by community, aesthetic risk, and the sharing of ideas and skills. Yet, over time, much of that initial spirit has been forgotten or reduced to cold and functional readings of what the Bauhaus was about. Plan B resists such narrow interpretations and sets out to revive the forgotten or overridden aspects of the Bauhaus-in addition to delineating its thinking, impact, and influence-by re-imagining them in a contemporary setting. Working with the idea of the contemporary as 'an experience of profound dissonance' with its time, project leaders will develop and implement a research-based and experimental Berlin program 'in the spirit of' the Bauhaus, where ideas, shapes, disciplines, and the virtual co-exist. The resulting work will then be showcased within the frame of an HMCT exhibition in L.A., along with satellite exhibits and events. Plan B conspires to recapture the daring 'spirit' of the Bauhaus so as to rediscover its heritage and imagine its future significance.