CURRICULUM

🌱 Research Program:

Virtually all forms, colours, designs, textures and structures in the natural world have a relationship of causality to something else —a call and response logic. For example, the shape of an anteater snout is an evolutionary response to the shape of ant colonies.  

Because of symbiotic relationships, evolutionary pressures and competition for light and nutrients, the rain forest expresses an incredible degree of creativity, as seen for example in epiphytes plants. Simply put, a museum cannot compete with the raw creativity and aesthetic inventions of the forest.  

To be able to see these values better, it requires fine tuning our perceptual sensibilities: an attentive, sensitive and slow type-of-looking. Walking in silence through a rainforest with this frame of mind is an absolute treat to our senses. A lot of the activities and workshops in this field school (on biomimicry, plant dyes, etc.) are thus designed to train us on what and how to see to discover this creativity and aesthetics. 

Our research goals are to learn from the rainforest and see how we can use these lessons for artistic practices as inspiration or reference, directly or indirectly.

Among the school’s activities and workshops are:

Community Public Art Projects at Rio Chante, led by Juan Ortiz-Apuy and Lynx Guimond Hikes in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, led by local naturalist guides Workshop on Epiphytes Plants and the work of Prof. Nalini Nadkarni, led by Nacho Loria
Learning about Permaculture with a focus on art and design
Native Plant Walk and the work of Willow Zuchowski Forest Bathing Activity, led by Gimena Chaves, Forest Therapy Guide  Rainforest Night Walk, led by Mark Wainwright
Workshop on Natural Dyes, led by Esteban Barquero
Readings, Group Discussions and Presentations by students and faculty

Permaculture with a focus on Art and Design

Workshop on Natural Dyes from tropical plants