The idea for the project came from a combination of two challenges faced by the Bauhaus Agents. On the one hand: How can we show and communicate production processes in the museum? The Bauhaus objects themselves usually only reveal to the trained eye how they were produced. On the other hand: How can vocational orientation in schools and educational projects about the Bauhaus be combined? In response, the Bauhaus Agents in Weimar developed the idea of reporter excursions.
On their discovery tour, the pupils took on the role of young reporters. Equipped with cameras, sound recorders and a thousand questions, they set off on their journey. They were accompanied by Florian Froger and Marcus Glahn, video and photo artists from the Bauhaus University Weimar. With their help, the schoolchildren documented the two production sites and recorded their experiences in images and sound. At the end of the project week, they were able to present their materials to the public, cut into a first making-of clip. The comparison of past and present production techniques proved particularly absorbing.
In addition to the making-of clip, four additional clips were developed from the materials after the week together, then shown during the special exhibition "Paths from the Bauhaus – Gerhard Marcks and his Circle of Friends" in the Formlabor, the Bauhaus Agents' temporary outreach workshop. The clips showed the history and processes of both production facilities to the Formlabor's visitors. The first test run of reporter excursions has whetted the appetite for more, and the Bauhaus Agents in Weimar intend to explore further production sites with pupils in the coming years.
(VS 2017)
