Guest Speaker at University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna

I’m a guest speaker at Günther Oberhollenzer‘s lecture series “Cultural Administration in Fine Arts” at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna.

I’ll talk about my multi-disciplinary artistic and creative practice, and the various projects I’ve been involved in the last decade — from co-organizing an independent art space, to founding the On Doubt YouTube channel, co-managing the Kunst und Klischee podcast or establishing the Conscious Artist Membership. And more — on June 12th 2023 🙂

It will be fun!

Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, WIen (photo (c) PaulShunOSAWA)

Post-Graduation Strategies (Lecture/Workshop), University of Applied Arts (Vienna)

I’ll be assisting Alexandra Feichtner in her multi-week lecture/workshop format at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, which is hosted by the photography team, but open to all students.

The focus is on offering strategies for graduates; to discuss the realities of the time after art university in a complete, actionable way; from deepening your artistic practice to business aspects (galleries, networking, pricing..) and various topics of personal development.

PS: Thanks to each of you who participated, it was a great day!

Post-Graduation Strategies, Lecture/Workshop at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (Bazant-Hegemark, May 2023)

Challenges of Creating a Portrait (Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität, Linz; June 2nd, 2022)

I was asked to hold a lecture about the “Challenges of Creating a Portrait” within the elective week organized by Darrel Toulon. Darrel founded and conceptualized “docu-dance-theatre — a model for participatory performance art, trauma transformation and societal change“. It’s a platform to engage with childhood rape victims.

Darrel Toulon: “I realized that although there are a lot of books, films, features and other publications directly focused on the women who suffered, there was almost nothing concerning the children born to these women, and who survived infancy. The literature which I found was coloured predominantly by feminism, and humanitarianism concerns for the violated women – the existence of babies conceived through rape given little or no attention – violating in turn their rights as human beings

The workshop week at Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität Linz included international speakers like Ajna Jusić (Bosnia), Amra Delić (Bosnia), Mercy Nabiyre (Uganda/UK) and others.

I participated with a lecture about the dynamics involved in creating the film portrait of Linda Sharrock and Mario Rechtern (2019); how to connect to strangers, trust your intuition, and how to navigate the challenges of inherent portrait transgressions. The lecture happened on June 2nd, 2022

Hybrid Formats: Symposion & Exhibition at Art Space Stift Millstatt (April 1-3, 2022)

I was asked to participate and co-moderate Andrea K. Schlehwein‘s “Hybrid Formats”, the 9th edition of “POSITIONEN 022 | Discourse + Dialogue in Contemporary Dance”, happening at Art Space Stift Millstatt (Austria) on April 1-3, 2022.

The event is in itself a hybrid form, combining lectures, dialog platforms and a group exhibition — which also includes my work.

For the symposion..

  • I will give a 20min introductory lecture about (“Speculations About Hybridity“) on April 1st (5:40pm), and
  • a one hour lecture (“Depicting Others: About Inherent Transgressions and Dynamics of Agency and Appropriation) on April 2nd (4:30pm).
  • I’ll also moderate several of the conversations happening on that weekend.

Join us there for deep dialogs and good company!

Monrovia, 2017 | oil on handmade pixelation on canvas
140 × 148 cm
Kabul, 2017 | oil on handmade pixelation on canvas
140 × 180 cm

Unexpected Learnings and Potential Wisdoms: Game Cultures, Art and Knowledge Exchange (Lecture)

I was asked to give a lecture on specific correlations between art and videogames, at Margarete Jahrmann‘s “Ludic Soirée”, which is part of the “Experimental Game Cultures” MA study she leads.

This is a public event which you can attend free of charge, happening at Die Angewandte/Wien on March 2nd, 2022 (7pm) at Vordere Zollamtsstrasse 7.

From the description:

Game Cultures use various structures that can be precious within the fields of art and sciences: transparency, knowledge exchange, mental health discussions, collaborative digital work environments, a positive attitude towards networking and more.

The artist and veteran game designer Christian Bazant-Hegemark offers a comparative analysis about potential lessons from the gaming field, where he worked as programmer on various AAA titles (GTA3, Vice City, Max Payne, Manhunt etc). But then his focus shifted to the real AAA of Agency and All fine Arts.

Bazant-Hegemark studied Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, did a PhD on “Painting and Digital Technologies”, works in drawing, painting and code. Community Building projects with the aim to make art world dynamics transparent and curatorial practice in over thirty exhibitions, the transmedial art space mo.ë., etc., will form the backdrop of this discourse, led by the head of Experimental Game Cultures, Margarete Jahrmann.

Contemporary Art Strategies – Speculations About The Artist’s Life (Lecture)

I was asked to hold a lecture at Die Angewandte, in the class of Jan Svenungsson.
From the teaser:

Before his fine art studies, Christian Bazant-Hegemark used to program video games for several years. Having experience in two industries enables him to offer comparative speculations: how could knowledge transfer benefit artists?

A conversation about the limits of art school education, about everyday realities of being an artist, and about the unique potential of continuously refining an individualized way of living.

My lecture at the Viennese Psychoanalytic Society/Wiener Psychoanalytische Vereinigung

I was invited by Jeanne Wolff-Bernstein to hold a lecture about art and identity; the lecture will happen at the Viennese Psychoanalytic Society (“Wiener Psychoanalytische Vereinigung”), the world*s oldest psychoanalytic society — the one founded by Sigmund Freund, with prominent members being Alfred Adler, Wilhelm Reich, Carl Jung etc.

I’ll talk about depicting individuals that “arent’t us”: about the transgressions this inherently includes, about trying to paint what we cannot understand. About the self-portrait aspect that’s part of painting anyone else.

The lecture happens on September 22nd 2021, 8:15pm at Wiener Psychoanalytische Vereinigung, Salzgries 16/3 (1010 Wien). Here’s the link to the event.

 

Presentation “Art and Me”, Pelham High School (2019)

In 2019 I was asked by Alexandra Rutsch Brock to give a presentation about my path into the arts, for her students at Pelham High School/NY. I talked about how I started drawing at age 24, got into the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna two years later, wrote a PhD thesis that got me into curating, led an artist-run space, managed a startup gallery, and left curating to found the On Doubt YouTube channel.

What a ride.

Photos (c) Alexandra Rutsch Brock