Aesthetics

The study of aesthetics concerns all the aspects of aesthetic culture from the classic to the modern theory of perception and art through the history of aesthetics to the theory of design and art. The starting point for contemporary aesthetics is an understanding of the impossibility of developing something like a normative canon for design in our modern times.

However, we see that similar attempts to do this, such as those that shaped the art and design of the 20th century, can all be seen as failures - namely, the current revolution brought about by digital technology. However, it is rather the altered definitions of the function of aesthetics in (our) modern information and consumer society that require an open concept. We are still however concerned with justifying artistic and design decisions without it resulting in a particular option (as an absolute). “Scientific Fundamentals” thus focus on learning very different artistic and cultural scientific frames of reference and the ability to choose sensibly from infinite amounts of knowledge and to apply it innovatively. As such it wants to enrich design with theoretic creativity – without actually contradicting it. In addition to teaching scientific work methods and an interdisciplinary ability to reflect, it mainly concerns the perspective of sources of knowledge regarding aesthetics of old and new media with respect to current design challenges due to digital media and production techniques.