Stimuleringsfonds

In the first period of the Experiment Grant Scheme in 2023, 31 projects were selected. This continuous grant scheme is intended for small-scale, experiment-driven projects in the field of design, architecture or digital culture, and the crossovers between these disciplines. Coordinator Carlijn Limburg reflects on the selection.

22 June 2023

general impression

By 31 March, 110 grant applications had been submitted and the grant scheme was closed early as these applications would reach the grant ceiling of € 300,000. That the grant scheme has now gained a good reputation and clearly meets a need is evident from the increasing number of applications. This round, the number of proposed projects had doubled compared to the past four periods. Never before has the grant scheme been open for such a short time as a result.

Interestingly, not only the quantity of applications, but also the quality seems to have increased. Applications more often meet the formal requirements of the grant scheme and increasingly describe the departure point and design of the experiment better. We highlight some recurring themes:

materials and technology

In terms of themes, a large proportion of the applications focus on material or technical research, as in the previous period. With Perpetual Porcelain for example, Studio Lotte Douwes is conducting research into developing circular porcelain. Sound artist Mari Mako and spatial designer Iris van der Wal are exploring with Resonant Artifacts design principles and techniques that can be applied to create an acoustic sound object that can improve the sound quality of a space. And with Nature Upsets Me A Bit, Isaac Monté is starting an investigation into ways to harness the deformation of 3D prints, under the influence of hot water, in the design and creation process of crystal objects.

climate and nature

The amount of attention for issues relating to climate and nature also proved to be significant once again. It is notable here that proposals focusing on nature inclusiveness and non-human perspectives in particular were positively assessed. Studio Louis Braddock Clarke, for instance, is exploring listening to the landscape as a practice for generating ideas about the climate. Lili Carr, together with photographer Matthew Harvey and anthropologist Evelijn Martinius, is starting the project Imaging Landscape: Rewilding the Landscape Imaginary, which searches for an alternative method of visualizing and representing a landscape to reveal non-human, more-than-human and hidden landscape processes. And Richard Vijgen is doing research with Cosmic Windchime into translating real-time solar-wind measurements from satellite DSCOVR into an audiovisual installation. This should provide a new perspective on the cosmic and planetary climate.

AI

Several experiments in this period focus on the artistic potential of technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) in particular. For example, Aga Blonska Design with no hands design is researching a way to design without hands using AI, electroencephalography (EEG) and 3D-printing technology. Thomas Ankersmit’s project Focusing Sound explores the artistic possibilities of directional speaker technology. And Stelios Manousakis is researching the artistic use and development of a WiFi sensing system that responds to different actors and movements.

making process

Notable is the interest in intuitive or ‘form-free’ work in a number of projects that focus on their own making process or the research method. For example, with Control Detox, Studio Joost Grootens is exploring the deconstruction of its own working method, focused on control. And Studio Camie Laure is experimenting with creating a digital visual language in which there is room for intuitive and organic compositions. The aim of this ‘soft new media’ is to bring the digital domain as a sensory environment closer.

gender identity and body

Finally, several projects focus on gender identity and the body. For instance, Maike Hemmers’ Mindful material relations explores the collaborative, sustainable and queer aspects of textile objects in an exhibition context. Marloes ten Bhömer is explorings film audiences’ neuromuscular responses to cinematic representations of the movements of a woman and the fashion objects she is wearing. And with Exploring Non-Binary Fashion, Nanco Nilo studies the design features that make clothing non-binary, exploring ways to integrate these features into the design of traditional male and female clothing for a more inclusive gender expression.

You can see all the projects selected in Experiment in 2023 here.

numbers

Of the 64 subsidy requests taken into consideration, 31 were awarded grants in the first period of 2023, which ran from 15 February to 31 March. This brings the percentage of applications receiving grants to 48%. The budget available was € 300,000. The subsidy ceiling was reached with the positive assessment of an application submitted on 28 March. The 33 applications submitted later than this one were not taken into consideration.

second period

The new round of the Experiment Grant Scheme opens on 6 September 2023. You can submit subsidy requests until 22 November 2023 at the latest, for as long as there is sufficient budget. If the subsidy ceiling is reached before the end of the period, applications can no longer be processed and the grant scheme will close earlier than the set end date of the period. So, do not wait too long to submit your application.

Photo above: Maike Hemmers - Mindful material relations