PXL-MAD School of Arts

Object & Jewellery New English Master Programme
Since 2016–2017 the department of Object & Jewellery at PXL-MAD, School of Arts, Hasselt, Belgium, offers an artistic, academic English master programme (one year 60 ECTS-credits), alongside its existing regular programme, consisting of three bachelor years (180 ECTS-credits) and one master year (60 ECTS-credits). The course revolves around experimentation and research, for which thinking and doing are in constant interaction. The ambiguous position that the field of jewellery and object-making takes within the world of the visual arts, crafts, and design is seen as an inspiring starting point that is constantly questioned in order to develop a critical attitude toward our own discipline.

Bachelor Programme
In the first year of the bachelor programme, students are introduced into the world of contemporary jewellery and to the most important materials and techniques through individual design projects. During the second year, research focuses on the meaning of jewellery and the functionality of objects. Technically, the students explore the possibilities of the laser-cutting machine and 3-D printing possibilities. The main focus of the third bachelor year lies on the further development of artistic research capabilities, looking into the conceptual, communicative, or historical aspects of jewellery and objects. The bachelor programme is finalized with an individual research project, as an ideal basis for starting the master programme.

Master Programme
The master programme consists of two major components: artistic studio practice and the master seminar series Object & Jewellery. Artistic studio practice is offered in a dynamic and inspiring environment where thinking and doing are perfectly synchronised. Students are given the opportunity to improve and explore their work through intensive experimental artistic research. The master seminar series Object & Jewellery lays the foundations for an individual theoretical and artistic research practice through discussion, analysing texts, visiting exhibitions, and attending lectures.

Based on these two components and supported by a team of renowned artists and academics, students are continually encouraged and challenged to reflect on their work by shifting between being “in” and being “out” of their own work. They are expected to create both a mature body of work, presented in the master exhibition, and a written document in which they report and reflect on their own artistic practice. By adopting an inquisitive attitude, the students position themselves in relation to other artists and disciplines and create the context within which they work.

Application Process
The English master programme and the regular bachelor/master programme in Object & Jewellery at the PXL-MAD School of Arts welcomes applications.Application requirements, forms, and tuition fees for the upcoming year, as well as more information about the two other English master programmes “Art Sense(s) Lab” and “Reading Type & Typography'” are available here. Register here for the English master programme, or contact us through our website for the regular study programme.

Staff
Prof. Dr. David Huycke is a professor at PXL-MAD School of Arts Hasselt and at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts of Hasselt University. He coordinates the department of Object & Jewellery at PXL-MAD. In 1989 he graduated from the Sint-Lucas University College in Antwerp and has worked as an independent artist since 1993. His objects are shown in galleries and museums worldwide. In 2010 he acquired his PhD in Arts with the project The Metamorphic Ornament: Re-Thinking Granulation, a practice-based research on the contemporary artistic relevance of the ancient technique of granulation.

Gésine Hackenberg is an artist using diverse techniques to explore the conceptual cross-sections between jewellery and objects of everyday life. She was trained as a goldsmith in Germany and graduated in 2001 from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In 2013 she earned her MA from PXL-MAD in Hasselt, Belgium, where she now currently teaches. Since 2008, she has also been a tutor at the Vakschool Edelsmeden in Amsterdam. Gésine has received three grants from the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture, among other awards. Her work is included in various public collections such as the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (UK), and the MAD in New York (USA).

Audi Pauwels studied at the Royal Academy of Arts, Antwerp, where he graduated in 1988. Five years later he founded the Object & Jewellery department at the PXL-MAD School of Arts, where he is still a senior tutor. Audi also runs the goldsmiths shop Huis Pauwels Spaenjers and Gallery Multiple in Hasselt together with his spouse, Kitty Spaenjers. Their own work generally possesses all the ingredients of classic jewellery: almost exclusively made in gold, nearly always combined with a gemstone, and usually limited to the classic trinity of wearable pieces—the ring, the necklace and the earring.

Dr. Karen Wuytens obtained her PhD in 2014 on the various design processes of designers and teaches in the bachelor and master years of Object & Jewellery. In her own studio practice, she creates exclusive designs, custom-made for clients, and works on self-initiated projects. Whether it concerns an accessory or a utensil, the user-experience is always the starting point. She explicitly uses the properties of materials and combines these with both traditional know-how and innovative technological production techniques. These choices lead to a pure and timeless design, characteristic of her no-nonsense label.

Dr. Tine De Ruysser studied jewellery design in Antwerp and at the Royal College of Art in London, where she finished her PhD on wearable metal origami in 2010. The British Arts and Humanities Research Council and Design Flanders supported her doctoral research. Since 2000, she has taken part in jewellery and textile exhibitions in Europe, Russia, New Zealand, and Korea with her jewellery made from banknotes and her collection made from metallised folding textiles. She has won awards such as the Talente Award for Design, the Bavarian State prize, and—twice—The Armourers and Brasiers Company Award for innovative work in metal.

Claudia Hoppe was educated as a traditional goldsmith, studying for product and jewellery design at the University of Applied Arts, Düsseldorf, the Escola Masana, Barcelona, and at PXL-MAD School of Arts in Hasselt. She works as a freelance jewellery designer in Düsseldorf and exhibits at galleries in Europe and the US.

Hoppe has dedicated herself to making jewellery for the wrist. Her pieces can be seen as autonomous sculptures which only show their complete expressive power through interaction with the body. Since 2014 she has also been part of the teaching staff at PXL-MAD, giving courses in serial production and creativity techniques.

Anneleen Swillen (Belgian, born 1992) holds a master’s degree in object and jewellery design (2014, PXL-MAD) and a postgraduate degree in exhibition management and conservation of contemporary art (2015, School of Arts, Ghent). She is currently working on a PhD in the arts, on the expressive potential of presentation within the artistic process (2015–2019, Hasselt University and PXL-MAD). Anneleen is active as a designer both in Belgium and abroad. Her work has been on display in various exhibitions and is represented by Galerie Beyond, in Antwerp.

Prof. Dr. Bert Willems defended his doctorate in psychology and educational sciences at the University of Leuven. As a professor, he is attached to University College PXL (PXL-MAD) and Hasselt University (Faculty of Architecture and Arts), where he is co-responsible for its research policy. His thinking always starts from a cognitive view on creation and the interesting interplay between culture and economy when it comes to creation.

Wim Buts graduated in 2006 with a master’s degree in product design from the MAD-faculty in Genk. During his education, he followed an exchange program at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and did several internships, including internships at Piet Stockmans and Casimir. After graduating, he worked for five years as a product developer for the lighting company Kreon. In 2011 he joined REcentre to help develop the online materials and techniques database DoDesign (initiated by the MAD faculty and Design Platform Limburg).

Since 2012 he has worked for PXL-MAD as a technical workshop assistant in the Object & Jewellery program. He is also course coordinator in the product design programme at Luca School of Arts.

RECENT GRADUATES: If you recently received a degree--BA, BFA, MA, or MFA--from this university, everything you need to know to upload your graduate portfolio can be found at this link.