Walter Kugler
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Prof. Dr. Walter Kugler
After his studies (music, history, philosophy, education and political science) he taught at the University of Cologne, the Free Waldorf School Kassel and other institutes. Between 1982 and 2007 he co-edited the complete edition of Rudolf Steiner’s collected works and works as the director of the Rudolf Steiner Archives in Dornach, Switzerland.
Since 1992 he has been active as a visiting curator in cooperation with museums worldwide. His curatorial works include exhibtions at the Porticus, Frankfurt 1992; Museum Fridericianum, Kassel 1993; Museum of Contemporary Art Watari-Um, Tokyo, 1996 and 2001; Kunsthaus, Zurich 1999 with Harald Szeeman; Museo Nacional de Belles Artes, Buenos Aires 2000; Nationalgallerie, Dubrovnik, 2005; Vitra Design Museum, Weil, 2007 - 2009.
He was the invited curator of the major Belyj exhibition in Belyj Museum, Moscow 2005 and co-curator of the exhibition of the work of Andre Belyj in Denmark, Aalborg and Copenhagen, 2003.
[A full list of Walter's publications and curatorial work will be available on this site.]
Significant publications in English:
1. Wittgenstein as Philosopher and Architect.
Catalogue essay for Guggenheim, Bilbao exhibition: ArchiSculptura; 2005 {English, German and Spanish]
Summary: An exploration of the extent that Wittgenstein's earlier philosophical work (Logicus Tractatus) is manifest in the forms and materials of his own architectural work. (Haus Kunmann Gasse, Wien. 1925). Research focus: My key interest in this and in Wittgenstein generally, is speech as sculpture. This is one of my core research interests that links to social sculpture and the work of Joseph Beuys.
2. Helmut Federle [internationally known Swiss artist]. I was co-curator of the exhibition [of drawings from Swiss collections] and authored one of three texts for the catalogue; Schwabe Verlag, Basel, 2005. [German]
Research focus: An exploration of the evolution in Federle's drawings of the shift from line to surface to form and the significance of this to Federle as a means of expressing political and social processes.
3. The Blackboards' of Rudolf Steiner (catalogue for exhibtion: Visible Thought) Editor and author of key catalogue text. Rudolf Steiner Press [English]. 2003. Curator of exhibtion ‘Visible Thought' [Edinburgh College of Art and other venues in the UK, including Oxford Brookes]. Research focus: An exploration of the notion of ‘visible thought' and its significance for the shaping of the individual and in the social sphere / social sculpture . [English]
4. Imagination, Inspiration, Intuition: Joseph Beuys and Rudolf Steiner (Co-curator of exhibition and author of catalogue essay for National Gallery of Victoria Oct 2007. [English] Research content: An exploration of the notion of ‘visible thought' and its significance for the shaping of the individual and in the social sphere / social sculpture.
Walters’s specific areas of research and teaching interests include:
-The relationship between ethics and aesthetics
- Art in evolution; evolution in art.
- The nature of substances and their metamorphosis
- About methodologies: from perception to the idea and from the idea to will
- Spirit in art (art historical studies)
- Creative strategies: the relationship of values to inner and outer work
- Creative strategies: related to social sculpture and connective practices
- From the comprehension of art to the art of comprehension
- Art and science: their common ground, specific features and synergies
- Social questions and social sculpture
In addition to his ongoing research activities relating to the field of social sculpture, Walter Kugler will now, in his role as Professor of Social Sculpture at Oxford Brookes, be working alongside Shelley Sacks, co-supervising PhD students in the above areas and contributing to the Masters in Social Sculpture.
© 2008 Social Sculpture Research Unit
