//Vortrag in englischer Sprache//

Abstract:

During his presentation, Prof. Lilas will address specifics of educational process in the environment of discursive abundance found within the framework of ever increasing informational acceleration. If @realDonaldTrump can tweet policies, why can’t #teacher tweet @teaching? Information flow aside, the unprecedented access to semi-creative and semi-democratic rhetorical engines such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and such, created a new cultural terrain, which applying Schumpeterian paradigm of “creative destruction”, seems like a classic case of emancipated public potential worth celebratory accolades. But is it so? How this planetary field, wide open for any form of self-expression, and at the same time also driven by memetic if not myopic rules of ranking, likes and recognition, actually supports individual emancipation?  And what is the role of art teacher in the era of flattened hierarchies, total access to all forms of information and instant publicity?

Vita:

Zil Lilas is since 2009 a tenured professor at the Academy of Media Arts, Cologne (Germany). In his academic career Prof. Lilas has been consistently engaged with the phenomenon of new technologies especially in a social and artistic context. The thematic range of his research, teaching and praxis spans from aesthetics of 3D representation to politics of creative industries, from architecture of narrative constructs to design futures and gamification. His pedagogical achievements are marked by the prizes won and successful startups established by his students: Student Academy Award (Oscar) 2016 and NRW award at 62nd International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, also Bild und Ton Fabrik, Vamos Animation, Lichtblick Studio among many others.

After graduating the Ohio State University with a Master of Fine Arts in computer graphics and painting Z.Lilas was professionally engaged in Hollywood where he served multiple technical and artistic positions ranging from artist to technical director for a number of both start-ups and internationally renowned companies such as Walt Disney Studios, Oddworld Inhabitants, Metrolight Studios, Artist’s Inc and etc. He has worked on a number of blockbuster animation films, games, publications, and television projects including Treasure Planet, Chicken Little, Munch’s Oddyssey, Siegfried and Roy and etc.

Since 2004 Z.Lilas has been an author of multiple EU funded projects ranging from workshops, pilot of new experimental MA studies and a TV show.  His expertise in the fields of art, design, technology and education is widely recognized and Prof. Lilas is a frequent expert at various EU and national evaluation panels.