What would Michel von Lönneberga do?

Schnitz dich!

Theo Kortschak

The "Schnitz dich!" assignment intends to bring a mindful and tactile engagement with material and self through carving. It calls on artisans and makers to step out of fast-paced environments and into slower, contemplative modes of creating involving an actual physical engagement, intuition, and being present. Drawing from the story of Michel aus Lönneberga, the exercise takes simple childhood craft activities into a space for shared contemplation and calm.

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Instructions

Originally meant to be executed in wood, the medium was converted into carving in white soap for reasons of safety and accessibility, underscoring the very fluid notion of materiality in a creative act. At 2 PM on May 6, 2025, participants gathered sitting on the floor in a circle. In the middle were soap blocks, carving knives, and candlelight defining the common workspace. They were free of any instructions concerning time or form and set to "carving themselves out" as instincts and touch took over the guiding gesture.

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A project made in the course

What’s the Assignment?

In march 2025, eighteen students signed up for our semester project in Visual Communication at the Faculty of Design at the University of Bolzano, mysteriously titled What’s the Assignment? The stated goals: learning by doing, learn from each other, learn how to learn. We laid out five initial assignments. They covered branding and storytelling, photography, self-improvement through concentration, label design, and modular composition.
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