Lens of Impact: Perspectives on Art and Design

A new event series presented by Parsons’ School of Art and Design History and Theory and Swissnex in New York invites Swiss and US-based speakers to engage in a cross-cultural exchange on art and design practices.

April 3, 2024 | New York

Swissnex is excited to announce Lens of Impact, a new event series in New York in collaboration with the School of Art and Design History and Theory (ADHT) of Parsons School of Design at The New School. The series, taking place at The New School’s Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall in Greenwich Village, facilitates conversations between Swiss and US artists and designers, exploring how the local political, social, and cultural landscapes shape their practices.

Each iteration of the event series connects two distinguished speakers to share their perspectives, explore points of connection between them, and engage in an open discussion with Parsons students and broader Swissnex audiences. “Our goal with this series is to bring together differently situated perspectives and provide a platform for exploring the different lenses through which these practices are perceived and performed in Switzerland and the United States,” says Marc Streit, Head of Arts and Creative Industries at Swissnex in Boston and New York.

The first event, taking place April 10, will focus on the human-animal relationship in art and design, featuring a conversation between Radhika Subramaniam, an Associate Professor at Parsons School of Design, and Swiss artist and activist Daniel Hellman, also known as Soya the Cow. Topics of future editions include queering and migrating design. Following each event, the conversation will be transcribed and collected in an online public archive.

In exploring cross-cultural approaches to design, Lens of Impact builds on The Expanding Scope of Design, a report published last year by Swissnex and Boston-based design studio Other Tomorrows, exploring critical shifts in the design landscape across Switzerland and the US.