S†ëfan Schäfer

S†ëfan Schäfer is an Amsterdam-based designer and researcher investigating the power of death and commemorative ritual in relation to environmental devastation. All projects result in various media and are declared D.E.A.D. (Death. Environment. Anthropocene. Design). They have been internationally exhibited and are close collaborations with people and institutions of different fields: for instance anthropology, poetry, music, hacking, dance, theatre, music-theatre artists, end-of-life care, funeral industry, green funeral activism.

Research

In June 2023 Schäfer started his Professional Doctorate (PD) at DAS Research, lectorate of the Academy of Theater and Dance, entitled “Breaking Apart Together: Performing speculative design with dying mountains and glaciers”. Given the increasing mortality rate of glaciers and mountains in the Alps and Iceland: What role can speculative design play in enabling humans and more-than-humans to face and respond to the death of glaciers and mountains? Can mountains and glaciers be equal collaborators in the design process regarding climate crisis? How are both, humans and more-than humans moved emotionally by the movement of mountains and glaciers as they cope with (future) ecological grief?

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