Kristen Ronnevik is a Norwegian artist, currently living in Hull. Below is a transcribed version of the talk he gave at the Independent Art School Conference, October 2000.

In my second year at Hull School of Art and design, I spent a semester as a guest student at the art academy in Braunschwieg, Germany. Going there was a way of gaining new insights and of seeing other ways of thinking and doing things. During this talk, I will describe my own personal impressions of the differences in the German system from the British one.

The German system is a professorial one. Students are divided into specific classes that are each lead by a professor. Each class is like a small community. The students, together with their Professor, organise exhibitions and catalogues together. They work and feel very much as a group. Many of the classes encourage multi-disciplinary work despite having specific titles such as 'painting', 'film and performance' etc. In fact at Braunschweig there are two painting classes, so students can choose the environment they prefer to work in. This was quite interesting to experience, because in the UK there is still very much the attitude that certain people 'do sculpture' while others 'do painting' or 'do TBM' etc. Even though multidisciplinary work is encouraged there is still very much the feeling of having specific sections with a specific group of tutors for each section.

It's also interesting to consider the different ways that students react to/interact with their tutors/professor. Students in the UK have a much friendlier artist-to-artist relationship with their tutors. In Germany it is fairly different. The term 'tutor' in Germany refers to the professor's assistant. These are normally third year students who are paid by the university to be a representative and contact person for the class. These individuals are able to give technical workshops and demonstrations (for example on how to use film cameras). The Professor on the other hand is often treated as an individual with incredibly high status. The Professors taste and theoretical stance often dominate the kind of work that is produced. The students often act as their "disciples" and are awe struck. For example, at the end of year exhibitions, it was possible to tell in some classes who was part of that particular class because of the similarity of the work. This attitude is not intimidating, but it is very different.

Each class included a wide mix of students. First years mixed with masters-level students. There was no year-group hierarchy as there sometimes is in the UK. The marking system is also completely different. There is only pass or fail, no other form of grading. Whereas in England a degree course lasts for three years and in Scotland for four, four years is the minimum you must do in Germany before gaining a diploma. It is possible for students to choose how long they stay and when they wish to graduate. There is therefore a very relaxed attitude. It seemed as though people never finished, that people studied forever, for seven years etc. This means that there is time to experiment and develop, it also means that your artistic development is slower than if there was a time restriction. That perhaps people may not push themselves enough.

There is an emphasis on the semester and on project-based work rather than on specific units which students might need to do. Guest professors would come in and work with the students. I was part of a project called 'exhibition architecture with media installation'. For this project we had to work towards an exhibition at the end of the semester in Hanover. We worked with the main focus of this venue; with the space. We had a small-scale model of the venue and we worked with the placing and architecture of the space and of how and where we would locate pieces of work. It was quite interesting to have something so direct to be working to. It was very useful to actually have to build up to something.

As for social life within the University; it is very different from in the UK. The University is open 24 hours, 7 days a week. We had our own keys to the university. It was very accessible. I could work without restrictions, when I had an idea, there was nothing stopping me with simply getting on and doing it. There was a lot of socialising around studio areas. Instead of going down the pub students would talk about artwork or watch some videos and talk about them. It was a very stimulating environment. There was a very relaxed atmosphere that I found healthy, inspiring and really interesting. I was only able to get a small impression, being there for only a semester. To go into more depth I would really need to have been there for a much longer period. To a certain extent, I was only an outsider.