Materials and techniques — both traditional and modern — carry a wealth of characteristics. In addition to the understanding of their physical qualities and of the possibilities that those offer, their diverse cultural and histor- ical references, when properly analysed and eventually mixed up, are of great potential to the artist or designer.

Materialisation in Art and Design (MAD) challenges the conventional hierarchy between ‘concept’ and ‘making’, ‘content’ and ‘process', by making the material expression of works paramount.

The MAD programme educates both artists and designers, who thus are encouraged to learn from each other’s expertise and to investigate and cross the conventional borders of their disciplines. Working side by side strengthens the various positions the participants will take within the fields of art and/or design.

The medium is as meaningful as the carrier of the message, its narrative and its function. Moreover, the making process offers by nature surprising, irrational, coincidental possibilities that the mind simply cannot predict or imagine.

Thus, relying on personal intuitions and feelings, while welcoming the emergence of failures and the unexpected opportunities, which it generates, are to be considered fundamental means to the acts of materialisa- tion within the MAD programme. Materialisation in Art and Design works tog- ether with BA-departments and workshops at Gerrit Rietveld Academie, such as Ceramics, Glass, Textile, CadCam, Wood, Metal and Photography.

Throughout the two-year programme students experiment with various materials and tech- niques, while developing individual projects and a collective material library, guided by a fluctuating group of mentors who intro- duce a variety of high tech, as well as traditional, media.

In the final phase of their study, students are offered the opportunity to reflect on their autonomy and to develop their critical frame- works. Based on the experiences and processes gathered during the first year, artists and designers identify and eventually define the role they need/want for themselves and the context they will work in.