Head of the International Office
Paola Yaconis
Kontakt
Campus Straßburger Platz | Raum 120
Tel +49 351 44 45-417
p.yaconis@fh-dresden.eu
How did you go about preparing for your trip?
Preparing for my stay in Scotland was quite an adventure and all happened at very short notice. It was helpful to get in touch with the International Office at the partner university early on and to keep in regular contact about the opportunities on offer and course choices. As a standard semester abroad didn’t work out, I was able to find a solution at short notice with the help of the International Office by taking a so-called short course.
How did your journey go?
After discussing it with my professor, I came up with the idea of converting my car into a mobile campervan: out with the back seat, in with a platform. This created enough space for luggage, equipment and a mattress. An additional power inverter, connected to the car battery, provided enough power for my laptop and mobile phone. At the end of March, the journey could finally begin.
After a few stop-offs in Belgium, I reached the French coast to take the ferry to England. The 2nd LTAP Conference took place in London – a gathering of futurists, long-term thinkers and representatives of international long-term art projects. As a representative of the Wemdinger Time Pyramid, it was a great honour for me to take part and exchange ideas there. Particularly impressive was the visit to the London-based Longplayer project: inside a small lighthouse on the Thames is an algorithmic sound system that generates music for over 1,000 years – without ever repeating itself! The piece began in the year 2000 and will continue to be played until the year 3000. For as long as this music can be heard, it will accompany generations of Londoners and listeners – a truly breathtaking experience.
On the last day of my stay in the British capital, I visited the Science Museum of London, where I was able to see the first prototype of the Clock of the Long Now. Developed by the Long Now Foundation, this device tests a unique clock mechanism that will keep ticking for 10,000 years – a manifestation of long-term thinking.
After my stopover in London, I continued on towards Edinburgh – with a few detours that gave me further insights into England. At Easter, I was finally warmly welcomed by the hills of Edinburgh. The Edinburgh Futures Institute not only offered fascinating talks on future-oriented topics, but also numerous social events that made it easy to make contacts quickly. It was particularly positive that events such as the UtopiaLab made it easy to strike up conversations and network. I can only recommend attending as many of these events as possible – they make settling in so much easier. The short courses in Philosophy & Arts, as well as the research opportunities on XR in Cultural Heritage, have also greatly enriched my own research.
Where did you stay?
I opted to live in a camper van – a solution that proved to be adventurous, but often ideal too: flexible travel, plenty of park-and-ride options and no rental costs. Working in universities and libraries made my stay much easier. The university buildings had toilet facilities with showers and often shared kitchens. In May, however, I decided to rent accommodation for a month: I found a small room privately in a sort of private hostel in a residential area on the outskirts of town – a pleasant addition to my mobile daily routine.