Stijn van der Vleuten
Posted On 29/10/2022
Interview By Pete Ho Ching Fung
Graduated in 2009 and now Graduate Coordinator at DAE, Stijn van der Vleuten shares his experience and outlook on graduation: "It is just the beginning and it is part of a process instead of a means to an end."
→  Can you tell me a little bit about your role as the Graduate Coordinator? What is your day-to-day?
I am the spokesperson for all the graduates. I get in touch with them just before their graduation. In the case of the Bachelor students, I am in contact with them throughout the academic year as they have the option to graduate in June or in January, and also in March for the last few years because of COVID. I'm in touch with the graduating students until the Graduation Show in October is finished. Specifically - after they have finished their exam, they are officially not part of the educational system anymore. I am their only contact person from the school until the graduation show. I answer all their questions about the Graduation Show, Graduation Catalogue and the photoshoot
"There is always a little bit of activism with the students here [at the Academy], which is good."
→  You graduated here in 2009, how was your experience as a graduating student compared to now, working with every single graduate?
I think many things are actually the same now as when I graduated. As students, there is always a sense of a fight with the institution - a little bit of activism with the students here, which is good. However, if you look at the nature of the student works, they have really changed. At the time I was graduating, many students were making chairs to tell stories. It is always a product that people see first, with a story attached to it. I feel many graduates today are working with similar topics, telling relevant stories but they do not feel the urge to translate it into something immediately recognisable.
"This learning [from the COVID-interrupted 2020 Graduation Show] has resulted in the first edition of the Stage in 2021, which hosted all of the more performative, digital projects that don’t fit into the traditional format of a physical exhibition."
→  What are some of the challenges over the last couple of years with COVID?
In 2020, we were already building the show but it didn’t happen in the end. There was some disappointment coming from different parties; from the students, but also from the team trying to make it happen. Although, in hindsight, it was risky to go for the physical show, but that experience also gave us the opportunity to start thinking how we should display projects differently. This learning has resulted in the first edition of the Stage in 2021, which hosted all of the more performative, digital projects that don’t fit into the traditional format of a physical exhibition.
→  How do you navigate the different expectations from the BA and MA students?
The concerns and questions from the two groups are sometimes different. Usually from the Masters they are more concerned with the concepts and the curation of the show, whereas in the BA, it usually has to do with the practical information. But in general you can always sense that most students really want to be involved in the process. Hence we also try to be more transparent about our process and try to have as many collective conversations as possible about the decisions being made.
→  What are you working on besides your role as the graduate coordinator?
Next to my work at the Academy, I am also part of an art collective with an artist and a designer from Amsterdam. It is called We Make Carpets. We don’t make carpets although the name suggests differently. We make art installations. We have about 2-6 projects a year and sometimes we're working two months non-stop, sometimes we touch base once a week preparing upcoming projects.
The collective already started the year I graduated at Design Academy Eindhoven. We are always interested in the beauty of everyday objects and showing what we see in these objects. Objects that people take for granted. We often start with working really hands on with these products, and we end up making patterns out of them on the floor, carpet like. There is a never-ending search - for of new possibilities or organising or rearranging objects and materials. We have a set of rules that is also changing, for example, we never stick things to the floor. We also never make a plan in advance, so the work is always site specific. Recently we also started working more and more on permanent work. For example we are now working on two art pieces that will be in public space for 30 years. It is totally different from where we started.
"My advice [to graduates] is to take a step back and wait for the brief that you really want to come by. Take your time and wait for the right moment."
→  As a practicing designer, do you have any advice for recent graduates or graduating students?
Graduating is just the beginning and it is part of a process instead of a means to an end. In my other job as a designer, mostly in the event architecture, I have learnt it is important to say no every now and then. Sometimes, especially in the beginning, if you get a brief it is hard to say no, as you are trying to make a living out of it. My advice is to take a step back and wait for the brief that you really want to come by. Take your time and wait for the right moment. In the mean time, feel free to work on your own things. I made the mistake of working on something that in the end I realised it wasn’t the thing I wanted to do.
→  Where can students find you?
Most of the times you can find me on the 2nd floor, and you will see me around in meetings regarding the Graduation Show Otherwise you can always email me at .