Prof. Thea Brejzek (PhD)
Professor Thea Brejzek (PhD) is Director of the PhD Program Scenography – a collaboration between the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and the Institute for Theatre, Film and Media Studies at the University of Vienna. This unique collaboration between a practice-‐based arts university and a research-‐based academic university comprises a double degree program. Since May 2011, Brejzek is also a Visiting Fellow in the DAB Faculty for Design at the University of Technology (UTS), Sydney.
Informed by her dual backgrounds as opera and new music stage director and theatre scholar, Thea Brejzek's research addresses questions of virtuality and physicality on the mediated stage, intermediality and practice-‐based research in scenography and spatial design. In terms of advocacy and policy-‐making, her central concerns lie with the development of new academic frameworks and an appropriate canonization regarding the evaluation of artistic practice as research. Current research interests include “Theatres of State: A scenographic perspective on the representation of national identity” and performative spaces of cultural production at the intersection of visual arts, media, performance and spatial design.
In 2009, Brejzek was appointed the Curator for Theory for the 2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (PQ), Prague CZ. She is a member of the History & Theory Commission of the International Organisation of Scenographers, the Theatre Architects and Technicians (OISTAT), the Swiss Society for Semiotics and Cultural Theory, SIBILA_Research. Gender related Creativity and Visual Culture Research Group at the School of Architecture,
University of Catalunya, Barcelona, the European Scenography Initiative (ESI) and the scenography working group at IFTR (International Federation for Theatre Research).
In 2007 Brejzek was appointed PhD Supervisor in the Z-‐Node Arts & Science Program at the University of Plymouth, UK.
Thea Brejzek is a German national and has been holding Australian Permanent Residency since 1989. She is married to an Australian national with one child and resides in Sydney, Australia and Zurich, Switzerland.
Prof Thea Brejzek (PhD)
Resides: Zurich, Switzerland and Sydney, Australia. Born Stuttgart, Germany 1962
Web Links www.zhdk.ch/?person/detail&id=110004 http://phdsceno.zhdk.ch http://www.pq.cz Current Position 2006-‐present Director PhD program Scenography Design Department
Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) (in collaboration with University of Vienna)
Since 2011 Visiting Fellow, University of Technology Sydney Academic Qualifications
2008 appointed Professor at Zurich University of the Arts Zurich, Switzerland (ZHdK)
2004 PhD in Philosophy
Institute for Theatre, Film and Media Studies
University of Vienna
Doctoral Thesis: „Physicality and Virtuality: Actor, Space and Memory on the Mediated Stage“
2004 BSc (Hons) (Psych) Open University, Milton
Keynes, UK
1988 MPhil
Institute for Theatre, Film and Media Studies
University of Vienna
1982-‐88 Master Studies in Theatre Studies and Philosophy
University of Vienna
1981-‐82 Master Studies in Rhetorics, Italian, Philosophy University of Tübingen, Germany.
Career Summary
2006-‐present Director
PhD Program Scenography
Institute for Design and Technology Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) (in collaboration with University of Vienna)
2006 -‐2008 Co-‐Director
Postgraduate Studies in Scenography Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) Institute for Design and Technology Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK)
2003-‐2006 Lecturer
Postgraduate Studies in Scenography Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) Institute for Design and Technology Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK)
1990-‐2003 Stage Director (Opera and New Music) Art Director (New Media)
(for individual productions refer to „Artistic Practice“ section)
Artistic Practice (Stage Productions) Ariadne auf Naxos (R. Strauss) (1996/2003) Stage Director.
Opera Australia, Sydney Opera House, Sydney
As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams (Eötvös) (1999-‐2000) Stage Director.
Donaueschinger Musiktage / Ensemble Intercontemporain, Paris WP* (WP indicates World Premiere)
Memoria Futura Bacon (Lopes) (2000) Stage Director Schauspielhaus Wien/Vienna WP* Capriccio (R. Strauss) (1998) Stage Director. Landestheater Linz
Iosis (Gesualdo et al) (1998) Stage Director.
Rigoletto (Verdi) (1996) Stage Director.
Wellington City Opera, Wellington
Tosca (Puccini) (1996) Stage Director
Auckland City Opera, Auckland
Tosca (Puccini) (1995) Stage Director
Opera Australia, Sydney Opera House, Sydney
Stripsody (C. Berberian) (1997 /1990) Stage Director
National Theatre, Melbourne Messepalast Vienna
MedeaMaterial (H. Müller) (1991) Stage Director
IRAA theatre, Melbourne Experimenta Melbourne
Dislocation (H.P. Jahn) (1991) Stage Director
Tage für Neue Musik, Stuttgart, WP* Sequenza V (Berio) (1989) Stage Director Malthouse Theatre Experimenta Melbourne Hamletmaschine (H.Müller), (1995) Stage Director
University of Canterbury
La Traviata (Verdi) Stage Director
Young Artists Programme, Opera Australia Sydney
La Forza del Destino (Verdi) Stage Director
Young Artists Programme, Opera Australia Sydney
Madama Butterfly (Puccini) Stage Director
Young Artists Programme, Opera Australia Sydney
Opera Repertoire (as Resident Director) Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner) Così fan Tutte (Mozart)
Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) Don Pasquale (Rossini) Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti) Lulu (Berg)
Voss (Meale)
Adriana Lecouvreur (Cilea)
L`Incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi)
Art Direction (New Media)
Pop33 (2003) – (Art Direction of Media only) Art Director
Electronic facade-‐ European Patent Office, Munich
The Robots (2000) (Art Direction of media + location based interactivity only) Themenpark Halle 4 expo 2000 Hannover Germany
Produced by Centre for Art and Media Technology ZKM, Karlsruhe http://www.mcmm.com/german/pages/expo/exp2000.html
Publications
a) Book Chapters (peer-‐reviewed/commissioned)
Thea Brejzek: Scenography or: Making Space. In: Arnold Aronson (ed), Positions on the 2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (PQ), Prague: Theatre Institute 2012 (in editorial process)
Thea Brejzek: Space and Desire. In: Space and Desire, Brejzek et al (ed), Zurich: Zurich University of the Arts, 2011. P. 6-‐20
Thea Brejzek: From Social Network to Urban Intervention: On the Scenographies of Flash mobs and Urban Swarms. In: Space and Desire, ed by Brejzek et al, Zurich 2011, p. 165-‐ 182
Thea Brejzek: Szenografien des Ausnahmezustands (Scenographies of a state of exception), in: Staging Trust – Vetrauen Inszenieren. Szenografische Grenzgänge, ed by Wilharm/Bohn, Bielefeld 2011: Transcript, p. 245-‐262
Thea Brejzek/Gesa Mueller v.d.Haegen/Lawrence Wallen: Szenografie. In: Raumwissenschaften, ed by Stephan Guenzel, Suhrkamp Wissenschaft, Frankfurt a.M. 2009, p 370-‐386
Thea Brejzek: New Contexts for Research in Performance (Text and Artists DVD). In: PARIP-‐Practice as Research in Performance, ed.by L. Allegue Fuschini, University of Bristol, 2009
Thea Brejzek: A Theatre of Ghosts? Some Thoughts relating to the Representation of Art and Scenography. In: Exhibition on the Stage: Reflections on the 2007 Prague Quadrennial. Ed: Arnold Aronson. The Theatre Institute Prague 2008, p. 17-‐25 (PDF)
Thea Brejzek: Physicality and Virtuality: Memory, Space and Actor on the Mediated Stage. In: The Potentials of Spaces, Eds: Alison Oddey and Christine White. Intellect Books, Bristol UK 2006. p. 157-‐173 (PDF)
Thea Brejzek: Körperlichkeit und Virtualität. (Artists DVD und Text). Hrsg. Danielle Perrier, Jahrbuch Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral, Bad Ems 2003
Thea Brejzek: The Actor as Agent: Performative Memories. In: Cast01 Conference Proceedings. Ed. by: Monika Fleischmann und Wolfgang Strauss, MARS Media Arts Laboratory Fraunhofer IMK, Bonn/St.Augustin 2001
b) International peer-‐reviewed Journal Articles
Thea Brejzek: The Incomprehensible Object in Exhibition, In: Australasian Drama Studies, October 2012 Focus Issue Beyond the Fourth Wall: Design, Space and Performance. Co-‐editors Andrew Filmer, Miranda Heckenberg and Joanne Tompkins (in writing)
Thea Brejzek: From Social Network to Urban Intervention: On the Scenographies of Flash mobs and Urban Swarms. In: Alternative Materialities. International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media 6(1): 109-‐ 122 PubDate: 2010-‐06-‐23 DOI: 10.1386/padm.6.1.109 (PDF)
Thea Brejzek/Lawrence Wallen: Narrative, Transformed, Mediated: The Hybrid Spaces of Scenography. In: Scenography International Issue 10. http://www.scenography-‐international.com
c) Dictionary Entries
Thea Brejzek: „Scene“ in: Philosophisches Raumlexikon (Dictionary of Spatial Philosophy), ed by Stephan Günzel, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt, 2011
d) Commissioning Editor (Book)
Thea Brejzek (ed): Expanding Scenography. On the Authoring of Space. Prague: Theatre Institute, June 2011.
e) Commissioning Co-‐Editor Books (double peer-‐review process)
Thea Brejzek/Wolfgang Greisenegger/Lawrence Wallen (eds): Monitoring Scenography 3: Space and Desire. Scenographic Strategies in Theatre, Media and Art. Zurich University of the Arts, Zurich Jan.2011, with funding from The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
Thea Brejzek/Wolfgang Greisenegger/Lawrence Wallen (eds): Monitoring Scenography 2: Raum und Wahrheit / Space and Truth. A Series on Scenography by the Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK, Oktober 2009, with funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
Thea Brejzek/Wolfgang Greisenegger/Lawrence Wallen (eds): Monitoring Scenography 1: Raum und Macht / Space and Power. A Series on Scenography by the Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK, 2008
Keynotes/Conference Papers Presented Thea Brejzek: TBA
Festivalkongress zur Bauhausbühne Dessau: Vorstellungsvermögen II, Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau, Oct 2011
Thea Brejzek: Artistic Research Collateral Damage or Epistemological Tool? Symposium: Writing in the Academy, Sydney College of the Arts, Nov 2011.
Thea Brejzek: Reflections on the 2011 Prague Quadrennial. SEAM Conference, Critical Paths, Sydney 2011
Thea Brejzek: Curating Scenography.
IFTR Conference, Scenograpy Working Group, DAMU Prague 2011.
Thea Brejzek: Keynote -‐ The Anxious Object – Looking at Spectatorship .New Theatre Institute Latvia, Riga 2010.
Thea Brejzek: Keynote -‐ Exhibiting Scenography – Engaging the Audience.
Expanding Scenography. Symposium and Workshop. University of the Arts Amsterdam / Prague Quadrennial for Performance Design and Space, 2009.
Thea Brejzek: Staged City -‐ City on the Stage.
Vilnius Art Academy, European Cultural Capital Project, 2009.
Thea Brejzek: Time and Translation. Some Thoughts about the Production of Live-‐Temporal Imagery. Z-‐Node Symposium, Monash University Melbourne, 2009
Thea Brejzek: Space and Desire. Scenography between spatial practice and theory /Raum und Begehren: Szenografie zwischen Raumpraxis und Raumtheorie.
Swiss Society for Semiotics and Cultural Theory, University of Zurich, 2009.
Thea Brejzek: From Image to Text – Interdependencies between Theory and Practice in Performance. Wimbledon College for the Arts, University for the Arts London, 2008
Thea Brejzek: New Theory through New Practice? Scenography at the Intersection of Architecture, Theatre, Exhibition and Media. OISTAT History & Theory Commission, Annual Meeting Helsinki, 2008
Thea Brejzek: The Captured and the Devoured – Mediatized Opera Scenography between Expression and Representation Music, Body and Stage: The Iconography of Music Theater and Opera. The Research Center for Music Iconography, City University of New York and Repertoire International d`Iconographie Musicale New York, 2008
Thea Brejzek: Praxisbasierte Forschung. Neue Theorie durch Neue Praxis? Kolloquium zur Theorie der Szenografie. FH Dortmund, 2007
Thea Brejzek: PQ 2007 – Scenography between national representation and international reception/Szenografie zwischen nationaler Repräsentation und internationaler Rezeption Lecture Series Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK, 2007
Thea Brejzek: The Captured and the Devoured – Mediatized Opera Scenography between Expression and Representation OISTAT History&Theory Commission, Prague Quadrennial 2007
Thea Brejzek: MultiSite Performance. A Scenographic Case Study Scenography Working Group, IFTR World Congress, Helsinki 2006
Thea Brejzek/Lawrence Wallen: Narrativity, Mediality and Transformativity – towards a language of Scenography) Scenography Working Group, IFTR Conference, Amsterdam 2005
Thea Brejzek: Physicality and Virtuality: Memory, Space and Actor on the Mediated Stage. International Scenography Conference, University of Loughborough, UK 2004
Thea Brejzek: Physicality and Virtuality/Körperlichkeit und Virtualität. 1. International Media Arts Days, Balmoral Castle, Bad Ems 2003.
Thea Brejzek: The Actor as Agent: Performative Memories. Cast01, MARS Media Arts Laboratory Fraunhofer IMK, Bonn/St. Augustin 2001
Thea Brejzek/Lawrence Wallen: New Technologies in Opera Museum for Contemporary Art, Zagreb 1997
International Curatorial Practice (Curator)
Intersection. Transdisciplinary Scenographic Research and Practices, A Series of Platform Dialogues, Public Lectures and Podium Discussions.
Curator
Prague Quadrennial for Performance Design and Space. June 2011 (15 day -‐ theory-‐event)
Expanding Scenography 3: On Curating Curator
35 speakers
Prague Quadrennial, National University of Evora Portugal September 2010 (www.pq.cz)
Expanding Scenography 2: On Artists/Authors Curator
35 speakers
Prague Quadrennial, BELEF Belgrade July 2010
Expanding Scenography 1: On Spectatorship Curator
35 speakers
Prague Quadrennial, New Theatre Institute Latvia, Riga February 2010
International Curatorial Practice (Co-‐Curator) Expanding Scenography
Co-‐Curator 10 speakers
Symposium and Workshops for Curators University of the Arts Amsterdam 2009
Monitoring Scenography 3: Raum und Begehren / Space and Desire Co-‐Curator
35 speakers
Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK 2009
Monitoring Scenography 2: Raum und Wahrheit / Space and Truth, Co-‐Curator
35 speakers
Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK 2008
Monitoring Scenography 1: Raum und Macht / Space and Power, Co-‐Curator
28 speakers
Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK 2007
Jury
Member of the Jury for digital sparks, Media Art Prize Netzspannung Org, Fraunhofer Institute Bonn St. Augustin (since 2001)
External Evaluations
Evaluation Drama Department „Practice as Research“, Univ. of Canterbury (NZ), 2011
Expert Panels
Panel „Artistic Practice as Research“, Platform Festival Christchurch Arts Centre
University of Canterbury NZ, 2010
Member Evaluation Commission Prague Scenography Quadriennal 2007-‐2011
Panel „Theatre and New Media“, Prague Quadriennal Prag, 2007
Work-‐Life-‐Balance Project (Academic Teaching, Family and Creativity) Faculty of Communication Design, Fachbereich 3, University Duisburg-‐Essen, 2002
Professional Memberships
Swiss Society of Semiotics and Cultural Theory
History & Theory Commission,
OISTAT (International Organization of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians)
International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR)
SIBILA_Research. Gender related Creativity and Visual Culture, Research Group School of Architecture, University of Catalunya, Barcelona (ES)
European Scenography Initiative (ESI)
Guest Lectureships/Masterclasses
University of Vienna (AT), Art Academy Tallinn (EST), Canterbury University, Christchurch (NZ)
Additional Activities
Curator for Theory, Prague Quadrennial for Performance Design and Space, Prague 2009-‐ 2011.
Supervisor in PhD-‐Program Z-‐Node (Art & Science), University of Plymouth UK, since 2007.
Mentor (Internal Career Development Program, with a focus on gender equality) of ZHdK 2007-‐2008.
Languages
