Karin Kolb, Astrid Schneider, Gundolf S. Freyermuth, Philipp Bojahr, Denis Anders and Stefan Herzig in front of the painting “The Favourable Opportunity” by Peter Pauls Rubens, depicting the idea of kairós. Copyright: Rene Traut.
Gundolf & kairós
This post is by Dr. Philipp Bojahr, who joined the Cologne Game Lab in 2019 to take on the role of research manager. In 2022, he moved to the BMFTR-funded tandem position “New Media in the Museum,” established as a cooperation between the Siegerlandmuseum and the Cologne Game Lab, where Prof. Em. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth served as his supervisor. As a postdoctoral researcher with the CGL, Philipp Bojahr conducts research and teaches in the fields of game studies, interactive media, and artificial intelligence in the cultural sector. In parallel, he heads the Department of Research & Digital Transformation at the Siegerlandmuseum.
Check out his contribution below:
Gundolf & kairós
I cannot say exactly when I first met Gundolf S. Freyermuth. As an author, I had already formed something like a parasocial relationship with him during my studies, long before we encountered each other in person at conferences. At my very first Clash of Realities, he promptly invited me to the conference dinner – and from there, our contact gradually grew. Eventually, during my PhD, I dared to suggest him as a member of my examination committee – and he immediately agreed. After the defense, while we were raising a glass, Gundolf followed his congratulations with a seemingly casual question: whether I might be interested in a position at the Cologne Game Lab. There was an opening in research management, he said, and I might be a good fit.
For my subsequent life, that brief question turned out to be consequential in the best possible sense. And it illustrates one of the qualities I have come to value most in Gundolf: his instinct for the right moment – not only to seize it, but to create it for others. There is a concept in ancient Greek thought that captures this quality with remarkable precision: kairós, which refers to a fleeting moment, a chance that demands recognition and decisive action.
What I have observed in Gundolf over the years is precisely this sensitivity to kairós. In difficult or uncertain situations, he has a way of identifying possibilities and of acting on them where others might see only constraints. This applies not only to individual projects, but to the institutional development of the Cologne Game Lab itself. I wager that, especially in its early stages, the institute would likely not have evolved in the way it did without Gundolf’s capacity to recognize and mobilize such moments of opportunity. The same holds true for my own position, as he recognized the opportunity within a funding framework to merge my existing work as a curator with my job at the CGL.
At first glance, such decisions might appear as spontaneous, lucky ideas – but this would be a misunderstanding. What presents itself as intuition is in fact grounded in a deep understanding of structures, contexts, and trajectories. Kairós, in this sense, is not luck. It is cultivated perception. And that is one of the many things one can learn from Gundolf: to remain attentive to those easily missed moments when things begin to align, and to act when they do.
Philipp Bojahr