Scaling Matters: From the Lab to the Field

The 2022 presentation of the Doctoral Program »Matters of Activity« at the MoA Retreat in September at Landgut Stober was both a review and an outlook of the doctoral research conducted at the Cluster between 2020 and 2022. Under the title »Scaling Matters: From the Lab to the Field«, Pre-Doctoral Researchers at varying stages of their research—from the very beginning to the final phase of their theses—presented their heterogeneous work, whilst continuing to negotiate common themes, methods, questions, tools.

Yoonha Kim and Frank Bauer described the groups approach in their introduction with the following words »Why would one choose scaling as a unifying principle to approach diversity among young researchers inquiring into active materiality? Why would one assume that scaling matters to their working process? Attempting an answer, the present format understands scaling as some transdisciplinary, operative constant, and it does so from various sides—as we learned how many concurring disciplinary perspectives contribute to its image while projecting this collective endeavor. It is fascinating to witness that whether it is in design, natural sciences or humanities, researchers use scaling to approach active materials. Therefore, definitions of scale used among the MoA PhD projects are not consistent, and even within a single project, one can find the concept used in manifold and often complementary ways. Rather than suggesting one concise explanation of such complexity, we would hence like to propose a conversation on the dynamic use of scaling in an interdisciplinary research setting«

The format combined talks and an exhibition and invited MoA members to engage individually with the presenting and a selection of their research objects. Developed in the regular meetings of MoA’s Doctoral Program as a practice of science communication and of peer-group formation the presentations can be viewed as a documentation of the program’s approach. The small cohort size allows for an intense interdisciplinary exchange aiding the research and development of sustainable strategies and technologies. It creates an ideal basis for collaboratively researching active materiality with a high scientific standard, which is at the same time application-oriented. On the one hand, the perspective »From the Lab to the Field« points to the interrelation of laboratory work conducted in Berlin with fieldwork pursued on the activity of matter across the world. On the other, it refers to research development carried out in the program’s laboratory within the field of further academic research and practical applications.

The booklet with all projects can be downloaded here. If you are interested in a printed exemplare please contact franziska.wegener [​at​] hu-berlin.de.

With contributions by: Dimitra Almpani-Lekka, Frank Bauer, Dominic Eger Domingos, Johanna Hehemeyer-Cürten, Yoonha Kim, Felix Rasehorn, Jakub Rondomanski, Nikolai Rosenthal, Anna Schäffner, Maxie Schneider, Boshra Shams, Lucas Siquera Rodrigues, Rasa Weber, Babette Werner, Binru Yang

We would like to thank everyone involved for their efforts around this all-around successful event.