The Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity« aims to create a basis for a new culture of materials. The central vision of the Cluster is to rediscover the analog in the activity of images, spaces and materials in the age of the digital. Biology and technology, mind and material, nature and culture intertwine in a new way.
The Analog in the Digital Age
Save the Date of 11 November 2020 for our Annual Conference
»The Analog in the Digital Age« MoA Annual Conference, 11 November 2020, Credits (From Top to Button, Left to Right)
Bacterial Curtain. Copyright: Bastian Beyer and Iva Rešetar
Visualization of the cellular network inside a compact bone. Copyright: Andreas Roschger & Richard Weinkamer, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Medallion commemorating Lorenzo de’ Medici: Felt hat and two daggers, after 1537. Copyright: Arthor’s Archive
E. Coli Colony Biofilm. Copyright: Michelle Mantel for »Matters of Activity«
Crochet Model of a Hyperbolic Plains. Copyright: Regine Hengge
Wax Mulages, Copyright: Michelle Mantel for »Matters of Activity«
We will finally make up for the canceled MoA Annual Conference, that was supposed to take place May 14th. Please save the date of November 11th, 2020 for an exciting day with lots of surprises, new formats and digital participation within the topic »The Analog in the Digital Age«. Stay tuned for more information!
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TA Tour 360°
Veterinary Anatomy Theater (Tieranatomisches Theater) Now Accessable in Virtual 360°
TA Tour 360°. Copyright: Tieranatomisches Theater
The Veterinary Anatomy Theater (TA T) is now accessable virtually in 360°. Get a behind the scenes look of the exhibition space and enter the secret life of things. There are certainly some surprises.
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Past and Present in Mathematical Weaving
Zoom Conference on 25 September 2020
Poster »Past and Present in Mathematical Weaving«. Copyright: Matters of Activity
Weaving, braiding and plaiting can be counted as one of the oldest cultural techniques belonging to human culture, much older than agriculture or writing. While an obvious connection between weaving and mathematics – or more precisely, computer sciences – arises during the 19th century, with the Jacquard loom and Charles Babbage’s reference to it, only in 1926 a comprehensive mathematical theory of braids first appeared. But does this mean that weaving techniques and practices were not considered mathematically before the 19th century, or were not considered as being able to prompt and deliver, explicitly or implicitly, any mathematical knowledge?
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 31.7.2020
»Past and Present in Mathematical Weaving« - Join our Zoom Conference on September 25th and discuss the intricate a… twitter.com/...
Field/Works. Kaleidoscopic Activities Between Anthropology and Art
Exhibition Opens Including Works of Cluster Members
Poster »Field/Works«. Copyright: Antart
The exhibition »Field/Works. Kaleidoscopic Activities between Anthropology and Art« opens at July 20th, 7:00pm, with a guided tour, special guests, and discussions with virtual drinks. The exhibition presents works by anthropologists and artists who break disciplinary boundaries, and whose practice foregrounds experimental, and open approaches to the theme ›field/works‹.
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»Macht Natur«
What Power do We Exert on Nature? And How Much Power Does Nature Have Over Us?
»Macht Natur« at State Studio. Copyright: Samuel Henne
The exhibition presents innovations, potentials and risks of bio-economy in the fields of insects, plants, soil and air, offering you the opportunity to try out different perspectives and deal with new phenomena in a playful way. How far do we want to go and where do we draw boundaries? ›Air‹ will be investigated by design researcher and Cluster member Clemens Winkler.
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Matters of Writing
3rd Open Design – Academic Encounters Online
Matters of Writing. Copyright: Matters of Activity
Do you see yourself as an author? This question was asked by Laura (Violeta) Colombo, lecturer in the Master's Degree in Open Design at the Universidad de Buenos Aires during the third meeting of »Open Design - Academic Encounters Online«.
A short silence, heads shaking, followed by shy hand signals. Why do we find it difficult to consider and also identify ourselves as authors? What makes for good writing? Why do we write, what do we write and how do we write it? These were some of the key questions of this week's online encounter held by Maxime Le Calvé, Research Associate at Matters of Activity in collaboration with Laura (Violeta) Colombo, Research Assistant at CONICET (National Council for Scientific and Technological Research of Argentina).
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Professorship for Digital Neurosurgery
With 100 % Regular Working Time – W2 BBesG-ÜfBE. – Limited for 5 Years
At the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the position of Professor of Digital Neurosurgery at the Clinic for Neurosurgery with the working area Pediatric Neurosurgery (Director: Prof. Dr. Peter Vajkoczy) located at the CharitéCentrum 15 for Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry is open for applications. He/she will evaluate, support and promote the digital transformation in surgery and related disciplines within the framework of the Cluster of Excellence.
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Junior Professorship for Digital Surgery and Interdisciplinary Technology Research
With 100 % Regular Working Time – W1 BBesG-ÜfBE. – Limited for 3 Years, Possible Extension for a Further Three Year Period after Evaluation (Announcement in German)
Extra-Cellular Matrix Liver at Experimental Surgery Lab. Copyright: Igor Sauer
Within the framework of the Cluster of Excellence, he/she will evaluate, support and promote the digital transformation in surgery and related disciplines. In cooperation with the research areas »Cutting« and »Material Form Function«, new surgical cutting techniques are to be investigated and developed, the repertoire of methods expanded and innovations initiated. It is planned to link the content of the project to institutions currently being established, such as »Der simulierte Mensch (Si-M)« and the »Berliner Simulations- und Trainingszentrum (BeST)«.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 27.7.2020
RT @HumboldtLabor: Ein interaktiver Fischschwarm reagiert im #HumboldtLabor auf die Besucher. Er steht gleichermaßen für Schwarmintelligenz…
Open Design
Academic Encounters Online
Open Design – Academic Encounters Online. Copyright: Matters of Activity
Announcing the deferral of »Open Design« to the summer term 2021 was a very difficult decision. We were all so much looking forward to start the program with a fantastically diverse group of 32 international students from all over the world. But only few days after the arrival of some of the students to Buenos Aires it became clear to us that we would not be able to start as expected. Borders were being closed, travel authorizations withdrawn, and flights cancelled. Both universities, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Universidad de Buenos Aires, operated in emergency presence mode and peoples’ everyday mobility everywhere became limited
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Cutting
Fiber tractography delineating the white matter of the brain. Copyright: Lucius Fekonja, adapted by NODE Berlin Oslo.
Cutting is one of the oldest cultural practices. It is a fundamental way for human beings to enter into correspondence with materials. With these specific gestures and tools, people alter and reshape material boundaries and intertwine different entities. Those activities span across wide forms of tacit knowledge, from ancient craftsmanship to current high-tech procedures. In the domain of art, the cutting of text, music or film material produces new compositions that can provoke new insights. Similarly, in the domain of medicine, surgeons cut the body to understand and to heal it. Embedded in the way we think, write and speak, the act of cutting is ubiquitous: it means distinguishing and choosing between ›good‹ and ›bad‹ in a multitude of symbolic ways.
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An Environment for Sustainable Research Software in Germany and Beyond
Preprint Published on the »Current State, Open Challenges, and Call for Action«
Together with other researchers Cluster member Alexander Struck published a preprint on the »Environment for Sustainable Research Software in Germany and Beyond: Current State, Open Challenges, and Call for Action«. They state that, research software has become a central asset in academic research. It optimizes existing and enables new research methods, implements and embeds research knowledge, and constitutes an essential research product in itself.
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Object Space Agency
Flour Cloud. Copyright: Clemens Winkler, adapted by NODE Berlin Oslo
In »Object Space Agency«, the researchers of the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity« are gathered to examine the relationships of active materials in the sphere of objects, persons and architectural structures. Material objects appear to be temporally and spatially at once stable and changeable. Check out the brand new project website.
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Playing Against the Crisis With »Singleton #WirBleibenZuHause«
Game Researchers from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Become Solution Enabler for »WirVsVirus«
Copyright: GameLab Berlin
Dr. Christian Stein, Research Associate in »Object Space Agency«, studied German and Computer Science and is co-founder of the »Gamelab.Berlin«. He submitted the game »Singleton« to the »Solution Enabler« program of the German government and is now looking forward to further development together with his team. With over 28.000 participants and more than 1.500 solutions, the #WirVsVirus Hackathon of the German government against the COVID-19 crisis was the biggest of this kind ever.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 22.7.2020
RT @SteffenKrach: Senat beschließt Gesetzentwurf zur Kooperationsplattform der @BerlinUAlliance. Unsere drei super Unis @FU_Berlin, @TUBerl…
Closed but Open
Veterinary Anatomy Theater now Shows Exhibition »Meshwork of Things« Online
Corrosion preparation, vessels of the left hand (red plastic). Preparators: Klaws (Kiel) and Heuckendorf (Berlin), 2003. Collection of »Fächerverbund Anatomie der Charité Berlin«. Copyright: Veterinary Anatomy Theater (Tieranatomisches Theater)
»The Meshwork of Things – Sammlungsschaufenster in the Tieranatomisches Theater« shows 80 objects from 26 collections – now online! Together with its partner Shoutr.Labs MoA's cooperation partner the Veterinary Anatomy Theater (Tieranatomisches Theater) offers you the complete permanent exhibition as a couchsurfing experience.
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Funding by European Research Council
Cluster Member Prof. Dr. Dr. Pulvermüller Received Funding for the Project »Material Constraints Enabling Human Cognition«
The European Research Council is the premiere European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. A total of 1881 proposals were submitted, of which 35 ERC Advanced Grants went to Germany. The project »Material Constraints Enabling Human Cognition« will be funded with 2.5 million euros and will use novel insights from human neurobiology translated into mathematically exact computational models to find new answers to long-standing questions in cognitive science, linguistics and philosophy.
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Spread Masks not the Virus
Support the Initiative @we_can_stop_corona
MoA Members wearing masks during the Corona crises. Copyright: »Matters of Activity«
Since March 23rd the @we_can_stop_corona initiative by MoA PI Regine Hengge works to convince people and politicians that we all should wear face masks in public space to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
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MoA Design Studio: Scaling Nature (2): Fibers, Muscles, Bones
Final Presentation at weißensee academy of art berlin
»Scaling Nature (2): Fibers, Muscles and Bones« Final Presentation. Copyright: weissensee academy of art berlin
On February 11th, 2020 the final presentations of MoA Design Studio »Scaling Nature (2): Fibers, Muscles and Bones« took place at weissensee academy of art berlin. We are very happy that many MoA Members were able to attend and discuss the students' works, as the final presentations showcased the inspiring journey of this semester's research-based design projects.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 17.7.2020
We will finally make up for the canceled MoA Annual Conference. Please save the date of November 11th, 2020 for an… twitter.com/...
Where Analog Solutions are More Efficient than Digital Ones
Interview with Peter Fratzl in Austrian »DerStandard«
In »DerStandard« MoA's Deputy Director Peter Fratzl is talking about the efficiency of analog solutions compared to digital ones. In his interview, the Director of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces and Deputy Director of »Matters of Activity« also discusses information processing in nature and recycling problems. The article is available in German.
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Make It Real - Für Einen Strukturalen Realismus
Published by Karin Krauthausen and Stephan Kammer
Cover Make It Real. Copyright: Diaphanes
The publication »Make it Real. Für einen strukturalen Realismus« (Make It Real - For a Structural Realism) of the Cluster members Karin Krauthausen and Stephan Kammer deals with the relationship between structuralism and realism. The literary realisms of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries must – like structuralism itself – be understood via a tension that not only takes place between the formal-abstract structure and the diversity of empiricism or the contingency of history, but also captures and dynamises the concept of structure itself.
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Nature as Source of Inspiration
The Innovation Potential of Bio-inspired Materials
Stone Web – Spatial module system made from basalt fibre at the weissensee academy of art berlin (Idalene Rapp, Natascha-Katharina Unger, Christiane Sauer). Copyright: weissensee academy of art berlin, I. Rapp, N. Unger
Nature is a source of inspiration for the production of new materials. A project by acatech in cooperation with the Cluster Deputy Director Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Peter Fratzl, which was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), highlights the innovation potential of bio inspired materials – from chemistry and energy to medicine and robotics, art and design.
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Open Science Statement
Since 2007, International Open Access Week is celebrated at hundreds of events around the globe. This year publishers, librarians, researchers, and institutions have discussed and organized events around the theme: »Open for whom? Equity in Open Knowledge«. With its own Open Science Statement »Matters of Activity« supports its members in opening up their research
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 2.7.2020
@JohnNyakatura Congrulations, John!! 🥳
Unmaking: Against General Applicability
From Critical Media Lab (Ibach, M., Büsse, M., Gerloff, F., Bedö, V., Miyazaki, S., Allen, J.). In The Critical Makers Reader: (Un)learning Technology
Copyright: Institute of Network Cultures
What was making? What is making? What could making become? And what about unmaking? The Critical Makers Reader features an array of practitioners and scholars who address these questions.
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Brain Roads
Exploring the White Matter of the Human Brain
The Human Connectome. Copyright: Olaf Avenati
»Brain Roads« is an interdisciplinary French-German project for visualization and interactive exploration of the brain. It brings together graphic & digital designers from ESAD de Reims, engineers from Télécom SudParis, and researchers in Neurosurgery and Social Sciences from the Cluster »Matters of Activity« and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Its ambition is to develop visual representations and interactive tools for exploring the white matter of the human brain.
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Cultural Heritage - Documentation, Conservation & Information
Lectures from Prof. Stefano Bertocci und Julien Letellier
Copyright: Julien Letellier
On Friday, January 24th at 10am, Prof. Stefano Bertocci and Julien Letellier gave a lecture on »Remote Sensing in Archaelogy and Architectural Heritage: Digital Documentation for Knowledge and Conservation« (Bertocci) and »Virtual Reality with High Resolution 3D Models for Research and Education« (Letellier).
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Membranes as Molecular Machines
A workshop on Active Matter and the Remaking of Life
Images from slide collections, 1970s. Top: molecular models of retinal; center left: bleached purple membrane in cuvette; center right: chemically modified preparations of purple membrane in centrifuge tubes; bottom left: Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, 1974 (Copyright: www.luftbild-bertram.de); bottom right: electron micrograph of cell surface. By courtesy of D. Oesterhelt, Martinsried
The workshop on January 10th, jointly organized by the projects »Filtering« and »Weaving«, offered an opportunity to relate historical and current research on membranes and molecular machines to concepts of »active matter«.
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MoA Design Studio: Scaling Nature (1): Wrinkles
at NuThinkers during Domotex Tradefair in Hanover
Design Studio »Scaling Nature (1): Wrinkels«, Design: Juni Neyenhuys and Stefanie Eichler. Copyright: weißensee kunsthochschule berlin
Students of the bachelor's program in textile and surface design investigated material activity in natural structures and developed new design strategies for active surfaces in a spatial context and showcase these at Domotex, Hanover, January 10th to 13th, 2020.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 30.6.2020
RT @IGL_Berlin: Interested in fast peer-review and broad visibility for you connectomics project? Go to fro.ntiers.i... for more in…
Animal Materialities
Compositions and Practices in the History of Science
The Workshop »Animal Materialities« organised by Lisa Onaga & Laurence Douny (project »Weaving«) took place at Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Dec 5-6, 2019. The workshop examined the range of components of animal bodies used and transformed over time by animals, and humans.
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Material Form Function
Wrinkled E Coli Biofilm making cellulose. Copyright: Diego Serra & Regine Hengge, adapted by NODE Berlin Oslo.
The research group of the project »Material Form Function« deals with the relationship between material, form and function in order to generate new design principles and insights for the Materials Sciences and Humanities.
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Weaving
Cellulose in E. coli biofilm. Copyright: Diego Serra & Regine Hengge, adapted by NODE Berlin Oslo.
The project combines expertise from the fields of Anthropology, Cultural History and Theory, Literary Studies, Biology, Design/ Architecture, Material Sciences and Mathematics. The researchers investigate resources, practices and forms of weaving, focusing on the activity that is structurally anchored in the materials and as a process.
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Filtering
Filters. Copyright: NODE Berlin Oslo
The project »Filtering« investigates filters using historical, experimental and computational approaches. What information, for example, can be enhanced by new filter techniques?
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 29.6.2020
RT @Technologiepark: Science-Fiction zu #Science machen: Prof. Jürgen P. Rabe, Direktor des Integrative Research Institute for the Sciences…
Symbolic Material
Symbolic Material. Copyright: Myfanwy Evans, adapted by NODE Berlin Oslo
In the project »Symbolic Material« researchers from various disciplines investigate the material foundations of symbolic processes in interaction with the symbolic dimension of materials.
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