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 1st Annual Conference Happening Online
»The Analog in the Digital Age« MoA Annual Conference, 11 November 2020 (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«
Please save the date of November 11th, 2020 for an exciting day with lots of surprises, an experimental virtual format and digital participation around the topic »The Analog in the Digital Age«. Stay tuned for more information!
more
New Junior Research Group »Adaptive Fibrous Materials«
Members Charlett Wenig and Johanna Hehemeyer-Cürten Were Awarded 2nd Place at Idea Competition of »Die Junge Akademie« for »The Bark Project«
»The Bark Project«, Charlett Wenig. Copyright: Patrick Walter, MPIKG
The MoA research group »Adaptive Fibrous Materials« is interested in interactions between a biological material and its environment. The fact that plants are sessile make them particularly interesting regarding their adaptability and optimization strategies – there is no way for them to escape. Remodeling processes, such as those found in the animal kingdom, are absent and adaptation takes place by growth. The junior research group is jointly funded by »Matters of Activity« and the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Surfaces (MPIKG).
more
»Coworking Materials. Für einen aktiven Materialismus«
Joint Conference of the International Research Center for Cultural Studies, University of Art and Design Linz and »Matters of Activity«
Poster Conference »Coworking Materials«. Copyright: International Research Center for Cultural Studies, University of Art and Design Linz
In Design, Cultural and Natural Sciences, an anti-Cartesian turn has manifested itself in recent years, which denies the separation into active ›res cogitans‹ and passive ›res extensa‹ and understands the material world as (co)acting. The conference from October 7th–9th will deals with the aesthetic and political consequences of this turn, in design practices and thought processes. The conference will be held in German, including many Cluster members.
more
ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 1.10.2020
More on the Research Group »Adaptive Fibrous Materials«, which is interested in interactions between a biological m… twitter.com/...
Scaling Nature 3: Growth
Works on Display at weißensee school of art and design
Yin 阴 , Cindy Peng. Copyright: weißensee school of art design berlin, Cindy Peng
The MoA Design Research Studio on »Growth« is a continuation of the »Scaling Nature« series introduced in Summer 2019. In this context, the core idea of the studio is to investigate matter as an active agent in the design process. This means that it has its own innate capacity of formation and performance, that is being designed from the bottom up. Scaling nature can be understood as the process of extracting principles from naturally occurring systems and taking them as inspiration for specific applications – during this process scaling operations necessarily are one key aspect of this translation. The results of the MoA Design Research Studio on »Growth« will be on internal display at the weißensee school of art and design berlin from September 22nd to October 14th, 2020.
more
The TA T Opens Again on 1 October 2020
With a New Exhibition by the Artist Oliver Thie
Oliver Thie: Die Wahrheit über den Ursprung der Welt, Ruß und Schellack auf Pergamyn, 46-teilig, jeweils 28 × 37 cm, 2019–2020. Copyright: Felix Sattler/ HU
On October 1st the Veterinary Anatomy Theater (TA T) opens its doors again (for pre-registered guests) with its new exhibition »OLIVER THIE. Die Wahrheit über den Ursprung der Welt«. The Berlin artist Oliver Thie preserves the shadows of rocks and reveals their long history. For over two hundred years, the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin stores a collection of unimposing gray basalt specimens. They are evidence of a heated controversy about the origins of the earth known as the basalt dispute, which took place in the 18th century. Oliver Thie has explored these objects in an interdisciplinary dialogue with scientists from the Humboldt-Universität and the Museum für Naturkunde.
more
Cluster Researcher Felix Rasehorn Nominated for German Design Research Award for »Digital Twin«
Vote Now Until 30 September 2020
Hybrid Interactions for Neurosurgical Planning. Project Digital Twin. Copyright: Felix Rasehorn
Cluster PhD Candidate and Designer Felix Rasehorn is nominated for the German Design Research Award. The young designers award is endowed with a sum of 1.000€ for the winner, who, after preselection by IfDRA, will now be chosen directly by the community via public voting. Now you are called upon to cast your vote for the most interesting work. His project »Digital Twin« is an applied research project on the representation and perception of brain matter in neurosurgery procedures that aim to use the operation-planning process as an opportunity to mentally rehearse actions during surgery.
more
The Human Liver Matrisome
Journal »Biomaterials« Accepted Paper by A. Daneshgar, O. Klein, G. Nebrich, M. Weinhart, P. Tang, A. Arnold, I. Ullah, J. Pohl, S. Moosburner, N. Raschzok, B. Strücker, M. Bahra, J. Pratschke, I.M. Sauer, and K.H. Hillebrandt
Biomaterials, Vol. 257, October 2020. Copyright: Elsevier
Together with their colleagues, Cluster members Johann Pratschke, Igor Sauer and Marie Weinhart published the paper »The human liver matrisome. Proteomic analysis of native and fibrotic human liver extracellular matrices for organ engineering approaches« in the international and highly ranked journal »Biomaterials«.
more
We Are Humboldt
»Matters of Activity« in the New Image Brochure of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
»Wir sind Humboldt«. Image brochure of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Fotos: Matthias Heyde, Grafic Design: Weserloh Media. Copyright: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Entitled »Wir Gestalten. Material World«, the Cluster research is represented by two contributions in the new HU image brochure. The materials scientist Lorenzo Guiducci, the professor of textile and surface design Christiane Sauer and the literary scholar Karin Krauthausen are giving a brief and concise insight into the thematic fields and interdisciplinary cooperation of the Cluster.
more
ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 1.10.2020
Jackets, canvases and glazes out of bark? #MoA Researcher @CharlettWenig is part of our new junior research group… twitter.com/...
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.
more
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).
more
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
more
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.
more
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.
more
ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 30.9.2020
RT @MpiciPotsdam: Mode aus #Baumrinde: Ein kurzer Beitrag im @ardmoma über ein "Abfallprodukt" mit ästhetischem Potenzial, @CharlettWenig;…
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.
more
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.
more
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.
more
Where Analog Solutions are More Efficient than Digital Ones
Interview with Peter Fratzl in Austrian »DerStandard«
In »DerStandard« MoA's Co-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.
more
ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 24.9.2020
RT @HumboldtLabor: Im #HumboldtLabor werden Universitätssammlungen eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Sie werden befragt werden wie sie entstande…
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.
more
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 Co-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.
more
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
more
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.
more
ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 18.9.2020
RT @HumboldtLabor: Wie wirkt sich der Raum auf Wissensprozesse aus? Im #HumboldtLabor werden die Besucher teil eines Forschungsprojekts bei…
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.
more
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.
more
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?
more
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.
more
ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 17.9.2020
@paulfeigelfeld Happy to have you!