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.
Times of Waste – Handling Matter
Symposium Conceptualized and Curated by the Research Team »Times of Waste« at FHNW Academy of Art and Design Basel, in Collaboration with MoA and Kunstgewerbemuseum
Banner »Times of Waste«. Copyright: Rory Witt
The symposium taking place June 17th – 18th provides a platform to discuss the engagement with (waste) material and bridges between theoretical studies and a response/able, careful way of handling materiality in sciences, arts, and collections. The event is conceptualized and curated by the research team Times of Waste at FHNW Academy of Art and Design Basel and realized in collaboration with the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity« and the Kunstgewerbemuseum der Staatlichen Museen Berlin.
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Architectures of Weaving
A Virtual Event Organized by the Project »Weaving«
Architectures of Weaving. Copyright: Xingwen Pan, weißensee school of art and design berlin; NODE Berlin Oslo
The event »Architectures of Weaving«, taking place July 2nd, explores textile construction as an architectural design approach. Textiles can construct a useable space, while they are a spatial material structure in themselves. Discussing this relationship, the symposium will cross scales and disciplines.
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Ultratool – Why Calling it Phone?
Collaborative Studio Project with Students from the Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London, and weißensee school of art and design berlin
WEON prototype. Copyright: Netta Gigi, Harrison Tan, Fu Yitao, Jehyun Kim
The phone call has taken a back seat as an interaction and is replaced by the multitude of applications such as navigation, healthcare, Internet of Things or social media. Various filters and filtering technologies interact simultaneously to shape our access and exchange with our environment. The studio project »Ultratool« addresses this development and investigates conditioning cultural and social behaviors within the technology ecosystem we live in. The aim of the project is to develop new product ideas and concepts, based on various analyses and design methods on technical and cultural aspects. »Ultratool« is a collaborative studio project of MoA Design Research Studio with students from the Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London, and weißensee school of art and design berlin. The final presentation will be held on Wednesday, June 23rd, 2021 at 10.00 am–12.30 pm (CET).
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 18.6.2021
RT @HumboldtLabor: Wir öffnen! Am 20. Juli öffnet das Humboldt Forum und damit ebenfalls das #HumboldtLabor mit der Ausstellung "Nach der N…
On Gestaltung
New Online Lecture Series at weißensee school of art and design berlin
Circular processes and feedback loops in additive manufacturing processes, Babette Wiezorek 2016, porcelain, 3D printing (detail). Copyright: Babette Wiezorek 2016.
On Tuesday, May 11th has started »On Gestaltung«, the new online lecture series initiated by Cluster members Jörg Petruschat and Patricia Ribault at weißensee school of art and design. This lecture series is conceived in two parts: »Theories«, which complements Jörg Petruschat’s seminar »Theories of Gestaltung«, and »Actions«, which is an extension of Ben Lignel’s seminar »Performing Research: Being with / Learning with / Speaking with an Object«. The next speaker on June 8th will be Glenn Adamson, curator and writer, previous director of the Museum of Arts and Design (New York), head of research at the V&A (London), and Curator at the Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee.
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Matters of Activity at Humboldt Labor
Cluster Video Online Now
Still from »Matters of Activity« Film at Humboldt Labor. Copyright: Time Prints 2021
The Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity« is represented with some exciting objects in the exhibition »Nach der Natur« at the Humboldt Laboratory of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. You can now watch an introduction to the Cluster in advance right here on this page. Follow the link to the video in German with either English subtitles or in easy language.
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Talking Matters
Online Lecture Series of the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity«
Poster Online Lecture Series »Talking Matters«, Copyright: Lucius Fekonja, Bastian Beyer, Iva Rešetar, adapted by NODE Berlin
On Tuesday, May 18th, 2021, »Matters of Activity« has launched the online lecture series »Talking Matters«, in which external speakers from various disciplines are invited by the six cluster projects to provide insights into their research, which is related to central issues of »Matters of Activity«. In addition to researchers and students from various disciplines, the lecture series is open to anyone interested in our research.
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Ferment-Activity Club
#3 Jumpstart Drinks: Kefir, Kvass and Dandelions
Water Kefir, Copyright: Antje Nestler
In the next session of the ferment-activity club on Wednesday, June 16th at 4pm, MoA member Antje Nestler will share her practice and show us the shiny world of water kefir crystals.
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Interdependence of Structure and Function in Biological Materials
Peter Fratzl holds Lecture Series for an Interdisciplinary Audience at HU
Biological materials are built with a limited number of building blocks, based on polysaccharides, proteins, and minerals. Copyright: Julia Blumenthal
The lecture series takes place every second Tuesday 4:15–5:45 pm and will be addressed to a pluridisciplinary audience, including sciences, design and cultural studies. All required basics from biophysics and biochemistry to mechanics will be provided. The lecture series introduces relevant structural features from molecular to macroscopic scales using examples for materials based on proteins or on polysaccharides, in particular cellulose and chitin.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 18.6.2021
RT @Bio_Buildings: We can't wait to hear a stimulating talk from Dr. Bastian Beyer on his experience constructing with #bacteria and #texti…
Student Assistant in the Project »Cutting« (m/f/d)
40h per Month, Limited until 31/12/2022 – MoA_05_2021 – Application Deadline 21 June 2021 – Start of Employment: August 2021
Collage, Paleontological Volume with One Point Perspective Grid. Copyright: Lucas Rodrigues
The project »Cutting« is currently looking for a student assistant in the field of Computer Science or similar. Follow the link for the announcement.
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Situated Digital Agencies
Seminar Series between MoAs Doctoral Program and the Department of Digital and Experimental Design at UdK Berlin
Situated Digital Agencies. Copyright: Maxie Schneider
During this summer semester, the teaching format »Situated Digital Agencies« bridges institutions just as much as cultures of knowledge, research and teaching. Along transdisciplinary and dialogic encounter it follows how digital technologies are and become situated between discourses of arts and design, humanities, and sciences – and suggests how precisely in these moments, they are altered, appropriated and possibly augmented towards epistemological and ontological surplus.
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Integrative Computational Design for Architecture
Kick-Off Event of the new MoA Colloquia at weißensee school of art and design
Copyright: Roland Halbe
On July 1st the MoA Colloquia at weißensee school of art and design will be inaugurated by Professor Dr.-Ing. Jan Knippers. Jan Knippers is a consulting structural engineer and since 2000 head of the Institute for Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the University of Stuttgart. His interest is in innovative and resource-efficient structures at the intersection of research and development and practice. The MoA Colloquia give the opportunity for a small group of students to meet and exchange with leading experts of the field of computational design. The lectures will be streamed and are open to the wider public.
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Student Assistant Wanted for Project »Filtering« – Apply until 25 June!
Semantic Encodings of YouTube Comments Clustered and Visualized in Two Dimensions. Copyright: Michael Tebbe
The project »Filtering« is currently looking for a student assistant in the subproject »Digital Filtering: Co-Adaptive Sensemaking Filters« in the field of Computer Science/Media Informatics/Data Science/Mathematics or similar.
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Can Bacteria Spin a Yarn? We Need a New Culture of Materials
Cluster Members Opened Event Series »MitWissenschaft/ WeSearch« at the Humboldt Forum
Can Bacteria Spin a Yarn? Kick-Off event »MitWissenschaft/ WeSearch«, Humboldt Forum Berlin, 29 April 2021. Copyright: Humbolt Forum
On Thursday, April 29th, 7–9:30 pm, members of the Cluster gave insights into the research of »Matters of Activity« in an interactive live show, thus opening the event series »MitWissenschaft/ WeSearch« at the Humboldt Forum.
Using concrete examples from the Cluster projects »Weaving« and »Filtering«, MoA members Bastian Beyer, Alwin Cubasch, Peter Fratzl, Regine Hengge, Claudia Mareis, Léa Perraudin, Christiane Sauer and Wolfgang Schäffner showed how the natural sciences, the humanities and the design disciplines work closely together to find innovative solutions to contemporary problems.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 18.6.2021
We are looking forward to another inspiring lecture by our Co-Director and Director of @MpiciPotsdam Peter Fratzl,… twitter.com/...
The Event of a Fibre
Essay by Regine Hengge and Karin Krauthausen on the Occasion of the Exhibition »Hella Jongerius: Woven Cosmos« Published
Hella Jongerius, Woven Cosmos – Pliable Architecture (2021), Copyright: Hella Jongerius / VG Bild-Kunst 2021, Photo: Laura Fiorio.
Regine Hengge's and Karin Krauthausen's essay »The Event of Fibre« has been published in the volume accompanying the exhibition »Hella Jongerius: Woven Cosmos« which will be shown in Berlin's Gropius Bau from April 29th to September 15th, 2021.
Whether in DNA interactions, bacterial biofilms or city architectures, weaving can be a model for different and relational »ecologies of life«. Ranging across artistic practices, cell biology, and human forms, molecular biologist Hengge and cultural historian Krauthausen (both Project »Weaving«) examine what we can learn from nature's enmeshed processes.
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Imagining the Heavens
Stefan Zieme's Article about Adam Elsheimer Published in the Journal for the History of Knowledge
Adam Elsheimer, The Flight into Egypt, 1609, oil on copper, 31 × 41 cm. Copyright: Alte Pinakothek, München.
In his article »Imagining the Heavens: Adam Elsheimer’s Flight into Egypt and the Renaissance Night Sky«, the historian of science and knowledge Stefan Zieme (Project »Symbolic Material«) proposes a revisionist interpretation of Elsheimer’s most famous artwork based on an analysis of the technical and cultural practices of discerning and imagining the night sky around 1600.
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Master Open Design
Cohort 2021-2023 Virtual Semester Kick-Off
Copyright: Ilkin Taşdelen, Ana Vila, Master Open Design
In April 2021, the first virtual semester of the international interdisciplinary Master's Program »Open Design« kicked-off. In the opening week, 40 students from all over the world accompanied each other on virtual walks in their study locations, interchanging visual impressions and audio files discussing different topics, ranging from ecological and sustainable design, the philosophy of the Anthropocene to emergency design and DIY.
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»Materialwissenschaft – von der Biomimese zur Bioinspiration«
Guest Article from Peter Fratzl in the »Austria Presse Agentur – Science«
Peter Fratzl has published a guest article in »Austria Presse Agentur – Science« in the series »Lehrmeisterin Natur«. Under the title »Materialwissenschaft – von der Biomimese zur Bioinspiration«, he explores the question of what makes natural materials so interesting for materials scientists. On the one hand, there are the renewable raw materials such as wood or cotton, which are widely used as building materials or textiles. On the other hand, it is the fact that nature succeeds in producing materials with an incredible variety of properties and applications from comparatively few and not always very high-quality basic materials. The article is available in German.
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Passivity Matters! Transience and Conservation Practices. Examples from the 18th Century until Today: A Talk by Nina Samuel
Berlin Museum of Medical History at Charité in 360° – Knowledge Room of MoA’s Virtual Cluster Space. Copyright: Matters of Activity
Since conservators have perfected the practice of passivating materials and slowing down their material transformation process, they have acquired a comprehensive knowledge of the activity of materials and can be considered experts in active and passive matter. The talk investigates pathological specimens and wax moulages from the conservation laboratory of the Berlin Museum of Medical History at the Charité. Asking which practices of activating and passivating are associated with these objects, the talk analyses their intrinsic activity. Linking the findings to aspects of the history of conservation, the talk argues that the dominant conservation paradigm still active today can be regarded as a legacy from the late 18th and the 19th centuries. The talk concludes with a reflection on the contemporary challenges of preserving and remembering, and with the question of how processes of material disintegration can be made productive in an ever-expanding museum culture and age of collecting. Find out more in Nina Samuel's knowledge room in MoA's Virtual Cluster Space.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 18.6.2021
RT @IWinnwa: Finally 🥳
Come see the contributions to the @HumboldtLabor by the Berlin Clusters of Excellence @scriptsberlin, @EXC2020, @ex…
Cutting 2D Polyglycerols from 2D Graphitic Templates for Inhibition of Virals such as SARS‐CoV‐2
New Publication by Jürgen P. Rabe, Mohammad Fardin Gholami and Colleagues
Copyright: Mohammad Fardin Gholami, 2020
Together with their colleagues, Cluster members Jürgen P. Rabe and Mohammad Fardin Gholami published the paper »Graphene‐Assisted Synthesis of 2D Polyglycerols as Innovative Platforms for Multivalent Virus Interactions« in the international journal »Advanced Functional Materials«. 2D nanomaterials have garnered widespread attention in biomedicine and bioengineering due to their unique physicochemical properties. However, poor functionality, low solubility, intrinsic toxicity, and nonspecific interactions at biointerfaces have hampered their application in vivo.
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Joint Project of The Clusters of Excellence »Matters of Activity« and »Science of Intelligence«: Wenn Materie lebendig wird
New Funding for Experimental Laboratories of Science Communication from the Berlin University Alliance
Copyright: Felix Noak, ExC Science of Intelligence
One of the core objectives of the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) lies in strengthening the multidirectional exchange of knowledge between universities and other important figures and stakeholders. The BUA defines knowledge exchange and therein science communication as a multidirectional process through which scientific ideas and research results are transferred to the public and external perspectives flow back into research. The experimental laboratory »Wenn Materie lebendig wird« is dedicated to socially highly relevant changes and, within them, to a knowledge production process that cannot take place in isolated research spaces, but should involve different social groups in a participatory process using innovative methods.
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Soft Fibrous Structures: Spatial Concepts for Cellulose Biofilms: A Talk by Bastian Beyer and Iva Rešetar
Bacterial Cellulose Environment in 360° – Knowledge room for the lecture »Soft Fibrous Structures: Spatial Concepts for Cellulose Biofilms«. Copyright: Matters of Activity
As a biological material, bacterial cellulose belongs to a new generation of renewable polymers that are fundamentally different from standardized, industrial materials. Its outstanding properties, such as high water absorption and filtering capacity, high crystallinity, and the ability to withstand high tensile forces, are dependent on cultivation methods, microbial activity and a constant exchange with the environment. In contrast to conventional chemical-intensive processes for extracting plant cellulose to manufacture derivatives and products, design with bacterial cellulose opens up the possibility of bringing design practices closer to the processes of organic growth. Find out more in the 360° bacterial cellulose environment in the Virtual Cluster Space.
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Natural Active Materials: A Talk by Peter Fratzl
MicroCT Laboratory at Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam in 360° – Knowledge Room of MoA’s Virtual Cluster Space. Copyright: Matters of Activity
Material Activity is discussed in the context of biological and bioinspired materials. A material property defines the relation between input (voltage) and output (current). The responsiveness of materials is defined as the change of material property through an external signal, which for the resistivity could simply be the temperature. Another example is shape-change due to humidity, which is typically found in wood. Adaptive materials respond in a feedback loop to the output serving as an (internal) signal to modify the material property if the input changes. This can lead to homeostasis or to instabilities, depending on the sign of the feedback. Adaptive growth and bone remodeling are discussed as examples of adaptivity. Finally, the emergence of complex shapes and structures from simple interactions is considered in the context of tissue growth under the influence of the environment. Find out more in Peter Fratzl's knowledge room at MoA's Virtual Cluster Space.
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Welcome to our Virtual Cluster Space
3D Anchor Room of Annual Conference. Design by Helen Galliker and Object Space Agency. Copyright: Matters of Activity
Click more to find the entrance to the Cluster's virtual environment with its 3D »Anchor Room« and the 360° knowledge rooms of our Annual Conference with all lectures, talks, digital laboratories and research objects.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 15.6.2021
Don't miss »the most beautiful and magnificent pictures a #naturalscientist can have«! (Quote Peter Fratzl, directo… twitter.com/...
Symbolic Material
Symbolic Material. Copyright: Myfanwy Evans, adapted by NODE Berlin Oslo
The change of view from allegedly passive material to »active matter« that engenders symbolic processes according to its inherent structure provokes a shift in the traditional boundaries between nature and culture. Thus, other traditional opposites (body-mind, active-passive, material-symbolic) can also be rethought as changeable polarities. The project »Symbolic Material« investigates the material foundations of symbolic processes in interaction with the symbolic dimension of materials from the viewpoint of Philosophy, History of Mathematics, Physics, and Neuroscience.
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Co-Director Peter Fratzl Receives Highest Award for an Engineer
Elected to United States National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has elected Max Planck Director and MoA Co-Director Peter Fratzl into its ranks. This honor is »among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer« the NAE writes in its press release. Out of a total of 23 new international members, Fratzl was the only researcher from Germany elected to the U.S. academy this year.
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Interactive and Personalized Museum App for Knowledge Representation
Implemented by gamelab.berlin in Collaboration With the Stiftung Humboldt Forum and as Part of the museum4punkt0 Initiative
»My Object« App. Copyright: gamelab.berlin
The project »My Object« deals with games for knowledge transfer. It is intended to offer interactive access to the objects in a museum and thus fundamentally redefine the engagement with the artworks. The starting point for the development was, that museums often exhibit hundreds of objects and that visitors are often not able to look at everything, let alone absorb all the information that comes with this diversity. The objects in the museum are no longer passive behind a display case but enter into an interactive and entertaining chat dialogue with the visitors on their smartphones.
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Biomaterials from Postdam for Charité Dentists
Cluster Member Cécile Bidan Receives Further Funding
Cluster member Cécile Bidan receives further funding for the interdisciplinary research project »InterDent«, together with dental colleagues at the Charité. Its goal is to make dental fillings or crowns more durable in the future. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding this project with 2.1 million euros, initially for three years.
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Material Form Function
Copyright: Matters of Activity
From a historical-genealogical perspective, modern culture and technology have been extensively built on passivated materials, like concrete, steel, plywood and glass. The modern techniques of material passivation account for the exhausting consumption of resources and energy – heavily contributing to the anthropogenic ecological crises of today. Against this paradigm, the interdisciplinary exploration of the inherent self-activity of (bio-)materials can be understood as a critical intervention towards novel modes of technicity and making: for the imagination of more sustainable futures and for a new culture of material.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 14.6.2021
Don't forget to join us tomorrow, 15 June, 4:15 pm, for the next round of our #lecture series #TalkingMatters… twitter.com/...
SOLO – Smart Organic Light Objects
Digital Exhibition at »Greenhouse 2021«
Vivian Tamm, Smart Organic Light Objects (SOLO). Copyright: Vivian Tamm / weißensee school of art and design berlin
The studio project »SOLO - Smart Organic Light Objects« explores the potential of new technologies for interacting with light beyond existing archetypes and traditional interfaces. New qualities of light as well as novel dynamic, responsive interactions were created catering to human behavior differently. Through an iterative design process, students from both the BA and the MA track of the Product Design program at weißensee school of art and design berlin developed concepts and prototypes demonstrating these new interactions with light in private or public settings. The works were on digital display at the Stockholm Furniture Fair »Greenhouse« February 10th–11th.
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Magic Circle
Symposium for Interdisciplinary Exchange on 25 February 2021
Magic Circle Symposium weissensee school of art and design berlin, »Erosive Modeling«. Copyright: Kristin Dolz.
In the production of knowledge, design processes are fundamental, although the experimental settings in the sciences, in the arts, in design differ in assumptions, execution and conclusions. But the richness of the material, its property of being able to change itself, its active effect on the surrounding space as well as its reactive shaping to forces and energies allow other domains of knowledge immediate points of contact and give them stimuli for their own or joint knowledge production. The symposium »Magic Circle« was organized by the »Forschungskreis« of the weißensee school of art and design berlin (khb) in cooperation with »Matters of Activity«, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Jörg Petruschat with contributions from various Cluster members.
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»Hydroweave« at the Raumprobe Material Award 2020
The Work was Realized at weißensee school of art and design berlin Within the Framework of the MoA Design Studio
Hydroweave. Copyright: Stefanie Eichler & Juni Neyenhuys, weißensee school of art and design berlin
»Hydroweave« by Stefanie Eichler and Juni Neyenhuys was awarded a recognition in the field of »Study« at the Raumprobe Material Award 2020. The project, which centers on a research-based design approach, was created in 2019 at weißensee school of art and design berlin as part of the MoA Design Studio »Scaling Nature (1): Wrinkles« under the direction of Prof. Christiane Sauer. Since 2005, Raumprobe has been a constantly growing online material database and physical material exhibition in Stuttgart. Raumprobe has been awarding the prestigious Material Prize annually since 2013, recognizing special materials.
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Designing Matter 1: From Filament To Fabric
Final Review at weißensee school of art and design berlin
Project: Lara Rocho, weißensee school of art and design berlin. Copyright: Dr. Mareike Stoll
The MoA Design Research Studio »Designing Matter 1« investigated designed filaments and fabrics as architectural material systems.
»Designing Matter« denotes the definition of the form and the materiality for the component elements of a material in order to achieve a specific functionality. This process allows to utilize and enhance the inherent properties of a given material and ultimately to generate novel ones. Codes – either analog or digital – are used to implement the design of the material by means of a systematization of this form-function interrelationship. In this context the MoA Design Research Studio made contributions with respect to the development of designed filaments and the close adherence of the architectural designed fabrics to the production sequences and patterns observed in silk-cocoons. Take a look at the projects!
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Multimedia Encounters: Experimental Approaches to Ethnographic Research
Cluster Members Maxime Le Calvé and Yoonha Kim Contribute to Virtual Group Exhibition at UCL's Multimedia Anthropology Lab
»Many Virtual Hanboks: Traditional Korean Garment Provoking Alternative Ways of Being in This World«. Copyright: Yoonha Kim
UCL's Multimedia Anthropology Lab (UCL MAL) presents »Multimedia Encounters«, the latest exhibition created to coincide with UCL MAL’s first academic conference, taking place January 12th - 15th, 2021. Multimedia Encounters attends to the relationship between anthropological thought and virtual intelligence. Our Cluster Members Maxime Le Calvé and Yoonha Kim have ethnographic artworks shown in a virtual group exhibition called »Multimedia Encounters: Experimental Approaches to Ethnographic Research« using the digital platform Mozilla Hubs.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 14.6.2021
Our project »#Cutting« is looking for a #student assistant in the field of #ComputerScience to further develop the… twitter.com/...
Material Constraints Enabling Human Cognition »MatCo«
New Research Project at Freie Universität Berlin led by Cluster Member Friedemann Pulvermüller
How is it that humans effortlessly learn a vocabulary of tens of thousands of words and symbols, whereas their closest relatives, the great apes, only manage about 100 characters? How can young children associate so many symbols with meanings without special instruction, and then, after only brief learning, use them to express their desires, feelings, opinions, and fears?
Clearly, these abilities must somehow be related to our brains - or, more specifically, to the differences that exist between our brains and the brains of other species. The »MatCo« project, funded by the European Research Council, is looking at precisely these material bases and mechanisms.
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New Funding Within Priority Program »Computational Connectomics« for Team of Charité Berlin and Members of »Cutting«
Creation of Personalized Models of the Brain of Tumor Patients
Connectome construction of a patient with a tumor in the speech-eloquent area of the brain.
The connection strengths of the white matter are shown as edges with a heat map (dark = weak connection, light = strong connection). The cortical areas of the brain and their size are illustrated as nodes in the form of spheres. Additionally, three orange TMS points are shown (TMS = Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation). In this case, the patient’s speech network could be non-invasively disturbed in these areas and mapped accordingly.
The visualization of the white matter is based on tractography. The different directions of the white matter can be measured and displayed by means of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Copyright: Lucius Fekonja & Image Guidance Lab, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
The field of connectomics aims to comprehensively describe the physical and functional coupling among the neural elements of the brain. Creating personalized models of the brain of tumor patients helps to better understand the impact of a brain tumor on the cerebral network and plasticity and functional reserve capacity. Similarly, it helps to improve effects of neurosurgery on the connectome and identify key nodes and edges, i.e., potential high-risk areas for surgery, reveal the network basis of language function in relation to tumors, and predict the course of recovery.
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The Analog in The Digital Age
Our Virtual Space was launched 11 November and Remains Open
Key Visual MoA Annual Conference. Copyright: Matters of Activity
In extraordinary times we all try out new formats: We were happy and excited to welcome so many international guests to our first digital Annual Conference »The Analog in the Digital Age« – following the Cluster's central vision to rediscover the analog within activities of images, spaces and materials in the age of the digital. Our virtual doors are still open for you to discover our laboratories, workshop spaces and microscopic landscapes in a way that you can explore by yourself topics from Germany's cutting edge research.
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Embodied Interaction (1) : HyperHaptics
Oscillating between Physical and Virtual Tactility
Embodied Interaction (1) : HyperHaptics. Oscillating between physical and virtual tactility. Copyright: Judith Glaser.
This winter semester, the Cluster Professorship for ›Embodied Interaction‹ is hosting the practice project ›HyperHaptics‹ at the Weißensee School of Art. Together with MoA researchers, Bachelor and Master students of the Department of Product Design are exploring the potential of interlocking virtual and physical tactility. ›HyperHaptics‹ is thus a direct continuation of the research work of the project »Cutting« . The overall aim of »Cutting« is to investigate the haptic dimension of the cut. How can new haptic experiences be encoded? How can the ›Sensing Knife‹ or ›Virtual Dissection‹ be experienced in a prototypical setup and what is needed for this?
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MoA Blog
Launch of a New Publishing Platform
Copyright: Matters of Activity
The MoA Blog is where the researchers of the Cluster write about their work. The Cluster contains more than 40 disciplines from Natural Sciences, Humanities and Design and aims to create a basis for a new culture of material. You will find articles, event announcements and insights from an international and interdisciplinary team and gain an insight into Germany's top-level research. Find out more about our topics.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 10.6.2021
We are already so excited that next Tue, 15 June, 4:15 pm, #materials scientist James Weaver from #Harvard will be… twitter.com/...
New 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 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).
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Exploring Filtering
A Short Project on the Filtering Process
Exploring Fitering. Copyright: Veronika Aumann, Thomas Ness
In the week-long short project »Exploring Filtering«, Cluster member and interaction designer Thomas Ness, and textile designer Veronika Aumann dealt with the topic of Filtering with an open-ended mindset. The goal of this creative exploration of filtering processes was to gauge and express them in a practical and tangible way, respectively.
The point of departure for this was not a particular substance to be filtered or a specific substrate to be attained. Rather, the interest lay much more on the actual processes of filtering in and of themselves and the filter as an object. In the »Design Lab«, different kinds and methods of filtering processes were tested hands-on with familiar prototyping materials and techniques and transformed into six narratively and visually impressive representations.
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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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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«.
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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, 7.6.2021
🕷️Tomorrow, Peter Fratzl, Director of @MpiciPotsdam will speak about »#Spider Cuticle as a Versatile #Toolbox« - we… 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.
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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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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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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 1.6.2021
The second round of our #lectureseries #TalkingMatters starts soon in about 20 minutes! Come join us to learn more… twitter.com/...
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.
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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 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.
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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, 31.5.2021
Interested in #biomechanical #signatures of diseases and #medical imaging of soft body tissues?
Then join our new… twitter.com/...