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.
Model and Mathematics
Open Access Volume by Editors Michael Friedman and Karin Krauthausen Published Now
Thread model by Hermann Wiener of a cone of third order and genus 0. Copyright: Collection of Mathematical Models and Instruments at Georg-August-University Göttingen, all rights reserved
The open access book »Model and Mathematics: From the 19th to the 21st Century«, published in August 2022, collects the historical and medial perspectives of a systematic and epistemological analysis of the complicated, multifaceted relationship between model and mathematics. Contributions and expert interviews range from, for example, the physical mathematical models of the 19th century to the simulation and digital modeling of the 21st century. The aim of this anthology, edited by MoA members Michael Friedman and Karin Krauthausen, is to showcase the status of the mathematical model between abstraction and realization, presentation and representation, what is modeled and what models.
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Bacterial Cellulose: Co-Weaving Biofilms
An Installation for the Triennale XXIII: »Unknown Unknows, An Introduction to Mysteries«
MoA Project »Bacterial Cellulose: Co-Weaving Biofilms« at the Milano Triennale 2022. Copyright: Triennale Milano – photo by DSL Studio
Cellulose of different forms and origins is woven together in this structure: pieces of wood, paper threads and biofilms grown by bacteria. A collaborative textile is created – human, plant and microbial. Three MoA research projects, Weaving, Material Form Function and Object Space Agency and with that many MoA Members worked together on the project »Bacterial Cellulose: Co-Weaving Biofilms« shown at the Triennale di Milano XXIII »Unknown Unknows, An Introduction to Mysteries«, in the thematic exhibition »Alchemic Laboratory«, curated by Ingrid Paoletti, from July 15th to December 11th, 2022.
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Frictioned Functionality. Un/Designing Un/Sustainable Matter
Extended Deadline: Apply for MoA's Interdisciplinary Autumn School until 19 August
Poster »Frictioned Functionality«. Copyright: Matters of Activity
Against a background of ecologies in crisis, the interdisciplinary Autumn School »Frictioned Functionality: Un/Designing Un/Sustainable Matter« invites Post-Docs, PhDs and MA students from the humanities, natural sciences and design to work through the conflicted entanglement of materiality, design and un/sustainability, using frictioned functionality as the guiding principle. In the context of this Autumn School, frictioned functionality is understood as a working concept to reopen other narrative and performative spaces of imagination in and beyond unruly times. The autumn school takes place from October 17th–22nd, 2022, applications are accepted until August 19th.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 9.8.2022
RT @JohnNyakatura: VERY pleased to see that the Journal of Anatomy chose our study for the cover of their next issue. Want to learn about c…
Growing Sensescapes
Open Design Master's Students' Projects Exhibited at Humboldt Lab
Flyer MOD at Humboldt Lab Event. Copyright: June Audirac
Our ever-so-evolving world presents us with numerous dilemmas and challenges when it comes to designing a better tomorrow. A new sensibility is required, gathering and collaborating with intelligences within nature, and thus fundamentally shifting away from obsolete and destructive routines.
The students of the Open Design Master Program are facing those challenges by radical unlearning, creating new strategies focused on the necessity of »growing sensescapes«. We are happy to invite you to a day full of the growth of sensescapes on July 25th at Humboldt Lab.
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Bioinspired Architectural and Architected Materials
Special Issue Edited by Cluster Members K. Razghandi, C. Sauer and P. Fratzl Out Now
Multiscale architectures. Left: the wooden tower of Lake Mjøsa, Norway Reproduced with permission from [1]. Copyright: Voll Arkitekter AS & Ricardo Foto. Right: the internal structure of wood based on parallel tube-like wood cells with diameters in the range of tens of microns (shown for several wood species from top to bottom). The white arrow points to a sketch where nanometer-thick cellulose fibrils are indicated by black lines [2] John Wiley & Sons. Copyright: 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
Architecture stands as a paradigm for the development of structural entities, which define functionality from the nanoscale to entire buildings. However, the distinction between structure and material becomes totally blurred in biological systems where it is impossible to distinguish between material and device or organ. A tree stem, as a prototypical example, is both material and plant organ with specific biological functions. Partially inspired by this, there are recent parallel movements—in materials development as well as in architectural design—towards the merging of materiality, structure and function into one integral construction system.
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PhD Student in Civil Engineering and/ or Architectural Design »Material Form Function« (m/f/d)
E 13 Position From 2023-01-01 Limited Until 2025-12-31
The Bark Project Flexibilized. Copyright: MPICI and Patrick Walter
The Department of Biomaterials (Director Prof. Dr. h. c. Peter Fratzl) at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPI-CI) in Potsdam, GER invites applications from young scientists for the position of PhD student in civil engineerung and/ or architectural design (m/f/d).
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Embodied Interaction (2): Heliobolici
Small Solar Self-Suppliers
KonsOasis. Copyright: An Guoliu
In the summer term of 2022, the Embodied Interaction Studio hosted the practice project »Heliobolici« at the weißensee school of art and design berlin. The Bachelor's and Master's students in the Product Design Department investigated solar technology's potential to make artifacts energetically independent. The solutions developed range from concepts for public infrastructure to personal use.
Many objects, tools or services we use daily require energy to produce heat, light, motor or computing power. A whole range of these artifacts could achieve energy self-sufficiency through solar power. In the project, we investigated objects and application contexts in which solar energy could be used to achieve energy independence.»Heliobolici« explored the question of to what extent this product dimension can generate new rituals of use and, therefore, new aesthetic archetypes. more
Many objects, tools or services we use daily require energy to produce heat, light, motor or computing power. A whole range of these artifacts could achieve energy self-sufficiency through solar power. In the project, we investigated objects and application contexts in which solar energy could be used to achieve energy independence.»Heliobolici« explored the question of to what extent this product dimension can generate new rituals of use and, therefore, new aesthetic archetypes. more
Active Materials
Central Cluster Anthology Published on 20 December 2021
Cover of publication »Active Materials«, edited by: Peter Fratzl, Michael Friedman, Karin Krauthausen and Wolfgang Schäffner. Published December 2021. Copyright: De Gruyter
What are active materials? This book aims to introduce and redefine conceptions of matter by considering materials as entities that ›sense‹ and respond to their environment. By examining the modeling of, the experiments on, and the construction of these materials, and by developing a theory of their structure, their collective activity, and their functionality, this volume identifies and develops a novel scientific approach to active materials. Moreover, essays on the history and philosophy of metallurgy, chemistry, biology, and materials science provide these various approaches to active materials with a historical and cultural context. The Open Access anthology was published on December 20th, 2021.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 9.8.2022
#MoA is organizing its 1st #AutumnSchool and we're looking forward to your applications. We explicitly encourage ap… twitter.com/...
Relaunch of the Cube of Physics
Exhibition Opened of New Sculpture and Media Station at the Long Night of the Sciences 2022
Cube of Physics, Department of Physics of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Copyright: studio gid
Can the entire knowledge of physics be represented in the »Cube of Physics« metamodel? Does it perhaps even contain the key to the world formula? The exhibition project »Cube of Physics«, which opened on the Science Campus in Adlershof during this year's Berlin Long Night of Sciences on July 2nd, 2022, deals with these and other questions. MoA Member Matthias Staudacher will explain the latest developments and findings of the interdisciplinary project group that led to the relaunch of the sculpture and media station.
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Launch of the Tessellation Archive
An Online Collection of Tiled Tissues and Architectures from Across the Natural World
Collection Overview - Tessellation Archive. Copyright: Felix Rasehorn
Tessellations are structural motifs made up of repeating tiles, found in many forms and serving a variety of functions in nature. Perhaps partly inspired by natural examples, tessellations have also been a part of human history in art, design and culture, commonly in the form of mosaics, and more recently in the realm of bio-inspired design and engineering. This collection showcases the diversity of this motif, exploring commonalities in structure and function across environments and taxa, to inspire biological and biomaterials research, but also bioinspired design and architecture. Follow the link to explore the classification scheme and compare the similarities and differences between the tessellations.
https://tessellated-materials.mpikg.mpg.de
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Award for Horst Bredekamp
Cluster Co-Director Receives the XXI Premio Internazionale Flaiano For His Study of Michelangelo's Life and Work
On July 2nd, 2022, Matters of Activity's Co-Director Horst Bredekamp was awarded the XXI Premio Internazionale Flaiano di Italianistica for the best non-fiction book of the year in non-Italian language in Pescara. We congratulate Professor Bredekamp very warmly for this prize, one of the highest awards given in Italy.
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Computational Material Culture in Architecture
Lecture Series Continues with a Talk by Achim Menges
Poster Online Lecture Series »Talking Matters«, Copyright: Cécile Bidan and Salif Sawadogo, adapted by NODE Berlin
We are very happy to continue our »Talking Matters« lecture series with a summer edition on July 12th as on-site event in the Sophienstraße 22a in Berlin-Mitte. With our guest Achim Menges, architect and professor for architecture at the University of Stuttgart and director of the Cluster of Excellence »Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture«, we are looking forward to inspiring insights into and discussions about »Computational Material Culture in Architecture«.
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Open House at Weißensee School of Art and Design 2022
Matters of Activity Involved in Many Projects Presented
Flyer Open House 2022. Copyright: weißensee school of art and design berlin.
This year, weißensee school of art and design berlin finally opens its studios for the traditional open house after two years of digital presentations only due to the pandemic. On July 9th and 10th, 12–20 pm, there will be the opportunity to learn more about the students’ projects and works developed during the last year, many of them in cooperation with or in classes led by members of the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity«.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 4.8.2022
A clear recommendation: Take the time to listen to the new episode of the podcast series #exzellenterklaert and lea… twitter.com/...
Forests as Techno-Natures: Translating Digital Environmental Subjects
Robert Stock Gives Talk at EASST 2022 »The Politics of Technoscientific Futures«
Nursery stock of spruce (2+0) for afforestation. Credits: wikimedia commons / adapted by Matters of Activity
In the Upcoming EASST Conference »The Politics of Technoscientific Futures«, taking place in Madrid July 6th–9th, Cluster Member Robert Stock is part of the panel »ForeSTS«, which aims to bring together STS perspectives on forests. His talk »Forests as Techno-Natures: Translating Digital Environmental Subjects« is closely related to the project »Active Trees – Knowledge, Technologies and Futures« as part part of »Material Form Function«.
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Matters of Activity at the Long Night of the Sciences
Lectures and Talks with Regine Hengge, Wolfgang Schäffner, and Matthias Staudacher
»Active Curtain Project« at the exhibition »After Nature« at Humboldt Lab. Copyright: Matters of Activity, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
On the occasion of the Long Night of the Sciences, Berlin’s seven Clusters of Excellence will present themselves together at the Humboldt Laboratory on July 2nd. As part of the »Meet the Scientist« series, researchers will present their outstanding research projects – in dialog with the public. For »Matters of Activity«, at 7:30 pm, Regine Hengge and Wolfgang Schäffner will talk about the »Active Curtain Project«, an ongoing experimental setup in the entrance area of the Humboldt Lab that interacts with the room climate.
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Minimal Machines 2 – Hygroscopic Hemp
Final Presentation of MoA Design Research Studio
Minimal Machines 2 – Hygroscopic Hemp. Copyright: Nuri Kang / weißensee school of art and design berlin, Image: Karola Dierichs / weißensee school of art and design berlin, Matters of Activity.
Please join us for the final review of the MoA Design Research Studio »Minimal Machines 2 – Hygroscopic Hemp«. We will meet live from 03.00 till 04.00 pm on 5 July 2022 in room A 2.06 at weißensee school of art and design berlin. The MoA Design Research Studio »Minimal Machines 2« investigates functional applications for the shape-change of hemp-rope under variant ambient humidity conditions.
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Konrad Polthier Receives John A. Gregory Award
Portrait Konrad Polthier. Credits: Konrad Polthier
We congratulate Cluster Member Konrad Polthier on the honoring of his outstanding achievements. The John A. Gregory Award is the highest award in the field of Geometric Design. It is presented to one or more individuals for ›Fundamental Contributions to the Field of Geometric Modelling‹. Konrad Polthier receives the price for his lifetime impact on the field.
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Dis/Entangling Material Futures
Lecture Series by Cluster Co-Director Claudia Mareis Continues
Dis/Entangling Material Futures. Copyright: Claudia Mareis
The lecture series takes up the ambiguous role of materials in future-making practices along with the possible geo and bio-political precarity they may generate. Different materials from sand, water, or air to living cells and whole ecosystems are the objects and interface of a range of technologies that generate images of the future. Their probabilistic methods prepare the ideational and physical ground for large and small-scale design interventions (e.g., climate-resilient infrastructures). Register now and take part in the lecture series that continues until July 18th, every Monday 4.15 pm.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 19.7.2022
How do practices of »filtering«– technical, racial, cultural, political, environmental, and otherwise – produce the… twitter.com/...
Joining Perspectives on Haptics
Online Documentation of Interdisciplinary Cluster Workshop
Design Workshop. Copyright: Felix Rasehorn
Why is the topic of haptics important to us humans and what does this mean for the multitude of scientific disciplines represented in the Cluster? In three dense days of workshop, the participants explored the topic of haptics together through the lens of design practice, history of knowledge, cultural studies, philosophy and computer science. Through experiencing demos, creating rapid prototypes, and reflection experiments, a practice-based mode of exploration was collectively developed. Through this rather broad approach, the participants sought to unfold the layers that make up haptic experiences in order to develop a shared understanding and vocabulary of the term. This is the beginning of a critical exchange on haptics with the goal of establishing a dynamic platform for MoA researchers around the haptic sense(s).
In the online documentation the group shares their abstracts, the workshop findings and questions, and invites to future collaborative formats and projects.
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stretching senses school festival
VR Worldings for Planetary Emergency at Tieranatomisches Theater
Poster Stretching Senses School Festival. Image »Subterenaen Matters« Baris Pekcagliyan, Warja Rybakova, Nayeli Vega, Paulina Greta, adapted by NODE Berlin. Copyright: Matters of Activity
Feeling limestone grow from the inside and seeing its dispersion as urban landscape; experiencing an amphitheater through vibrations of willow branches; reaching out to the hidden electrical energies of things around us; touch the surface of cellular tissues. The »stretching senses school festival« exhibits site-specific virtual reality artworks from ongoing research at the Cluster at TA T, in the continuation of the »Stretching Materialities« exhibition.
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Premiere of the VR Dance Film »Paar«
On June 9th in the Tieranatomisches Theater
Paar. Copyright: Gamelab Berlin
On Thursday, June 9th, at 7 pm, the premiere of »Paar« takes place in the Tieranatomisches Theater. »Paar« is a VR dance film split between a physical world and a virtual world, using 360° video together with motion capture technology, to dance the theater to life in VR. The virtual environment of the Veterinary Anatomy Theater (Tieranatomisches Theater, TA T) is created from the 3D photorealistic rendering of the theater, making for 180° of the virtual world and 180° of the physical world. In Paar, the dancers’ movements are tracked via motion capture technology. This recorded movement data will be mapped into the virtual environment of the TA T through avatars.
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FriBriX @ Structural Paper Workshop
MoA Members Maxie Schneider, Jojo Shone and Lorenzo Guiducci Contributed to Bauwende Festival 2022
The Pergola at Rundgang Weißensee School of Art and Design Berlin. Copyright: Maxie Schneider/ Matters of Activity
On May 27th, the FriBriX team (Lorenzo Guiducci, Christiane Sauer, Maxie Schneider, Jojo Shone) organised the Structural Paper workshop @ Bauwende Festival. Here participants have explored playfully the potential of paper as building material for constructing interwoven structures, simply holding together through friction. We understand paper as a contemporary urban resource and use waste paper to design a bottom up building process. Aftre two intense days of collective work a large pergola has been erected. The structure can still be freely visited at the premises of the Atelier Gardens, BUFA.
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Wearing Worlds at Laborastories
Yoonha Kim Presents Her Research at the Berlin Cluster of Excellence Event at Mall Anders
Flyer »Storytelling« at Mall Anders. Copyright: Mall Anders
What does the work of scientists actually consist of? At the casual »Storytelling« event in the »Mall Anders« in the WILMA Shopping Center, a broad public will have the opportunity to meet researchers from the Berlin Clusters of Excellence. For »Matters of Activity«, Yoonha Kim will give insights into her research work. She is looking into traditional Korean clothing – the ›Hanbok‹ – as an active matter and how the East Asian ontology embedded in the garment can trigger divergent ways of how digital objects exist.
ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 18.7.2022
We're hiring! We're looking for a #phdcandidate from the fields of #civilengineering or #architectural #design to s… twitter.com/...
CollActive Materials at Mall Anders
Join the Pop-up Materials Lab in Wilma Shopping Mall on May 20th and 21st and Bring your Kids!
Flyer CollActive Materials at Mall Anders. Copyright: CollActive Materials
With the experimental laboratory »CollActive Materials« just starting, its first ever event is already around the corner: On Friday and Saturday, May 20th and 21st, the science communication lab hosts two days for science and public to get together and (re-)negotiate the futures of materials. You are invited!
Under the headline »What is your future made of?«, »CollActive Materials« will start its conversation about material presents and futures: Which personal routines and values play a role when we interact with materials in our everyday lives today? Which materials are yet to be created, discovered, or rethought? What role could active and intelligent materials play in possible futures, and how could these look like?
Register now and join the pop-up materials lab on May 20th, 2:00-8:00 pm and May 21st, 10:00 am–6:00 pm or drop by for any of the scheduled activities.
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What are Futures Made of?
The Experimental Laboratory »CollActive Materials«
CollActive Materials Workshop. Copyright: CollActive Materials
In the experimental laboratory »CollActive Materials«, society and science are speculating together about the materials of tomorrow: What might they look like or feel like? Could they be more active or more intelligent than the materials of today? By trying things out together, the speculators develop new future scenarios, stories and objects and invite discussion of various conceivable futures.
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On Gestaltung
Lecture Series at Weißensee School of Art and Design Continues
Poster »On Gestaltung«. Copyright: weißensee school of art and design berlin
Our modes of giving form evolve and hybridize more and more, but they are also inhabited by common and timeless questionings that have to do with our demiurgic tendencies. This lecture series, initiated in 2021 by Patricia Ribault and Jörg Petruschat, will question the processes of formation and transformation of the material world we live in through various concepts: constraint, function and dysfunction, formativity and performativity, visualization and representation, activity, bricology..., all of which constitute the inseparably mental and material set of operations that lead to the genesis of a thing.
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Viral Theatres: Pandemic Past/Hybrid Futures
Exhibition Organized Together with ExC Temporal Communities
Poster »Viral Theatres: Pandemic Past/Hybrid Futures«. Copyright: Francesca Sciarmella
How hybrid is the future of theatre? In what ways has the pandemic changed how we work in theatre and gather in it as a public space? The opening symposium »Viral Theatres: Pandemic Past/Hybrid Futures« explored these questions. In three days of events, it took stock of how pandemic time has moved from a state of exception to new normality between viral outbreak and containment and what that means for theatrical production. You can visit the accompanying exhibition in the Tieranatomisches Theater (Veterinary Anatomy Theater) in Berlin until June 3rd.
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Materials Matter
Conversation and Workshop about Central Cluster Anthology »Active Materials«
Poster Materials Matter. Copyright: Matters of Activity
On the occasion of the publication of the central Cluster anthology »Active Materials« (De Gruyter 2021), a public panel discussion and workshop was held at the Humboldt Laboratory on May 4th and 5th. The organizers of the event, co-editors Karin Krauthausen and Michael Friedman, were particularly pleased that, in addition to many of the contributing researchers to the volume, they were also able to win historian of science Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent for the event to present central theses of the volume and to engage in a cross-disciplinary conversation about them with the interested participants.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 12.7.2022
Don't miss today's lecture by #AchimMenges, Director of @EXC_IntCDC. No registration is needed. Just stop by at Sop… twitter.com/...
Limits of Formalization (»Grenzen der Formalisierung«)
New Publication by Cluster Members Michael Friedman and Angelika Seppi
Cover Publication »Grenzen der Formalisierung«. Copyright: Spector Books
What role does mathematical formalization play in our understanding of knowledge and science, and how does it influence our conceptions of the unknown, of the unconscious as well as of the non-conscious? What is the relationship between the monopolization of calculable rationality and the increasing computerization of our Lebenswelt? And, last but not least, when reality is translated into symbols, what resistance does this process encounter?
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Tendons as Strong as Wire Ropes?
A Team of MPICI Researchers Discovers New Properties of Collagen
Collagen fiber bundle after mineralization with bone mineral calcium phosphate under an electron microscope. Copyright: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
A team at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPICI) has discovered new properties of collagen: During the intercalation of minerals in collagen fibers, a contraction tension is generated that is hundreds of times stronger than muscle strength. »This universal mechanism of mineralization of organic fiber tissues could be transferred to technical hybrid materials, for example, to achieve high breaking strength there,« says Prof. Dr. Peter Fratzl, Director at the institute and Co-Director of »Matters of Activity«.
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Nelli Singer Awarded Two Reputable Prices for her Master Thesis »Living Beings«
Nelli Singer working on the knitted active structures. The design and geometry of the stitches within the knitted structure are responsible for the different reactions at increased moisture content Copyright: Nelli Singer 2020
Our warmest congratulations to Cluster Guest Researcher Nelli Singer who has been awarded two prestigious prices at once for her Master Thesis »Living Beings«. The Materialica Award 2021 of Munich Expo and the ein&zwanzig Design Newcomer Award of the German Design Council. »Living Beings« explores the performative properties of wood through textile techniques and enviromental humidity and was supervised by Cluster Member Christiane Sauer.
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Atem / Breath. Gestalterische, ökologische und soziale Dimensionen / Morphological, Ecological and Social Dimensions
New Anthology Co-edited by Cluster Member Iva Rešetar
Cover of the publication »Atem/Breath. Gestalterische, ökologische und soziale Dimensionen/ Morphological, Ecological and Social Dimensions«, edited by Linn Burchert and Iva Rešetar.
In the course of breathing – in the process of constant exchange and crossing of boundaries between the organism and its environment – air as an »immaterial» material becomes active. For the first time, this anthology, edited by Linn Burchert and Iva Rešetar, brings together studies on breath from the perspective of the arts and humanities, as well as experimental scientific and design practices. Focusing on the period from 1900 to the present day, the publication covers an era during which air has become a precarious medium: whether in the context of climate change or global pandemic, space technology or gas warfare, air is now co-created and manipulated by humans. Against this backdrop, breath appears as an elusive yet vital substance that reveals the interconnections between the physical, symbolic, technological and social realms.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 7.7.2022
RT @cjaw_art: And for the last talk we go comprehensive and interdisciplinary ... tessellation across biology from Jana Ciecierska-Holmes @…
Materials of the Future
MoA Member Bastian Beyer and Daniel Suarez led Workshop on Biocalcification hosted by Aurélie Mossé at École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs Paris
Workshop on Biocalcification led by Bastian Beyer and Daniel Suarez at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs Paris, March 2022. Copyright: Daniel Suarez
The workshop at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs Paris with students of the course »matérialités futures« led by Aurélie Mossé aimed to further explore intersections of biology and textiles. The course centred around the topic of biocalcification, a biochemical process very common in nature where calcite is formed through an enzymatic process involving specific strains of bacteria. Previous research done by cluster member Bastian Beyer and Daniel Suarez provided the conceptual and material framework for the workshop.
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How do Tumors in the Motor System Affect the Structural Connectome?
New Findings by MoA Researcher Lucius Fekonja and Colleagues Published in »Communications Biology«
Distribution of the patients’ lesions. Copyright: Lucius Fekonja
How do tumors in the motor system affect the structural connectome? Tumors and their location distinctly alter both local and global brain connectivity within the ipsilesional hemisphere of glioma patients. This study, led by Cluster Member Lucius Fekonja, links the complex relationships between function and the underlying matter, the brain's white matter, and demonstrates how tumor activity affects the cerebral network using graph analysis and network-based statistics. The work was done in the framework of »Cutting«/»Adaptive Digital Twin« and initiates its new Cluster phase by enriching our understanding of structural characteristics of active materials, their functional and scientific implications in clinical and translational medicine and neuroscience. The publication in »Communications Biology« further highlights the interdisciplinary aspect of the study.
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The Interdisciplinary World of Tangling
Conference Organized by Cluster Members Myfanwy Evans and Rhoslyn Coles
Poster »The Interdisciplinary World of Tangling«. Copyright: Myfwany Evans
This week–long conference from 12-16 September 2022 will bring together scientists from various backgrounds who spend a reasonable amount of time thinking about tangles, tubes, knots, filaments, fibers and other entangled structures, from the perspective of physics, material science, mathematics, chemistry or biology. Tangling is a key structural motif of a multitude of natural systems, from molecules to polymers, and has a distinctive relationship to functionality. Understanding tangling itself and the role that it plays in material properties is a complicated web of different disciplines and perspectives, and we hope to create a deep scientific exchange on this topic.
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Young International Fellows at the Cluster
The Young International Fellows are a funding format of the Cluster which is intended to give projects the opportunity to obtain additional expertise and experience. Funding is provided to young international researchers for measures, programs, and activities that support the individual academic and professional qualifications and goals of the applicants and ideally also strengthen a culture of equal opportunity and diversity within the Cluster. We are happy to introduce our current Young International Fellows. We are happy to introduce our fellows for 2022.
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Award for Cluster Member Joseph Vogl
Günther Anders Prize for Critical Thinking 2022
Copyright: Michelle Mantel, Matters of Activity
We congratulate Joseph Vogl on the honoring of his scientific and journalistic oeuvre. The philosopher, literary and cultural scholar holds a professorship at the Institute of German Literature at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and is Regular Visiting Professor at Princeton University. He will be awarded the Günther Anders Award for Critical Thinking 2022 (Günther Anders-Preis für kritisches Denken) on May 8th, 2022 at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. Joseph Vogl is Principal Investigator at »Matters of Activity«.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 4.7.2022
📌 Save the date: Next Tuesday, 12 July 2022, at 4:15 pm, we will welcome Achim Menges with a talk on »Computational… twitter.com/...
Exhibition »Stretching Materialities«
Hidden Activities in Objects and Spaces at Tieranatomisches Theater
MoA Exhibition »Stretching Materialities«. Copyright: Offshore Design
Matter is dead? Objects are lifeless? Think again! In the exhibition »Stretching Materialities,« which was opened on September 16th 2021, the liveliness and activity of matter can be experienced in a completely new way. The Tieranatomisches Theater has become an interactive laboratory space that allows completely unexpected insights into thinking about matter – and makes it tangible how active the world around us really is. The exhibition curated by multidisciplinary researchers and designers of the project »Object Space Agency« under the direction of Prof. Dr. Claudia Blümle and Clemens Winkler can be visited until March 4th, 2022, Mon-Fri, 2–6 pm.
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What Role Does Speech Melody Play in the Listener's Processing of Information?
New Investigations on Speech Act Understanding by MoA Members Published in Cerebral Cortex
Copyright: The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press
During conversations, speech prosody provides important clues about the speaker’s communicative intentions. In many languages, a rising vocal pitch at the end of a sentence typically expresses a question function, whereas a falling pitch suggests a statement. In their latest publication entitled »Instantaneous Neural Processing of Communicative Functions Conveyed by Speech Prosody«, Rosario Tomasello, Luigi Grisoni, Isabella Boux, Daniela Sammler, and Friedemann Pulvermüller investigated the neurophysiological basis of intonation and speech act understanding with high-density electroencephalography (EEG) to determine whether prosodic features are reflected at the neurophysiological level.
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Sound Symbolism in Humans
MoA Member Friedemann Pulvermüller Involved in Significant International Study
Kanzi, a bonobo (Pan paniscus), performing a match-to-sample task at his home Ape Initiative
in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Print-screen from: Margiotoudi K et al., Proc. R. Soc. B, February 2022 (https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1717) [see online video materials].
Is the ability to perceive connections between words that »sound round« and things that »look round« specific to humans? Or can other animals, including our closest living relatives, the great apes, also infer that a meaningless speech sound is ›sharp‹ or ›round‹ and refers to a curved or spiky shape? An international and multidisciplinary team of researchers, including MoA member Friedemann Pulvermüller, has now been able to answer this question using a new experiment with a language-competent bonobo. The results of the collaborative study by multidisciplinary researchers in Europe and the United States, led by Konstantina Margiotoudi, was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on February 2nd, 2022.
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The Power of Water
Postponed to May: A Workshop on Water as a Unique Element in Conservation
The power of water. Copyright: Johanna Hoffmann and Lisa Herold
Water is a unique element also in conservation. It is a universal element that occurs on earth in all states of aggregation at the same time. Its properties, which may seem unremarkable at first sight, allow this element to be used and modified in a number of ways. In addition to established measures, new scientific discoveries are constantly finding their way into conservation. The workshop »The Power of Water« will offer some insights into the application of water in conservation treatments – with practical examples and experiments, you are welcome to explore conservation methods and techniques.
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STEM on a Mission
Cluster Members Mario Cypko and Julia Blumenthal on a Career in Medical Informatics and What 3D Printing Has to Do With That
STEM on a mission: medical informatics. Copyright: MINT Magie (Familie Redlich for Bundesministerium for Education & Research)
Detecting diseases faster, simplifying operations or facilitating communication with patients: medical informatics specialists develop methods and tools to support and improve our healthcare system. The new episode of »MINT auf Mission» (STEM on a mission) with Cluster Members Mario Cypko and Julia Blumenthal shows what their day-to-day work looks like in the process. You also learn how lifelike models of organs are produced with the 3D printer and robots assist in the operating room.
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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 24.6.2022
You can also live stream the lectures from your balcony or pool via our website although Tieranatomisches Theater i… twitter.com/...
»Exzellent erklärt – Spitzenforschung für alle«
New Science Podcast of All Clusters of Excellence Now Online
Podcast »Exzellent erklärt«, Episode 1: Tactile Internet. Copyright: Exzellenz erklärt; Image: CeTI/TU Dresden
57 Clusters of Excellence – one podcast: »Exzellent erklärt« (»Excellent Explained«) regularly reports from one of the research networks that are funded as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments. The journey goes right across the country and the topics are just as diverse as the locations: from African studies to the future of medicine. All Clusters of Excellence share a common motivation: they address important issues of our time, work on unusual questions and conduct research for the society of tomorrow.
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Tipping Points: Plastic, Contingent and Unstable Matters
Annual Conference of the Cluster on 16 & 17 November
Tipping Points. Copyright: Josef Luis Pelz & NODE Berlin Oslo
This year's MoA Annual Conference is all about matter in motion. We will discuss transition and contingency, processes of acquiring and losing form, and the creative potential of the unfinished and indeterminate. We live, create and act in a time of tipping points. On a planetary scale, the tipping point is understood as an abrupt and irreversible change that is causing the Earth´s climate and other systems to fall out of their stable state. Such transitional phenomena are particularly significant in climate research, but no less in material, biological, anthropological and aesthetic contexts.
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Bacteria as Architects
Interview with Bastian Beyer and Skander Hathroubi
Still from Interview with Bastian Beyer and Skander Hathroubi showing the making of parts of the »Active Curtain Project« shown at the exhibition »After Nature« at Humboldt Lab. Copyright: Anne von Petersdorff (info@annevonpetersdorff.com) for Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
The Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity. Image Space Material« investigates materials that are built by bacteria. Architects and biologists work together to explore new, sustainable materials. Some of these bacterial structures are on display at the Humboldt Lab. In the interview with Cluster Members Bastian Beyer and Skander Hathroubi, parts of the development of the »Active Curtains Project« are presented in more detail.
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Matters of Activity Film at Humboldt Lab
Cluster Video Online Now
All 7 Berlin Clusters of Excellence are represented with a film at the foyer at Humboldt Lab. Copyright: Matters of Activity, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
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 also watch an introduction to the Cluster right here. Follow the link to the video in German with either English subtitles or in easy German language.
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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, 24.6.2022
At 6.15 pm today the #stretchingsensesschool festival continues with a lecture by @the_eco_thought & @DominicBoyer… twitter.com/...
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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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, 24.6.2022
Take your chance to visit the exhibition of #stretchingsensesschool festival until tomorrow at… 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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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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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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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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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 23.6.2022
RT @DominicBoyer: Calling all virtual worldlings! One Tim Morton and I will be appearing in hyposubject form on June 24th to offer an eveni…
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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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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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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ExC Matters of Activity
@exc_moa, 23.6.2022
@lmesseri We're happy to have you and are much looking forward to your talk today at 6.15 pm at #stretchingsensesschool festival!
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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