On Activity II: Space and Materiality

Dried Rhizome of Caulophyllum thalictroides in: J.U. Lloyd and C. G Lloyd, Drugs and Medicines of North America, Cincinnati: Robert Clarke 1884-5, p. 148. Copyright: Robert Clark

The 20th century saw the rise of the »spatial turn« in the humanities. However, examining the recent developments in material research and the notion of »activity« in the natural sciences as well as in the humanities, one may suggest that these developments force us to rethink this turn and the notion of space and material. In this conference, we aimed to inspect three axes of the interweaving between spatial structures, activity and materiality. These axes are epistemic practices (focusing on mathematics, physics and biology), linguistic practices (focusing on psychoanalysis, linguistics and literature), and aesthetic practices (focusing on art and art history).

To underline the first axis, the scientific developments of the 20th century more than ever centered the inner dynamic, activity, and materiality of spatial structures. Notably, disciplines that played a crucial part in this epistemological shift were not reduced to those grounded in mathematical formalization, but also those whose experimental practices are situated at the margins of formalization, where »new spaces« of thinking are uncovered and reflected upon. This becomes most evident in biological research, which today significantly determines the way we think about the link between spatiality, materiality and activity, or the link between structure and temporality. Here, we may recall the lessons of the spatio-temporal dynamics that underpin the interaction between the organism and its milieu (J. Scott Turner’s notion of »extended organism«), the spatialization of the genome, brain plasticity and epigenesis, etc.

Found in the second axis of the conference, the link between structure and history – which sparked many controversies in the mid-20th century due to the rise of structuralism in the humanities and social sciences – seems to persist at the core of contemporary developments in the natural sciences. Therefore, it is worth revisiting the engagement of continental structuralism with the spatialization of language. Here, issues such as the link between the symbolic and the body highlighted by psychoanalysis, between structure and instability, as well as an extended, non-sensual conception of materiality are negotiated.

Finally, the third axis focuses on artistic practices, highlighting how the epistemic shifts in our conceptions of space and materiality have influenced the emergence or invention of new forms of aesthetic practices. At the same time, the aim of this thematic section is to examine the historical, investigating the ways in which artistic experimentation itself contributes to these ongoing conceptual transformations.

The one-day conference brought together representatives from different backgrounds in order to discuss the complex knot between space, materiality, and activity at stake in their disciplinary practices.

The conference was organized by Michael Friedman and Samo Tomšič.

Format

This conference took place online, using a mix of specially pre-recorded presentations and live discussions via Zoom. The pre-recorded presentations were uploaded before the conference.

1st Session: pre-recorded Talks

1. Michael Friedman and Samo Tomšič (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin):
»The Topological Turn: Space, Activity, Materiality«

2. Mai Wegener (Technische Universität Berlin):
»Transfers, Echo Rooms and Borderzones – Psychoanalytic Marginalia«

3. Joseph Vogl (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin):
»At the Castle Hill«

10:00 – 11:00 am (CEST)
Zoom Live Q&A with Michael, Samo, Joseph and Mai
Moderation: Karin Krauthausen (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

2nd Session: pre-recorded Talks

1. Davide Crippa (Centre for Science, Technology, and Society Studies, at the Institute of Philosophy CAS, Prague):
»The Changing Status of Impossibility Results in Geometry«

2. Regine Hengge (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin):
»Spatialization of Living Systems Across the Scales«

13:00 – 14:00 pm (CEST)
Zoom Live Q&A with Regine and Davide
Moderation: Idit Chikurel (University of Hamburg, The Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies)