Materials Matter

On the occasion of the publication of the central Cluster anthology Active Materials (De Gruyter 2021), the Cluster was very happy to invite interested persons to one of the first public events after a pandemic-related break of more than two years. The conversation »Perspectives on Active Materials« and the workshop »Materials Matter« was held at the Humboldt Lab on May 4th and 5th 2022. The organizers of the event, co-editors Michael Friedman and Karin Krauthausen, 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.

Conversation, May 4th, 5:00–6:30 pm

Humboldt Lab in the Humboldt Forum

The conversation »Perspectives on Active Materials« on May 4th, 2022 with Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, Michaela Eder, Peter Fratzl, and Richard Weinkamer aimed to address one of the burning questions of our epoch: the possibility of engineering smart, active, or bio-inspired materials and the meaning these enhanced materials might have for solving the contemporary and future challenges of these tumultuous times. We discussed these issues with historians of science on the one hand and materials scientists on the other. The following questions were addressed: What effects has research had and continues to have on materials from a historical and cultural perspective? What is the radical innovation in recent approaches to materials? How can governmental research funding influence and guide this research? And what current research directions are pursued today? Indeed, as one of the rising crises of our society is an ecological one, the question arises what impact those newly developed materials will have. What resources do these materials consume and what is their afterlife? Are they sustainable? And how can they contribute to solve the worldwide ecological crisis?

The event presented central theses of the recently published anthology Active Materials, kicking off the workshop Materials Matter.

Workshop, May 5th, 9:00 am–3:05 pm

Humboldt Lab, Seminar room

It is almost obvious to say that materials are found at the very center of our life, situated in the complex zone between nature and society. Materials, to say it plainly, matter. But in recent decades, new discoveries in the natural sciences and in the materials sciences have enabled to develop new materials, active materials: on the one hand materials are considered as entities that ‘sense’ and respond to their environment, and on the other hand synthetics and bio-inspired materials are fabricated. The workshop »Material Matters« on May 5th, 2022 aimed to unfold the philosophical, historical, and cultural background of these new developments, while looking as well at the cutting edge research on bioinspired materials systems and structures. Can materials be considered not as a passive carrier but rather as partners of technological adventures and advancements, with which one can have an open dialog? How can one account philosophically and historically for the activity of materials? What are the new epistemological horizons opened up when considering these new materials, and in which ways can one argue for the necessity of developing a new material epistemology?

Organisation

The conversation and the workshop were a cooperation between the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity« at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University. They were organized by Michael Friedman and Karin Krauthausen. The event took place in cooperation with the Humboldt Lab.

Registration

The event was conducted in English, participation was open to all interested parties after prior registration. Masks had to be worn at the event.