Ocean

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Terminalia catappa in front of the compound of the lineage Delesolu. Drawings by Delphine and Elodie Chevalme, Ojé, October 2017, from Field/Works II, online exhibition 2024.

Generating Ecologies of Trust
Online Exhibition Curated by Maxime Le Calvé and Jen Clarke
Object Space Agency | Ocean | Sound | Sand | Water For anthropologists and artists »doing fieldwork« in contemporary worlds, art can be much more than an object of investigation. Curation and creation through visual, audio, and performing arts are integral to our practices and enrich writing as a medium of thought and knowledge sharing. This online exhibition curated by MoA member Maxime Le Calvé and Jen Clarke was funded by EASA as part of the EASA2024 conference in Barcelona. The selected works explore various modes of living with: with nature, infrastructures, family – through connections to fish, plants, water, land, and sound. From the Salish sea, to plant life in Africa, considering sound and water pollution in Barcelona, and food and seeds in New Zealand. more

»Kiki Prototype«. Design: Rasa Weber, rasaweber.com. PhD Project: «SymbiOcean». Location: STARESO - Calvi (FR). Diver: Noémie Chabrier. Installation team, assistance and monitoring: Arnaud Boulenger, Sandra Bracun, Noemi Chabrier, Mélodie Chapat, Sylvain Coudray, Stéphane Jamme, Leonie John, Teal Jordan, Michael Karle, Mathieu Kelhetter (design intern), Michaela Roger, Bram van der Schoot, Kelly Stiver, Anja Wegner, Lena Wesenberg, Aubin Woehrel. Date: June 2023. SNF research project: «Interfacing the Ocean». Hosting University: Zurich University of the Arts & University of Art and Design Linz. Photo: Stéphane Jamme @stepp_aquanaute.

The Whispering World: Words by a Silent Sea
Exhibition by Rasa Weber Opens at Berlin Science Week
Material Form Function | Biodesign | More-Than-Human | Ocean | Prototype / Model | Temporality We're delighted that MoA associated member Rasa Weber will be part of the Blue Talk: »Science and Design for Marine Ecosystem Restoration« at this year's Berlin Science Week. The event is part of the preparation for the Third United Nations Ocean Conference jointly organized by France and Costa Rica (June 2025 - Nice, France) and takes place at the French Embassy in Berlin. The panel discussion will be followed by the official opening of the exhibition »The Whispering World: Words by a Silent Sea«, showcasing Rasa's work in developing a prototype of an artificial reef that provides a substrate and structure for pioneer organisms to form a habitat. more

Samples from the CONQ project, 2024. Copyright: Angie Dub and Heidi Jalkh

In a Seashell
Workshop with Angie Dub and Heidi Jalkh at Berlin Science Week 2024 Fully Booked - Save Your Last Spot on the Waiting List!
Material Form Function | Biodesign | Ocean | Science Communication | Prototype / Model We're thrilled to share that we will contribute to this year's Berlin Science Week with a workshop about connecting marine-based industries and construction for more sustainable architecture. Each year, over 10 million tonnes of shells—mostly from oysters, clams, scallops, and mussels—are discarded as waste despite their high calcium carbonate content. How could we make better use of the potential of these ingenious materials? Let’s explore this together! With inputs from MoA member Christiane Sauer, Kika Brockstedt from the material data platform revalu, and many more. more

Ever Given, 2021. Copyright: Suez Canal Authority

Aquatic Mobilities / Littoral Cultures
Exploratory Workshop about Cultural Techniques and Material Cultures at Sea
Filtering | Ocean | Temporality The workshop aims to foster research into the historical interplay between mobility, cultural techniques, and material culture within maritime and coastal contexts. By examining how cultures, cultural techniques, and nature have historically shaped life, work, and travel at sea, we seek to develop new research questions that can lead to future grant applications. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, participants will explore themes such as maritime technologies, littoral knowledge production, and the material manifestations of aquatic and coastal communities. more

Coral bleaching on Caribbean Coast. Photo: Rasa Weber. Diver: Jota Uparela. From the Project: »Symbiotic Coral Nurseries« in collaboration with The Polynesian Institute of Biomimicry IPB, Andry Carrasquilla, Paraiso Dive Center. Location: Tierra Bomba (COL), 2023

Blasted Seascapes
Two New Articles by Rasa Weber
Material Form Function | Biodesign | Climate | Doctoral Program | More-Than-Human | Ocean | Publications Two articles by Cluster member Rasa Weber were published recently: In kritische berichte. Zeitschrift für Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte, Rasa writes about »Queer Reefs – A Queer Ecological Journey into Blasted Seascapes«. Moreover, »Of Other Reefs: Designing Habitats in Blasted Seascapes« has been published by Cambridge University Press. Both publications are open access. more

Exhibition of research objects during the MoA PhD presentations 2024. Posterlayout Ada Favaron. Copyright: Matters of Activity

testing un/common grounds
Presentations Doctoral Program 2024
Weaving | Filtering | Material Form Function | Object Space Agency | Bacteria | Bauhaus | Biodesign | Cellulose | Circular Economies | Climate | Doctoral Program | Forest | More-Than-Human | Ocean | Prototype / Model | Wood | Water | Textiles | Tree Bark | Robotics Under the title »testing un/common grounds«, the Matters of Activity doctoral cohort impressively presented the progress of their diverse research projects during the Cluster retreat. The event included the three moderated panel discussions as well as an exhibition of selected research objects that were at the core of the format. With their various disciplinary backgrounds ranging from art, architecture, engineering and design to the humanities and natural sciences, the group explored this interdisciplinary ›un/common ground‹ and aimed to develop forms of common knowledge that respect locally-based actors and embrace collaborations with diverse agencies and species. more

CollActive Materials’ Workshop »Open Lab Abend: Wachsende Architektur – Co-Design mit Pilzen« im Futurium Lab, 13. Juni 2024. Copyright: Matters of Activity 

Holitopia 2024
Several MoA Members Contribute to the Festival on Future Design
Object Space Agency | Material Form Function | Science Communication | Speculative Design | Biodesign | Ocean | Fungi/Mycelium | XR | Climate | Collactive Materials | Stretching Materialities Witness future design and art coming together to turn visions into reality: futures you can see and touch! MoA members Christian Stein, Rasa Weber, Natalija Miodragovic, Dimitra Almpani-Lekka, Antje Nestler and Kristin Werner contribute to this year's Holitopia Festival with a keynote, panel, discussion and speculative workshop at Campus Wilhelminenhof of HTW Berlin. Don't miss your chance for a reduced ticket for the conference day. But there are also lots of free activities, such as the exhibition »Above the Sea of Air« with works from the Cluster. more

Copyright: Rasa Weber

Breathe. Diving with the Medusa
Rasa Weber spricht bei »Humano Biotop II« im Roten Salon
Material Form Function | Science Communication | Ocean Am 13. Dezember spricht Rasa Weber im Rahmen der Veranstaltung »Humano Biotop II« im Roten Salon der Volksbühne. Die Reihe wird präsentiert vom Künstlerinnenkollektiv POEM (Despoten der Migration) und nähert sich posthumanistischen Körpern, ekstatischen Futuritäten und der Zukunft des Sex...

Design of soft robots. Research on form, its deformation and possible function. Copyright: Anna Schaeffner

Symbiosis
Cluster Members Anna Schaeffner and Rasa Weber Presented at Major Event on the Global Electronic Art Scene ISEA2023
Filtering | Material Form Function | Robotics | Doctoral Program | Ocean | More-Than-Human On May 17th and 18th Cluster Members Anna Schaeffner and Rasa Weber Presented at a major event on the global electronic art scene, that aims to strengthen the dialog between artists, researchers, engineers, designers and entrepreneurs from the cultural and creative industries who participate in the advances of research and creation. Anna Schaffner gave an artist talk »For a Design of Deformation« and Rasa Weber presented her paper »A Sympoietic Ocean. Design Research with/in the Marine Holobiont«. more

Poster PhD presentations 2022. Layout: Ada Favaron

Scaling Matters: From the Lab to the Field
Doctoral Presentations at the MoA Retreat 2022
Weaving | Filtering | Cutting | Material Form Function | Object Space Agency | Doctoral Program | Climate | Haptics | More-Than-Human | Ocean | Robotics | Textiles | Tree Bark | Wild Silk | XR | Water | Science Communication The 2022 presentation of the Doctoral Program »Matters of Activity« at the MoA Retreat in September at Landgut Stober was both a review and an outlook of the doctoral research conducted at the Cluster between 2020 and 2022. Under the title »Scaling Matters: From the Lab to the Field, «Pre-Doctoral Researchers at varying stages of their research — from the very beginning to the final phase of their theses — presented their heterogeneous work whilst continuing to negotiate common themes, methods, questions and tools. The format combined talks and an exhibition and invited MoA Members to engage individually with the presentation and a selection of their research objects. Thanks to everyone involved for making possible this all-around successful event. Enjoy some visual impressions of the exhibition, as well as the talks and have a look at the booklet. more

Sand ruler captured at the labs of Deltares in Delft, Michaela Büsse, 2021

Materializing Futurity
Sand | Ocean »Materializing Futurity« investigates the ambiguous relationship between design and planning tools, environments and matter in reimagining and renaturating polluted landscapes. more

»Kiki Prototype«. Design: Rasa Weber, rasaweber.com. PhD Project: «SymbiOcean». Location: STARESO - Calvi (FR). Diver: Noémie Chabrier. Installation team, assistance and monitoring: Arnaud Boulenger, Sandra Bracun, Noemi Chabrier, Mélodie Chapat, Sylvain Coudray, Stéphane Jamme, Leonie John, Teal Jordan, Michael Karle, Mathieu Kelhetter (design intern), Michaela Roger, Bram van der Schoot, Kelly Stiver, Anja Wegner, Lena Wesenberg, Aubin Woehrel. Date: June 2023. SNF research project: «Interfacing the Ocean». Hosting University: Zurich University of the Arts & University of Art and Design Linz. Photo: Stéphane Jamme @stepp_aquanaute.

SymbiOcean
PhD Project Rasa Weber
Doctoral Program | Ocean | More-Than-Human The practice-based design research project «SymbiOcean» explores cultivating marine habitats with/in other-than-human marine environments as a form of «Sympoïetic Design». Inspired by the process of ocean mineral accretion by electrolysis for the construction of artificial reefs developed by Wolf Hilbertz and Thomas Goreau under the name Biorock (1970), the project brings together design, anthropology and marine biology to develop a new approach to the creation of artificial reefs. more