Material Epistemology

A museum is not only a place of objects, but also a place of practices. In its work with the objects – conservation, restoration, preparation, storage – extensive material experimentation and research take place. The material is combined with the processual and can be understood as energy potential for knowledge formation – or as a threshold for thinking. Handling different kinds of matter is part of the material knowledge of the museum. How is material activity dealt with in the museum, and what approaches are there to not only immobilize it, but to put it at the center of the museum itself? This becomes particularly clear in the example of organic, ephemeral and everyday materials: biological specimens, food, wax, plastic, foam or dust in the museum demonstrate this. Selected case studies from collections in the areas of anatomy, contemporary art, material culture and natural history (in collaboration with Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum of Medical History, Museum of Natural History) will be investigated. Conservation and storage technologies, exhibition methodologies and the generation of knowledge through practices will be explored and systematized. Materials and practices will be juxtaposed and contrasted in their diversity, so a new concept of material in the museum space can be defined.