Materials of the Future

The workshop at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs Paris with students of the »matérialités futures« course led by Aurélie Mossé, Associated Member to Weaving, 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. In a series of lectures, the students were introduced to the field of biodesign and biocalcification while the students explored in the practical part various textile methods such as weaving, knitting, crochet or winding. Together with the students, a tailor-made low-tech bioreactor was built on-site where the final prototypes underwent the biocalcification process which gradually solidified the textile samples and fundamentally changed their appearance. In the final exhibition, the final pieces as well as prototypes and speculative scenarios were presented by the students.

Responsible and Contributing Persons and Institutions

Organization: Aurélie Mossé, Bastian Beyer, Daniel Suarez, Moritz Liedtke
Workshop Lead: Bastian Beyer, Daniel Suarez
Supported by: École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs Paris, Soletanche Bachy, i-Portunus Houses, Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity«, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Hosted by: École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs Paris, Aurelie Mossé (Ensadlab)

Students: Violette Husson, Arnaud Mazel, Chloé Menard, Jeanne Guillet, Oscar Nahan, Victor Manceau, Maude Guirault, Mélanie Dhubert Riollet, Juliette Clapson, Nina Dos Santos.