Dear friends of »Matters of Activity«,

This month we are particularly pleased to contribute with our research to several exhibitions. Karola Dierich's project »Anthropos 0« has even traveled to the US, where it is part of the show »Being Plastic/Becoming Plastic« at the University of Virginia's School of Architecture until the end of the month. To anyone who is in Berlin, we would like to recommend a visit to the exhibition »Closer to Nature« at the Berlinische Galerie, where you can see and smell the experimental building MY-CO SPACE, an interdisciplinary project directed by Vera Meyer. Moreover, we cordially invite you to take part in the launch of the new discursive platform »More than Human. Design after the Anthropocene«, initiated by Claudia Banz, curator at the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts). It all starts on Friday, March 22nd, with the »Multispecies Design« symposium, at which Maxime Le Calvé and Rasa Weber will also be speaking. On the same date, Rahel Kesselring will give an online talk at the conference »Ruin and Reparation: (Dis)Repair in Art and Architectural History« at the University of Pittsburgh.

Happy reading!
Antje Nestler, Carolin Ott & Franziska Wegener

Material Form Function | Weaving | Object Space Agency | Waste | Temporality | Prototype / Model In March 2024, Karola Dierichs exhibits the project »Syntopia 0—Anthropos I Human« as part of the exhibition and symposium »Being Plastic/ Becoming Plastic« at the University of Virginia, US, under the direction of Ehsan Baharlou. Initially conducted under the title »ICD Aggregate Pavilion 2018«, the project explores the construction of spatial enclosures made from designed granular materials. Yet one might now call this project »Syntopia 0—Anthropos I Human« in the present discourse on human-made plastic residue. This considers the research not only as an example of materials design and construction robotics but also as a monument of anthropogenic mass superseding living biomass around 2020, given it was made of injection-molding plastic waste from the local Stuttgart car industry. → more

Object Space Agency | Fungi/Mycelium | Biodesign | More-Than-Human | Prototype / Model | Textiles | Temporality Architecture and nature inevitably compete for space. That poses a dilemma when resources are finite and the demand for space keeps growing. Besides, we know that the construction sector generates huge waste and emissions. All this has raised issues about the role of architecture: Does it need a shift in perspective? Could we build with nature instead of against it? The exhibition »Closer to Nature« at the Berlinische Galerie showcases three Berlin-based projects, that utilize the potential of mushrooms, living trees, and clay. This gives them an ecological quality, but also a completely new character: the buildings breathe, grow, and thus become alive themselves. One of the showcased projects is the experimental building MY-CO SPACE, which was developed, designed, and built by the interdisciplinary Berlin SciArt collective MY-CO-X, an initiative of the Department of Applied and Molecular Microbiology at TU Berlin under the direction of MoA member Vera Meyer with contributions by Dimitra Almpani-Lekka. → more

Material Form Function | More-Than-Human | Science Communication On Friday, March 22nd, 2024, the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) will launch the new discursive platform »More than Human. Design after the Anthropocene« with the symposium »Multispecies Design«. The project aims to explore the complex more-than-human concept from the perspective of the creative disciplines, particularly design, through pop-up exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and discussion panels. »More than Human« is curated by Claudia Banz, curator at the Kunstgewerbemuseum and member of »Matter of Activities« and realized together with international contributors from transdisciplinary contexts, among them several MoA researchers. → more

Material Form Function | Doctoral Program Cluster member Rahel Kesselring will give a presentation at the conference »Ruin and Reparation: (Dis)Repair in Art and Architectural History« on March 22nd organized at the University of Pittsburgh. The online talk »›Scars remind us that our past is real‹: A queer ecologies' attempt on repair« approaches the notion as omnipresent in contemporary discourses of art and architecture, referring to very different epistemologies and conceptual nuances. → more

CALL | XR The XR Open Call 2024 is open to individuals and teams in Berlin from visual arts, music, literature, performing arts, design, photography and video art. We are looking for a strong artistic concept in connection with augmented, mixed or virtual reality. This is the second of three Open Calls of the AURORA XR School for Artists at HTW Berlin, whose Scientific Supervisor is MoA member Habakuk Israel. AURORA is funded by the ERDF in the program »Strengthening Innovation Potential in Culture III« (INP-III) as part of the project »Handlungs- und Lernräume für Extended Reality Angebote mit der freien Kulturszene« 2023–2025. Click here for the call: ↗ more

CALL | PERFORMANCE Der Masterstudiengang Spiel und Objekt, an dem MoA-Mitglied Clemens Winkler zur Zeit als Gastprofessor für digitale Medien lehrt, geht in die vierte Runde und freut sich auf Bewerbungen für den nächsten Jahrgang! Bewerbungszeitraum hierfür ist vom 11.03. bis 14.05.2024. Bitte bewerbt euch, und/oder ↗ leitet diese Info weiter an alle, die hieran Interesse haben könnten.

Weitere Informationen zum Bewerbungsverfahren sind auf der Webseite des Studiengangs zu finden ↗ www.spielundobjekt.de

Der Masterstudiengang Spiel und Objekt schafft Zeit und Raum für das Experimentieren mit neuen Ästhetiken im theatralen Erzählen. Gleichzeitig wird fundiertes technisches und handwerkliches Wissen über Bühnenvorgänge vermittelt.