Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Samples from the CONQ project, 2024. Copyright: Angie Dub and Heidi Jalkh, adapted by MoA

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

Dear Friends of »Matters of Activity«,

During an eventful fall, we are particularly looking forward to this year's Berlin Science Week, to which Matters of Activity is contributing in several events: On November 1st, in partnership with Bauhaus Earth and Experimental, we will be hosting the workshop »In a Seashell« at the Museum für Naturkunde. Starting from Angie Dub's and Heidi Jalkh's CONQ project, we will explore how marine-based industries and construction can be connected for a more sustainable architecture. The event is already fully booked! Another highlight will be the Science Slam of the Berlin Clusters of Excellence on November 7th. Finally, we are delighted that José Ignacio Hernández Lobato will lead through the exhibition and experiments at »Bakteriopolis«, a traveling exhibition that will stop in Berlin.
But before that, we will be happy to see as many of you as possible at the »Planetary Design« conference this week, organized by Claudia Mareis.

Happy reading!
Antje Nestler & Carolin Ott

testing un/common grounds
Presentations Doctoral Program 2024
Exhibition of research objects during the MoA PhD presentations 2024. Posterlayout Ada Favaron. Copyright: Matters of Activity

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

27.9.2024

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

Blasted Seascapes
Two New Articles by Rasa Weber
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

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

17.10.2024

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

Which Pasts are Valued and Why?
New Lecture Series Kicks Off on 22 October
22.10.2024–28.1.2025

Object Space Agency | Weaving | Teaching Which pasts are valued and why? How has this changed historically and in what ways is it changing today? What gets to count as heritage and in what broader global and local transformations is this entangled? How can heritage be proactively changed to help address pressing social, political, and environmental problems, including those of decolonization, cultural conflict, and climate crisis? And how do the arts, humanities, and social sciences need to be done differently to comprehend and enable the potential of such transformations? The new lecture series, organized by »inherit. heritage in transformation«, kicks off on October 22nd with an introduction by MoA member Sharon Macdonald and Eva Ehninger, directors of the Käte Hamburger Kolleg. → more

Planetary Design: Reclaiming Futures
Conference Organized by Claudia Mareis – Full Program and Registration Now Online
Copyright: ICI Berlin

Copyright: ICI Berlin

23.10.2024–26.10.2024

Material Form Function | Science Communication | Climate | More-Than-Human | Biodesign | Circular Economies | Speculative Design | Temporality The conference »Planetary Design: Reclaiming Futures« brings together critical thinking and doing around the role of design in making, unmaking and remaking worlds. Starting from the intersection of design, infrastructure, and the planetary environment, it offers a generative platform open to artists, academics, and activists for rethinking design’s role in producing the present and for developing alternative planetary futures. The gathering is open for artists, academics and activists for rethinking design's role in producing our present and developing alternative planetary futures. The full program is now online! → more

Working Matter
Tagung in Weimar nimmt Aktivitätsmodelle und Geschichte der Arbeit in den Blick
Gestaltung Nic Möckel. Copyright: Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

Gestaltung Nic Möckel. Copyright: Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

25.10.2024–26.10.2024

Spätestens seit den 1980er Jahren, u.a. durch Arbeiten von Manuel De Landa, Donna Haraway oder Bruno Latour initiiert, ist in geistes-, kultur- und medienwissenschaftlichen Zusammenhängen immer öfter von ›Aktanten‹, ›tätigen Dingen‹, ›aktiver Materie‹ oder ›verteilter Handlungsmacht‹ die Rede. Aktuelle Debatten stellen demnach vor allem die Instanzen, Zuschreibungen oder Legitimationen von Handlungsträgerschaft in den Mittelpunkt. Die von Clustermitglied Christof Windgätter und Gottfried Schnödl an der Bauhaus-Universität geplante Tagung möchte versuchen, ihren Blick auf die Modelle des Aktivischen zu richten. Die Frage nach Akteuren soll nachgeordnet werden. Anstelle eines ›Wer?‹ oder ›Was?‹ würden wir das ›Wie?‹ der Handlungen (ihre Diskursordnungen, ihre Dispositionen, ihre Modalitäten, ihre Operationalitäten) in den Fokus rücken. ↗ more

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

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

1.11.2024

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

Bakteriopolis
Exhibition at Museum für Naturkunde
Traveling Exhibition Bakteriopolis, 2024 Photo: Sven Ellger, TU Dresden

Traveling Exhibition Bakteriopolis, 2024 Photo: Sven Ellger, TU Dresden

1.11.2024–10.10.2024

Weaving | Biofilm | Science Communication Bakteriopolis is a mobile exhibition built into a shipping container showcasing bacteria and their amazing ability to form multicellular aggregates. These very common and sometimes spectacularly looking ›biofilms‹ may cause chronic infectious diseases but are also involved in beneficial activities such as food fermentation. Designed as a public outreach activity of the DFG-funded priority program SPP2389 at TU Dresden, Bakteriopolis is traveling through Germany and will be presented in front of Naturkundemuseum Berlin during Berlin Science Week from 1-10 November 2024. On the 5th and 6th of November, MoA PhD student José Ignacio Hernández Lobato will lead through the exhibition and experiments at Bakteriopolis and will give you a glimpse into his research on how bacterial biofilms and plant-microbe interactions impact fermentative textile dyeing. Bakteriopolis is designed to be accessible to adults as well as kids. → more

Figures, Narratives, and Politics of DIY in Modern European Media Culture
MoA Members Contribute to Conference Organized by ExC Temporal Communities
Left: Patricia Ribault, Right: Karin Krauthausen
7.11.2024–8.11.2024

Weaving | Cutting | Material Form Function »If you want a thing done well, do it yourself«: Figures, Narratives, and Politics of DIY in Modern European Media Culture - this is the title of the conference, organized by Michael Bies (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin), Michael Gamper and Alix Ricau for the Cluster of Excellence »Temporal Communities« on November 7th and 8th, 2024. Cluster member Patricia Ribault (Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis) will contribute with a talk entitled »To Make, or Not to Make, That Is the Question« and Karin Krauthausen (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) with a talk about »The Hut as Improvised Structure and Border Experience«. → more

Battle of the Brains
The Science Slam of the Berlin Clusters of Excellence
7.11.2024

Material Form Function | Biodesign | Science Communication | Performance Slammin’ like there’s no tomorrow – at the Science Slam of the Berlin Clusters of Excellence, researchers try everything to entertain their audience, regardless of whether the subject is e.g. mathematics, neuroscience, or active material. For Matters of Activity, Associated Member Heidi Jalkh will present her latest research under the title »From Awe to Wonder - Designing Nature Inspired Materials«. Join us on November 7th at Roadrunner's Paradise Club, it will be a great evening! The event is part of Berlin Science Week 2024. → more

Biomimetics, Bioinspired, Biorobotics: Discourses on Nature in the 21st century
Workshop Organized by Michael Friedman and Marco Tamborini
21.11.2024–22.11.2024

Symbolic Material | Weaving | Robotics The workshop aims to explore the new discourses, metaphors, and conceptual approaches in which the research on biomimetics as well as on bioinspired and biorobotics materials is embedded. By bringing together HPS experts in biomimetics, bioinspired, and biorobotics disciplines, we seek to understand how formative these discourses and metaphors are. We aim to explore how they reflect older traditions, identify the actions that support the use of such concepts, and examine how they contribute to a new conceptual and philosophical landscape in the 21st century. → more

Morphing Structural Materials – From Biology to Physics to Architecture
Advanced Course at International Centre for Mechanical Sciences in Udine, September 2025 – Register Now!
Inverse problem for fabrication: From a 3D model a deposition plan is optimized for a 3D printed plate, such that once dipped into water the plate deforms into the target shape. This is achieved by optimizing the shape of the plate and the orientation of the plastic deposition trajectories. Copyright: Thibault Tricard, Vincent Tavernier, David Jourdan, Cédric Zanni, Jonàs Martínez, Pierre-Alexandre Hugron, Fabrice Neyret, Camille Schreck, Sylvain Lefebvre

Inverse problem for fabrication: From a 3D model a deposition plan is optimized for a 3D printed plate, such that once dipped into water the plate deforms into the target shape. This is achieved by optimizing the shape of the plate and the orientation of the plastic deposition trajectories. Copyright: Thibault Tricard, Vincent Tavernier, David Jourdan, Cédric Zanni, Jonàs Martínez, Pierre-Alexandre Hugron, Fabrice Neyret, Camille Schreck, Sylvain Lefebvre

1.9.2025–5.9.2025

Material Form Function | Biodesign | Prototype / Model | Teaching Matter is rarely completely static: often matter can morph. This is true for all living systems that grow, adapt, and change shape. Indeed, cells divide, leaves and fungi grow, octopuses transform, and wings reshape to control flight. But it is also true that bread rises and that pasta swells. While morphing is omnipresent in the living, it is not confined to it. Harnessing morphing capacities has many potential applications, from machines and robots to architecture. The goal of this course with lectures by MoA members Peter Fratzl and Karola Dierichs, is to review the current and fast-growing knowledge about structural materials that change shape or develop spontaneous internal stresses that improve their properties. → more