Crystalline Coexistences - Questions on the Liveliness of Technological Materials
Workshop at the Masterstudio Design HGK Basel FHNW
Feb / March 2022
by Sophie Kellner and Lilo Viehweg
Participating students: Arwa Dayyani, Katarína Ciganocová, Deborah Egger, Reto Emmenegger, Samantha Graber, Ozan Güngör, Leonie Hochstrasser, Difan Lin, Lasse Mandelkow, Guilia Marcotullio, Chiara Marinai, Johannes Musiol, Nadia Niedenthal, Mohadeseh Rezaei, Nina Schaarschuch, Paul Schmidt, Hanna Sipos, Leonie Stier, Naomé Nazire Tahmaz, Jeffrey Martin Vogt, Arkadius Wasilewski
With thanks to Susanna Hertrich and the team of the Masterstudio Design for the invitation and André Puschnig from the Museum of Natural History Basel for opening the doors and the exchange with the group
Workshop at the Masterstudio Design HGK Basel FHNW
Feb / March 2022
by Sophie Kellner and Lilo Viehweg
Participating students: Arwa Dayyani, Katarína Ciganocová, Deborah Egger, Reto Emmenegger, Samantha Graber, Ozan Güngör, Leonie Hochstrasser, Difan Lin, Lasse Mandelkow, Guilia Marcotullio, Chiara Marinai, Johannes Musiol, Nadia Niedenthal, Mohadeseh Rezaei, Nina Schaarschuch, Paul Schmidt, Hanna Sipos, Leonie Stier, Naomé Nazire Tahmaz, Jeffrey Martin Vogt, Arkadius Wasilewski
With thanks to Susanna Hertrich and the team of the Masterstudio Design for the invitation and André Puschnig from the Museum of Natural History Basel for opening the doors and the exchange with the group
A magical cave, speaking crystals, a post-humanist hair salon, poetry of balancing forces, making rock tools, tasting minerals - in the five-day workshop students of the Masterstudio Design investigated crystalline coexistences and developed imaginaries that question how we relate to crystalline matters.
In the form of electronic components such as sensors, microchips, oscillators, transistors, capacitors and cables, a network of technological materials traverses the planet. Between laboratories, industries, households and landfills, these crystalline bodies are rarely perceived as active agents and rather as arbitrarily exploitable commodities whose material-inherent properties are adapted to human needs.
However, when regarded from an intra-active perspective that explores the liveness of the relationships between crystalline matter and human perception, urging questions about more-than-human coexistences arise. What constitutes the liveness of technological materials and how can we approach it? What role do human senses play in their becomings in materials science research labs? What networks do crystalline bodies use and what are our relationships to them? What impact do these relational shifts have on technological developments? What modes of communication can we explore and what experiences can we gain
In the five-day workshop, we addressed the liveliness of technological materials and develop scenarios that explore coexistences between humans and crystalline matter. In a combination of discursive and hands-on experiments, we investigated how changing interactions can create new perceptions and realities. We exchanged with natural scientists, grew crystals, looked into how technological materials transform information and how we are entangled with matter. In experimental scenarios observations were entangled with narratives that explore intra-actions and the liveliness of matter. In doing so, we also questioned the limits of human speculations in relation to the material realities of non-human actors.
In the form of electronic components such as sensors, microchips, oscillators, transistors, capacitors and cables, a network of technological materials traverses the planet. Between laboratories, industries, households and landfills, these crystalline bodies are rarely perceived as active agents and rather as arbitrarily exploitable commodities whose material-inherent properties are adapted to human needs.
However, when regarded from an intra-active perspective that explores the liveness of the relationships between crystalline matter and human perception, urging questions about more-than-human coexistences arise. What constitutes the liveness of technological materials and how can we approach it? What role do human senses play in their becomings in materials science research labs? What networks do crystalline bodies use and what are our relationships to them? What impact do these relational shifts have on technological developments? What modes of communication can we explore and what experiences can we gain
In the five-day workshop, we addressed the liveliness of technological materials and develop scenarios that explore coexistences between humans and crystalline matter. In a combination of discursive and hands-on experiments, we investigated how changing interactions can create new perceptions and realities. We exchanged with natural scientists, grew crystals, looked into how technological materials transform information and how we are entangled with matter. In experimental scenarios observations were entangled with narratives that explore intra-actions and the liveliness of matter. In doing so, we also questioned the limits of human speculations in relation to the material realities of non-human actors.
