Events

CHRYSALIS. ARTISTS IN LABS

Artist Scientist Dialogue
With Helena Nikonole and Alvaro Rodriguez

Thu, 2 July 2026, 7:30 pm (on-site + online)

Welcome to the next “Artist Scientist Dialogue” in context of the current research project CHRYSALIS. ARTISTS IN LABS. Artist Helena Nikonole will introduce aspects of her artistic practice, including her projects Acoustic Agriculture and Speculative Species Evolution, and share some ideas behind her collaboration with Alvaro Rodriguez on microbial communities and sound. Dr Alvaro Rodriguez will introduce metagenomics, the technique he has been applying for studying microbial communities, and discuss its possible applications to understand the behaviour of the microbial communities exposed to sound stimuli. During 2025 and 2026, Art Laboratory Berlin is unfolding the new innovative project CHRYSALIS. ARTISTS IN LABS with an interdisciplinary exchange between art and science in Berlin science laboratories, kindly supported by Lottostiftung Berlin. We are currently receiving strong outcomes in transdisciplinary knowledge transfer, artistic research, art science communication, and some new artworks critically highlighting 21st-century innovations. Join us for the event on-site or online. Read more

Event | Workshop

CHRYSALIS. ARTISTS IN LABS

Sonic Mind. Sound, Consciousness, and Technology
Workshop with Julius Holtz

Sat, 27 June 2026, 11 am - 6 pm (booked out!)

Welcome to the workshop “Sonic Mind. Sound, Consciousness, and Technology” with sound artist and researcher Julius Holtz, presented within the CHRYSALIS. ARTISTS IN LABS programme by Art Laboratory Berlin. The workshop examines how emerging technologies and increasing human–machine interrelations transform concepts of identity, consciousness, and community. Positioned at the intersection of sound art, neuroscience, and technological innovation, Holtz presents his research through projects such as Introspective Garden, focusing on the generation of sonic environments via sensor technologies, data sonification, and participatory methodologies. Participants can engage in embodied listening sessions that integrate theoretical reflection with practical experimentation, addressing mindfulness, collective perception, and human-machine interaction. The workshop further investigates the relationships between neural activity and adaptive soundscapes, considering their social, artistic, and ethical implications, and is open to artists, designers, researchers, and other interested participants. Read more

Event | Long Night of Science

Art Laboratory Berlin at Long Night of Science (Berlin Dahlem)

Collaborative Art Science Projects with the Rillig Lab | Ecology of Plants (FU Berlin)

Sat, 6 June 2026, 5 - 10 pm (Berlin Dahlem!)

Art Laboratory Berlin joins the Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften 2026 (6 June, 5–10 pm) together with the Rillig Lab | Ecology of Plants at the Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 12/14, 14195 Berlin. Founded in 2006, ALB is an award-winning platform at the intersection of art, science, and technology. Our decade-long collaboration with the Rillig Lab has produced various artist residencies, the research group “DIY Hack the Panke”, festivals such as “Matter of Flux” (2023) and “Bodies of Water” (2025), and the ongoing programme “CHRYSALIS. Artists in Labs”. Get a LNDW ticket and join us in Berlin Dahlem — everyone welcome! Read more

Event | Colloquium

IN PROGRESS… | COLLOQUIUM

Research in Art, Science, and Humanities
With Aisen Caro Chacin and Zahra Mokhtari

26 May 2026, 8 pm CET (online only)

close up of a sculpture, circles with metal mesh, yellowish cat to the photograph

Trees photographed from below with a green-yellow cast to the photograph

The Colloquium (on 26 May online only) addresses an international interdisciplinary research audience to present and discuss past, present, or future projects by artists and scholars, curators or editors from the fields of art, science, and the humanities. Artist and researcher Dr Aisen Caro Chacin will discuss a performance artwork exploring human dependency on critical care machines and our co-evolution with AI. Physicist Dr Zahra Mokhtar will discuss how groups (ants, cells, or social media users) can form coherent movements or sudden opinion shifts without a central leader. Following the original meaning of colloquium as “speaking together”, we want to provide a platform for exchange and embrace various kinds of work processes which are often not seen or talked about. Read more

Event | Talk

CHRYSALIS. ARTISTS IN LABS

Artist Scientist Dialogue
With Margherita Pevere and Germán Joosten

Thu, 21 May 2026, 7:30 pm CET (on-site + online)

“Their world-building power lies in holding”: ponds and their ecology is marked by apparent stillness. The small water bodies that constellate the urban territory of Berlin unfold their intricate ecology in an apparent absence of motion, so different from the perpetual flow of rivers or the large tidal motions of lagoons. Drawing from her performance practice, artist and researcher Dr Margherita Pevere places the capacity of ponds to “hold” and transform living and dying matter at the heart of her research in the context of the ongoing research project Chrysalis. Artists in Labs. In the talk Margherita Pevere and her research partner, environmental anthrolopologist Dr Germán Joosten, will present their exchange across art and science, share the results and observations on their recent workshop “Pond Codex: Of Life and Death in Berlin’s Small Water Bodies” (10 May 2026), and bring the audience into the shallow but powerful depths of Berlin small water bodies. Read more

Event | Workshop

CHRYSALIS. ARTISTS IN LABS

Pond Codex: Of Life and Death in Berlin's Small Water Bodies
Workshop with Margherita Pevere and Germán Joosten

Sun, 10 May 2026, 11:00 - 18:00

flasks and graduated cylinder son a table people sitting in the background

Margherita Pevere and Germán Joosten invite the audience to join the life cycle of Berlin’s ponds and small lakes. Acting as biodiversity hotspots and regulators of temperature, these small water bodies play a key role in urban ecology. Among their dwellers is Daphnia – commonly known as water flea – a small invertebrate which feeds on phytoplankton (microscopic algae), thus keeping phenomena like algae blooms in check. Its life cycle is fascinating: it reproduces mostly through cloning itself, but when things get rough, it can adapt to the environment, switch to sexual reproduction, and produce eggs that remain dormant in the sediment until better conditions arise. Daphnia can reveal much about the health, history, and possible futures of the small urban water bodies. Through hands-on sessions and speculative storytelling, workshop participants will assume a pond’s more-than-human perspective and explore Berlin as seen by its small aquatic inhabitants. Read more

Event | Meet up, Talk

ART SCIENCE MEET UP

Research Exchange and Get-Together
With Fara Peluso, Jemma Woolmore, and Matthias Rillig

Wed, 29 April 2026

Art Laboratory Berlin and the Rillig Lab host an Art Science Meet Up in Berlin, bringing together artists and scientists interested in interdisciplinary research. The first session, open to the public, features presentations on current projects: Fara Peluso explores DIY bioplastics and community gardening to rethink human–ecological relations; Jemma Woolmore investigates chemical pollution through collaborative and embodied artistic methods; and Matthias Rillig presents research on how ecosystems respond to combined environmental pressures such as climate change, pollution, and land use. The second session invites participating artists and scientists to collaboratively design experimental approaches, discussing methods, concepts, and formats for joint research, followed by group exchange and collective reflection. Read more

Archive

Event | Walk & Talk

Nonhuman Agents

The forestal psyche
Theresa Schubert

25 - 26 August 2017

This lecture and workshop are based on the artist’s long-term artistic research project on living organisms as an artistic material and medium. For this project, Schubert dedicates herself to the potential of slime moulds, mosses and lichens from the forests around Berlin.

Event | Performance, Talk, Workshop

Nonhuman Agents

Anatomy of an inter-connected system
Margherita Pevere

15 July 2017

Starting point is the artist’s research at the junction of visual arts, theoretical inquiry and investigation of biological processes, focusing on the discourses regarding human-nature relationship in the frame of today’s environmental crisis and how artistic practices…

Event | Performance, Talk, Workshop

Nonhuman Agents

Gut Feelings
Alanna Lynch

18 June 2017

Alanna Lynch has been growing the microorganisms that produce kombucha tea. Through the process of fermentation this symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeasts (SCOBY) produces a cellulose material that is slimy and smells strongly while wet and can be dried and used as a textile.

Event | Performance, Talk

Cellf

Technosphärenklänge #3
Guy Ben-Ary
Presse Feedback

12 - 13 May 2017

In the work cellF human neurons living in a Petri dish perform duets with human musicians: These are grown into a culture of 100,000 living neurons. Lined with electrodes, these neurons form output via an analog synthesizer, cellF, allowing them to “jam” with human musicians.

Event | Talk

Guy Ben-Ary

Artist Talk

5 May 2017

In his talk Guy Ben-Ary will present some of the methodologies and theories that underpin his artistic practice by using as examples, four of his major projects completed over the last decade: MEART, The Silent Barrage, In-Potentia, and CellF

Event | Talk, Workshop

DIYBio NOW

DIYBio faire
Biotinkering e.V.

17 - 19 February 2017

The three-day bio-fair brings together the players in the Berlin biohacking scene for a series of hands-on workshops, talks and a special exhibition featuring unique DIY laboratory equipment.

Event | Talk

SciArt Café

with BIOMOD and iGEM Team Berlin

29 January 2017

The iGEM Berlin team (http://igem.berlin/) presents their fifth SciArt Café. Under the main theme of “Synthetic Biology – a toolkit for solving humanity’s problems” we will hear scientists and artists working with bioscience and afterwards discuss topics of synthetic biology.

Event | Conference, Talk

Nonhuman Subjectivities

Living Systems | Aquatic Systems
Robertina Šebjanič, Kat Austen, Regine Rapp and Christian de Lutz

18 September 2016

In this seminar we want to invite you to theoretically explore these and other aspects about artistic and scientific methodologies on interspecies empathy and human-nonhuman companionship.

Event | Course, Meet up, Talk, Workshop

Bio & Beers

with Biotinkering e.V.
Dr. Mirela Alister, Rüdiger Trojok, Alessandro Volpato and Biotinkering e.V.

25 August 2016 - 20 April 2017

The Bio & Beers format is for everyone: we start with a 20 minutes presentation, followed by discussions while having beers. In addition there will be occasional DIY workshops!

Event | Talk

Nonhuman Subjectivities

Interdisciplinary Dialogs in the Sciences and Humanities
Antonia Ulrich and Marie Neuwald

17 July 2016

For the closing event of the exhibition On Animals. Cognition, Senses, Play we are pleased to invite you to an interdisciplinary dialog with philosopher Antonia Ulrich and Marie Neuwald from NABU.

Event | Talk

There be Dragons

Human Impact on the environmentally sensitive Galapagos and Lord Howe Islands
Lea Kannar-Lichtenberger

22 May 2016

In the Age of the Anthropocene, this talk will explore how humans impact on our world both by their presence and indirectly by their lifestyle. This is a science-art investigation of tourism and its effects on closed eco systems.

Event | Performance, Talk

Nonhuman Subjectivities

1000 Handshakes
François-Joseph Lapointe

3 / 5 February 2016

As part of the opening of the 2016 transmediale festival of art & digital culture at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Art Laboratory Berlin will present the performance 1000 Handshakes by and with François-Joseph Lapointe.

Event | Talk

SciArt Café

with Berlin iGEM team

31 January 2016

The iGEM Berlin team (http://igem.berlin/) presents their fourth SciArt Café. Under the main theme of “Programming Life – Good Code/ Bad Code?” we will hear scientists and artists working with bioscience and afterwards discuss topics of synthetic biology.

Event | Workshop

Art Science Swap

Two Heads Are Better than One
Nenad Popov

24 January 2016

Participants of the workshop are divided in the pairs of one artist and one scientist. Each pair will receive a problem to think about, each using their own method. That is the easy part. Then they are asked to switch roles.

Event | Performance

Mind Blind

Therapeutic Interventions for Human/Nonhuman Communications
Sarah Hermanutz

23 January 2016

In her performance-lecture Sarah Hermanutz draws upon methods and aesthetics of academic lectures and psychological testing/treatment to engage with the gaps and pains of cross-disciplinary knowledge transfer.