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 | Talk

Paired Immunity

Art & Science Talk | Marta de Menezes & Luís Graça

30 October 2021

In the talk the artist Marta de Menezes and the scientist Luís Graça will give insights into their collaborative art-science projects, currently on show at Art Laboratory Berlin in the exhibition “Paired Immunity”. In “Immortality for Two”, they questioned the limits and understanding of their identity. In “Anti-Marta” a skin transplant was exchanged between them.

Event | Walk & Talk

DIY Hack the Panke

Walk & Talk
With members of the art science collective

31 October 2021

Members of the collective will meet for a walk along the Panke river, together with the public, to talk about their previous research on the river, its flora, fauna and ecologies. We will also give a preview of our upcoming DIY/ DIWO program for 2022.

Event | Conference, Conference

UNDER THE VIRAL SHADOW

Networks in the Age of Technoscience and Infection
International Conference (online with livestream)

9 October 2021

The online conference (with livestream) explores various networks – biological, cybernetic, and social. It will include presentations by the artists, currently on show at ALB, and guest scholars from art and media theory, biophysics, and computer science, design and culture studies.

Event | Workshop

Under the Viral Shadow

NETworkshop
Workshop | Sarah Grant & Danja Vasiliev

1 - 3 October 2021

In this 3-day workshop participants learn low-level networking using only command-line tools and network hardware. In doing so they not only grasp how to create and manipulate computer networks, but how they can be used to manipulate us.

Event | Workshop

Under the Viral Shadow

Plant-to-Plant Protocols
Workshop | Sarah Grant

24 - 26 September 2021

The workshop is an unstable network of radios and IR sensor pairs attached to plants. It is a meditation on the aesthetics of data transmission and network disruptions caused by the natural movement of plants in response to light, wind, and other natural conditions.

Event | Workshop

Under the Viral Shadow

AI for Artists
Workshop | Gene Kogan

28 August 2021

AI for Artists Workshop | Gene Kogan Gene Kogan is an artist and a programmer who is interested in generative systems, computer science, and software for creativity and self-expression. He is a collaborator within numerous open-source software projects, and gives workshops and lectures on topics at the intersection of code and art. The workshop will…

Event | Talk

Swarms, Robots and Postnature

Artist Talk | Sofia Crespo

3 June 2021

The exhibition project presents research based artistic positions on swarm behaviour, questioning the traditional concept of “nature” and explores the interface of the biological and the machine. As part of our online program the exhibiting artist Sofia Crespo will give an insight in her artistic research and practice.

Event | Talk

Swarms, Robots and Postnature

Artist Talk | Käthe Wenzel

20 May 2021

The exhibition project presents research based artistic positions on swarm behaviour, questioning the traditional concept of “nature” and explores the interface of the biological and the machine. Exhibiting artist Käthe Wenzel will give an insight in her artistic research and practice.

Event | Talk

Swarms, Robots and Postnature

Artist Talk | So Kanno

6 May 2021

The exhibition project presents research based artistic positions on swarm behaviour, questioning the traditional concept of “nature” and explores the interface of the biological and the machine. As part of our online program the exhibiting artist So Kanno gives an insight in his artistic research and practice.

Event | Talk

VIRAL CLOUD | Berlin Tokyo

Hybrid Arts and DIY Bio Cultures
Hideo Iwasaki and Matthias Rillig

21 February 2021

Since spring 2020 ALB and BioClub Tokyo have been arranging online meetings between hybrid artists and associates in our respective cities. In our Meeting #13 two scientists talk about art and science collaborations.

Event | Performance

Mind Blind Pathetic Sublime

Online Performance Lecture
Sarah Hermanutz

16 February 2021

Five years since she presented the lecture-performance “Mind Blind: Therapeutic Interventions for Human/NonHuman Communications” for Transmediale | Vorspiel 2016, artist Sarah Hermanutz revisits the problems of social cognition in this time of isolation and multiple intersecting crises.

Event | Talk

VIRAL CLOUD | Berlin Tokyo

Hybrid Arts and DIY Bio Cultures
Fara Peluso and Sachiko Hirosue

17 January 2021

Since spring 2020 Art Laboratory Berlin and BioClub Tokyo have been arranging online meetings between hybrid artists and associates in our respective cities and beyond. In our 12th meeting we feature presentations by designer and bioartist Fara Peluso and Bioengineer Sachiko Hirosue

Event | Talk

VIRAL CLOUD | Berlin Tokyo

Hybrid Arts and DIY Bio Cultures
Heather Barnett

22 December 2020

Since spring 2020 ALB and BioClub Tokyo have been arranging online meetings between hybrid artists and associates in our respective cities and beyond. Meeting #11 features Heather Barnett on her art and science practice, recent collaborations in Japan, and new projects.

Event | Talk

VIRAL CLOUD | Berlin Tokyo

Hybrid Arts and DIY Bio Cultures
Walter Waldman

25 November 2020

Since spring 2020 ALB and BioClub Tokyo have been arranging online meetings between hybrid artists and associates in our respective cities and beyond. Meeting #11 features Walter Waldman presenting his research on microplastics and ideas for cooperation across disciplines.

Event | Talkshow

Feminist SF

Visions of M/otherhood & Reproduction
Isabel de Sena

August - October 2020

This event series as a live Talk Show format pays tribute to the powerful alternative images of mothering we’ve inherited through the pioneering work of feminist Sci-Fi writers, most notably regarding their defiance of conventions on (technological) reproduction.