A
research
project of Art Laboratory Berlin and the Institute of Biotechnology,
TU Berlin (2018-20)
MIND THE FUNGI | The Project
Art Laboratory Berlin, in cooperation with
the Institute of Biotechnology TU Berlin, is pleased to present
the Art & Science project Mind the Fungi, which is dedicated
to the research of local mushrooms and current fungal biotechnology.
Mushrooms
are used in biotechnology as cell factories to produce antibiotics,
immunosuppressants, cholesterol-lowering drugs, antimalarials, insulin,
prebiotics, pigments, organic acids, enzymes, polyunsaturated fatty
acids, vitamins and more. The fungal biotechnology of the 20th century
managed to establish itself as an essential platform technology
for innumerable branches of industry and thus decisively shapes
our daily life and our lifestyle in an invisible way.
At the moment, fungal biotechnology is undergoing a disruptive innovation
process, which we want to co-design with citizen scientists
in a sustainable manner. Mushrooms, which are produced on the basis
of renewable vegetable raw materials in the biotechnological process,
are to be converted, with far-reaching consequences, into packaging
materials, building materials, and even leather.
In the project Mind the Fungi we use the interdisciplinary
concept from STEM to STEAM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, Mathematics, Art) to expand scientific
research with artistic and design-based research. The Institute
of Biotechnology works with Berlin citizens, artists and designers
to develop new ideas and technologies for mushroom and lichen-based
materials of the future. The Artists in Residence programme
brings art and design into the project as a constructive source
of ideas, multipliers and communicators of scientific issues, and
supports the process of sharing research processes and findings
with the public.
With
the expertise of applied and molecular microbiology in the field
of fungal biotechnology (Prof. Meyer),
bioprocess development (Prof. Neubauer) and art and science communication
(Art Laboratory Berlin) the aim of the project is also to establish
a new, innovative and interdisciplinary field of research at the
TU Berlin, which dares right from the beginning to build a bridge
in the growing Citizen Science Community in order to integrate
their expertise at an early stage.
MIND THE FUNGI Video,
5 min., 2019
Produced for the FUTURIUM, Berlin
Production: Tim Deussen,
www.tim-deussen.de
Concept: Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz, ALB
•
Department of Applied and Molecular Microbiology,
TU Berlin | Prof. Vera Meyer
• Department of Bioprocess Engineering,
TU Berlin | Prof. Peter Neubauer
• Art Laboratory Berlin | Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz
Different formats and platforms offer the general public a regular
opportunity to participate in the ongoing research project and obtain
insights: talks, lab visits, workshops and exhibitions.
One
format developed by Art Laboratory Berlin that has been already
successfully realized and represents interdisciplinary connections
between art and science is the format of WALK & TALKs.
Berlin artist Theresa Schubert realised several WALK & TALKs
in Berlin and Brandenburg during Autumn 2018.
MIND
THE FUNGI | Walk & Talks
Artist Theresa Schubert offers diverse perspectives on the forest
and its cultural meaning including a performance. Furthermore, together
with biotechnologists from the Institute of Biotechnology | TU Berlin
she guides us through forests of Berlin and Brandenburg in search
of tree mushrooms and lichens. Samples taken will later form part
of a two-year research project combining cutting edge biological
research, citizen science and artistic research.
Biotechnologists
from TU Berlin show participants how to collect samples of fungi
and lichens and preserve them for further study and cultivation.
At a follow-up lab at the Dept. of Applied and Molecular Microbiology
| TU Berlin, participants are shown how to inoculate Petri dishes
with samples for cultivation.
MIND
THE FUNGI | Artist-in-Residence Programme
THERESA
SCHUBERT | Artist-in-Residence
Berlin-based
artist Theresa Schubert explores unconventional visions of nature,
technology and the self. She studied media art at the Bauhaus-University,
Weimar. She combines audiovisual and hybrid media with conceptual
and immersive installations or site-specific interventions that
may include living organisms. Thematically her works question the
relation of humans to their environment and evolvement of matter
and meaning beyond the anthropos.
FARA
PELUSO | Designer-in-Residence
Fara
Peluso is an artist/ designer based in Berlin working at the interconnection
between design, art and science. Through a speculative design practice
she wants to raise critical questions about which possible relationships
between human beings and living organisms can be envisioned for near
possible futures. After the successful eradication of the concept
that the human being is the most important living organism on earth,
she wants to contribute to cancelling the hierarchies between us and
nature, to become more conscious and participative with ecological
systems.
MIND
THE FUNGI | The Team
Art Laboratory Berlin
Regine Rapp (Co-Director, Curator, Art Theoretician)
Christian de Lutz (Co-Director, Curator)
Theresa Schubert (Artist)
Fara Peluso (Designer/ Artist)
Institute of Biotechnology, TU Berlin Applied
and Molecular Microbiology
Prof. Vera Meyer
Bertram Schmidt
Carsten Pohl
Kustrim Cerimi
Bastian Schubert
Tom Morris
Bioprocess
Engineering
Prof. Peter Neubauer
Stefan Junne
Zakieh Zakeri
Anika Bockisch
Fatemeh Nejati
Martin
Drostert
Activities
Mind the Fungi | Art & Design Residencies
Theresa
Schubert|Fara
Peluso
3 July - 28 December 2020
Opening:
2 July 2020, 6PM via Facebook
Live
Curated
by Regine Rapp and Christian de Lutz
FUTURIUM
| Futurium Lab, Alexanderufer 2, 10117 Berlin
Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun 10 am – 6 pm, Thu 10 am – 8 pm,
Tue closed, Free entrance
The Artist- and Design-Residencies of Mind the Fungi
with artist Theresa Schubert and artist designer Fara
Peluso bring in art and design as constructive sources of ideas
for this research project. Schubert studied the effects of sound
on fungal growth. Peluso has done research on new biomaterials on
the symbiotic basis of algae and fungi. The artistic and design
related works are a result of a close collaboration with both departments
of TU Berlin’s Institute of Biotechnology – Prof. Vera
Meyer’s department of Applied Molecular Microbiology and Prof.
Peter Neubauer’s department Bioprocess Engineering.(More
information)
Mind the Fungi
MATERIAL
DRIVEN DESIGN. Sculpting with Bioplastic Textile
A two-day workshop with Fara Peluso 6
May, 2020 6-8PM
Today Material Research is a central point in the theory and practice
of designing new technologies, in cooperation with art and design.
These fields are currently collaborating, merging their knowledge
and practice to develop a new generation of materials, by focusing
on specific characteristics, to create new environmentally friendly
materials. Another approach, however, has also arisen in the last
years combining making, crafting and personal fabrication of new
materials through a form of Do It Yourself (DIY) biology and craftmaking.
This Mind the Fungi workshop discusses this new material
driven design movement and methodology, learning how to build a
new material by studying and using a living organism like mycelium.
Discovering the features, possibilities and limits of mycelium-based
materials, the participants will work together growing material
and developing new material, building sculptures, assembling DIY
packaging and drawing and cutting patterns on a new material made
of biofilm.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis the initial workshop has been postponed
and
on 6 May a livestream talk and workshop with Fara Peluso took place.Documentation
here
With
the generous support of the Technische Universität Berlin as
part of the program Citizen Science - Forschen mit der Gesellschaft
Mind the Fungi
Open
Lab Night
am Institute ofBiotechnology/ Bio Process Engineering, TU Berlin
Ackerstr. 76, Room Z20, Hof 3 Aufgang F, 13355 Berlin
Photo: Marcel Dostert 21
January 2020, 7-9.30 PM
No
registration necessary | Free entrance
The
Art & Science project Mind the Fungi is a cooperation
between the Institute of Biotechnology at the TU Berlin and Art
Laboratory Berlin and is dedicated to the research of local fungi
and lichens. Scientists of the Department of Bioprocess Engineering
will give short presentations to give an insight into the world
of lichens and their potential for new natural products is presented.
Afterwards, production tools, in particular bioreactors, that are
used to reproduce the lichen cultures and their valuable materials,
will be presented. There is also the opportunity to have hands-on
experiences with the material – even under the microscope.
Using lichens from the environment, experimental methods for isolation
and characterization in laboratory experiments will be shown and
the morphology of the symbiosis observed under the microscope.
Lichens represent a symbiosis of algae and fungi. Fungi and lichens
offer a resource of diverse substances, the spectrum ranges from
compounds to fine and basic chemicals such as bioplastic components
to valuable food components and even building materials. In the
case of lichens, the cultivation for the production of such diverse
products is still at the beginning. Appropriate isolation and subsequent
bioprocess optimization should greatly shorten growth times and
unlock the potential for producing valuable substances.
The bioengineering research is expanded through artistic and design-based
approaches. The Institute of Biotechnology works together with Berlin
artists and designers to develop new ideas and technologies for
the mushroom and lichen-based materials of the future and would
like to involve the public in these developments.
The event is open to everyone, no previous knowledge is required! Part
of the Vorspiel programme in partnership with the CTM and transmediale With
the generous support of the Technische Universität Berlin as
part of the program Citizen Science - Forschen mit der Gesellschaft
MIND THE FUNGI
WALK
& TALK #3
Briesetal | 28 September, 2019(Day
Excursion)
Lab excursion, TU Berlin | 1 October, 2019 (Evening) Please
register for more details: register@artlaboratory-berlin.org
Artist
Theresa Schubert will offer diverse perspectives on the forest
and its cultural meaning. Together with biotechnologists from the
Institute of Biotechnology | TU Berlin she will guide us through
the forest of Briesetal in search of tree mushrooms. This Walk and
Talk forms part of a research project combining cutting edge biotechnological
research, citizen science and artistic research.
Bertram
Schmidt and Carsten Pohl from TU Berlin will show participants
how to collect samples of fungi and preserve them for further study
and cultivation. At a follow-up lab at the Dept. of Applied and
Molecular Microbiology | TU Berlin on 1 October, participants will
be shown how to inoculate Petri dishes with samples for cultivation.
(More
information)
With
the generous support of the Technische Universität Berlin as
part of the program Citizen Science - Forschen mit der Gesellschaft
Opening
5 September 2019, 7 PM
Mind
the Fungi.
Local Tree Mushrooms as Sustainable Material for the Future
Venue:
FUTURIUM | Futurium Lab, Alexanderufer
2, 10117 Berlin Curated
by Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz, Art Laboratory Berlin
Exhibition:
5 September 2019 – 30 April 2020 Curator's
talk with Christian de Lutz: 7 September 2019, 3-5PM Opening
Hours: Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun 10AM – 6PM, Thur 10AM –
8PM, Tues closed.
Free entry
Mind
the Fungi
is a collaboration between the TU Berlin Institute of Biotechnology
(TUB) and Art Laboratory Berlin (ALB), combining scientific research,
citizen science and artist and designer residencies-in-lab. The
project researches innovative uses for biomaterials produced from
tree fungi. Researchers at TU Berlin's Institute of Biotechnology
create new materials from natural sources. How and what you grow
the material on defines its qualities. Art Laboratory Berlin brings
together for this topic artists, scientists and the public to share
knowledge and experience new forms of creativity through exhibitions,
talks and workshops.
The
exhibition shows how we have cultivated various tree fungi with
different media (i.e. on substrate such as sawdust), and produced
biomaterials with different shapes, structures and qualities. Some
current examples range from mycelium bricks to 'vegan leather' and
other design products. Videos and slide shows document the Art Science
project "Mind thr Fungi", introduce the individual team
members and provide a deeper insight into the creative world of
an interdisciplinary work process.
(More information)
Curated
by Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz, Art Laboratory Berlin
Mind
the Fungi as part of the Long Night of Science @ Technical University
Berlin
15
June, 2019 from 5PM
Institute for Biotechnology
Bio Process Engineering
Ackerstr. 76
13355 Berlin
Raum: Raum 394
Mind
the Fungi! - Mushrooms and their contribution to biotechnology
Everyone knows champignons, mold and co. But mushrooms can do more
than just taste good or spoil bread. Already today they are used
to produce detergent enzymes and bioplastics. And we are just beginning
to understand the complex biology of fungi. Immerse yourself in
the delicate and fragile world of mushroom microbiology. The Department
of Applied and Molecular Microbiology of the TU Berlin with Art
Laboratory Berlin gives you an insight into the modern molecular
biology of mushrooms. Identify them by their DNA; use modern microscopes
to discover a world hidden and enchanting to the human eye. Learn
how today's biotechnology can solve tomorrow's problems. More
information
With
the generous support of the Technische Universität Berlin as
part of the program Citizen Science - Forschen mit der Gesellschaft
Mind
the Fungi: cultivation course at TopLab
Dates:
27 April 2 - 6PM
4 May 2 - 6PM
11 May 2 - 6PM
18 May 4PM -open end Fully
Booked!
TopLab will host a mushroom home-cultivation course in collaboration
with Art Laboratory Berlin and the faculty of Applied and Molecular
Microbiology (TU Berlin)
By
taking the course, you will learn how to isolate and grow mushrooms
for different purposes. You will learn to create and shape own mycelium
based objects, such as packaging materials, furniture, building
materials and even leather. Additionally, you will learn how to
set up a culture to grow edible mushrooms.
You
will also participate in a mycelium packaging experiment, grow together
a mycelium box and ship it per post to test the material's resistance.
In
March 2019, the Institute of Biotechnology, TU Berlin and Art Laboratory
Berlin invited stakeholders to a Creative Workshop. The aim
is to initiate a fast-paced innovation process in fungal biotechnology
by integrating various faculties within the TU Berlin as well
as other scholars, citizen scientists, artists and also designers
from the private sector, to create a disruptive and sutainable technology.
Mushrooms have recently been converted into packaging materials,
building materials and even leather. The consequences will be far-reaching:
in the future fungal biomaterials can replace polystyrene packaging,
houses can be built out of and with mushrooms, as can insulation
materials in the construction industry and in vehicles.
By bundling the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research
efforts of the Mind the Fungi -team together with scholars,
citizen scientists and artists and other experts for this topic,
we see the opportunity to participate in a transformation process
based on sustainability, an also to build up a special interdisciplinary
research area in Berlin.
Mind
the Fungi: Update and Presentations
28
February 2019, 7PM
Mind
the Fungi is a two-year collaborative project between the Technische
Universität Berlin and Art Laboratory Berlin.
There will be short presentations of some of the project partners
about the process so far: collecting, cultivating and identifying
the fungi, as well as a discussion of upcoming events:
- Regine Rapp | Art Laboratory Berlin
- Prof. Dr. Vera Meyer / Institute of Biotechnology - Applied and
Molecular Microbiology, TU Berlin
- Bertram Schmidt | Institute of Biotechnology - Applied and Molecular
Microbiology, TU Berlin
(Photo
documentation)
MIND
THE FUNGI
WALK & TALK #2
Tegeler
Forst | 17 November 2018
Forest excursion + Lab visit to the Dept. of Applied and Molecular
Microbiology | TU Berlin
Art Laboratory Berlin invites you to a public event of Mind the
Fungi, a two-year collaborative project between the Technische
Universität Berlin and Art Laboratory Berlin. Artist Theresa
Schubert will offer diverse perspectives on the forest and its
cultural meaning including a performance. Furthermore, together
with biotechnologists from the Institute of Biotechnology | TU Berlin
she will guide us through forests of Berlin and Brandenburg in search
of tree mushrooms and lichens. Samples taken will form part of a
two-year research project combining cutting edge biological research,
citizen science and artistic research.
Biotechnologists from TU Berlin will show participants how to collect
samples of fungi and lichens and preserve them for further study
and cultivation. At a follow-up lab at the Dept. of Applied and
Molecular Microbiology | TU Berlin, participants will be shown how
to inoculate Petri dishes with samples for cultivation.
Berlin-based artist Theresa Schubert explores unconventional visions
of nature, technology and the self. She studied media art at the
Bauhaus-University, Weimar. She combines audiovisual and hybrid
media with conceptual and immersive installations or site-specific
interventions that may include living organisms. Thematically her
works question the relation of humans to their environment and evolvement
of matter and meaning beyond the anthropos.
In 2019 further workshops and labs will explore new modes of fungal
biotechnology, which is currently undergoing a disruptive innovation
process. Mushrooms, which are produced on the basis of renewable
raw materials in the biotechnological process, will be converted,
with far-reaching consequences, into packaging materials, building
materials, and even leather. Together with biotechnologists from
TU Berlin, citizen scientists, artists and designers, we invite
you to take part in Mind the Fungi.
Mind the Fungi is a research project of Prof. Vera Meyer
and Prof. Peter Neubauer of the Institute of Biotechnology, Technische
Universität Berlin and Art Laboratory Berlin.
(Photo
documentation of Walk and Talk; Photo
documentation of lab results)
With
the generous support of the Technische Universität Berlin as
part of the program Citizen Science - Forschen mit der Gesellschaft
MIND THE FUNGI
WALK & TALK #1
1)
Briesetal | 27 October, 2018(Day
Excursion) 2) Lab excursion, TU Berlin | 29 October, 2018 (Evening)
Art Laboratory Berlin invites you to
the first public event of Mind the Fungi, a two-year collaborative
project between the Technische Universität Berlin and Art Laboratory
Berlin. Artist Theresa Schubert will offer diverse perspectives
on the forest and its cultural meaning including a performance.
Furthermore, together with biotechnologists from the Institute of
Biotechnology | TU Berlin she will guide us through forests of Berlin
and Brandenburg in search of tree mushrooms and lichens. Samples
taken will form part of a two-year research project combining cutting
edge biological research, citizen science and artistic research.
Mind
the Fungi is a research project of Prof. Vera Meyer and Prof.
Peter Neubauer of the Institute of Biotechnology, Technische Universität
Berlin and Art Laboratory Berlin.
(Photo
documentation)
With
the generous support of the Technische Universität Berlin as
part of the program Citizen Science - Forschen mit der Gesellschaft:
Art Laboratory Berlin is grateful for the permanent support of:
