roland halbe captures the testing of AR on wild silk at tieranatomisches theater

SYNTOPIA 1 SOMA | BODY through the lens of roland halbe

The Excellence Cluster Matters of Activity (MoA) has embarked on a quest to create a new culture of materials in the digital age. Part of Germany’s Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, MoA uses interdisciplinary research to develop sustainable practices and structures related to architecture, soft robotics, textiles, materials and digital filters, and surgical cutting techniques. Testing its quest in real life, the team conducted its research part of the DAOULA | sheen exhibition at the Tieranatomisches Theater in Berlin last November. The experiment, dubbed SYNTOPIA 1 – SOMA | BODY, uses an Augmented Reality (AR) framework to explore the formation of space via a filament-structure spun by hand and that gradually envelops its maker. ‘Understanding the activity of matter from as many different angles and perspectives as possible might help to avoid prolonging a damaging past of passive materiality into the future,’ writes MoA. Photographer Roland Halbe captured the process unfolding at the theater, documenting the intricate webbing of the material made from textured yarn with a high wool content.

all images © Roland Halbe

matters of activity pairs augmented reality and textured yarn

Curated by a team at MoA, the DAOULA | sheen exhibition at theTieranatomisches Theater focused on the natural formation and cultural history of wild silk obtained from caterpillars in West Africa, and on the many complex ways that microbiologists, materials scientists, and German architects view this material. The cluster’s very own Elaine Bonavia, Jessica Farmer, Alexandre Mballa-Ekobena, Nikolai Rosenthal, Laurence Douny, and Karola Dierichs published a paper on an augmented reality (AR) framework that uses hand-based motion tracking and data capture testing a reliance on haptic data flows instead of visual ones. The AR framework was eventually tested in a one-to-one scale architectural application emulating the spinning behavior of silkworms. Roland Halbe’s photographic series shows the MoA team physically immersing themselves in the filament matrix as they carry out the testing.

SYNTOPIA 1 – SOMA | BODY by Matters of Activity (MoA)

Ultimately, the Cluster’s experimentation attempts to answer the following questions: ‘What can we learn from the inherent structures of materials? What would this mean for design, architecture, technology, medicine and everyday life?’ The SYNTOPIA 1 – SOMA | BODY project is a collaborative project between Matters of Activity, the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces and the weißensee school of art and design berlin. MoA will also be opening its doors during Berlin Science Week 2023 to show visitors active matter on stage during hands-on workshops and tours through its very own showroom, Activarium.

testing the project at the Tieranatomisches Theater