Ten simple rules for hosting artists in a scientific lab

Hosting an artist in a scientific lab is likely a new experience for many scientists in the natural and engineering sciences, and perhaps also for many artists, yet it can be a very beneficial experience for both parties [1]. “Art and science are in a tension that is most fruitful when these disciplines observe and penetrate each other and experience how much of the other they themselves still contain” [2]. During our science and art collaborations in the last years, we have learned what connects and what separates our disciplines, how different yet common our worlds of working and thinking are, and how stimulating such collaborations can be. Although scientists and artists belong to two different cultural worlds, many share research as a congruent method to explore and understand the world around us. Often, scientific and artistic work spaces are indistinguishable as they are full of equipment, materials, tools, and computers to run experiments and analyze data [3,4]. Science and art are fundamentally connected through their focus on creativity [5]. Also, both scientists and artists deliberately venture into the public realm in the spirit of Hannah Arendt: “Humanity is never won in loneliness and never by handing one’s work over to the public. Only if you take your life and person[ality] into the venture of the public realm, will you reach [humanity]” [6]. At the most fundamental level, science and art both try to understand the world around us and to guide society to recognize and solve problems. Artistic and scientific research may also have much more in common than one expects at first sight: They both involve years of schools and personal development, they both involve trial and error, and the sharing of results with different communities. However, transdisciplinary cooperation requires openness, a willingness to take risks, the ability for self-reflection, respect, and esteem for the other culture as well as a lot of appreciative listening from both parties [7,8]. Our paper thus intends to serve as a practical guide for both, artists-in-residence and the hosting scientific lab to easier cross borders, to better collaborate, to better learn from each other, and to sustainably bridge the different cultures of science and the arts. Our discussion starts at the point where a decision for such an interaction has already taken place. Still wondering if this is for you? There is much to gain for both sides. For the scientists, for example, this interaction can be a source of new ideas and questions, offering new points of view. Some of us also felt that this interaction offered training in explaining research in clear, simple language, and provided opportunities for interfacing with the science-curious public in a curated context. For the artists, this can be about learning new tools, methods, and approaches and about the specific topics on which a lab works

Über Kunst, Wissenschaft und das Ende der Natur : Judith Elisabeth Weiss im Gespräch mit Regine Rapp und Christian de Lutz von Art Laboratory Berlin

Eine Natur jenseits normativer anthropozentrischer Konzepte machen die Mitbegründer und Leiter des Art Laboratory Berlin (ALB), die Kunsttheoretikerin und Kuratorin Regine Rapp und der Künstler und Kurator Christian de Lutz, im Gespräch mit Kunstforum International geltend. Die intensive Auseinandersetzung des ZfL-Forschungsschwerpunkts "Lebenswissen" mit kritischer Ökologie, mit Natur/Kultur-Konzepten und der Verbindung von Biologie und Kulturwissenschaften gab den Anlass, das Gespräch mit dem Art Laboratory Berlin fortzusetzen

Text+: Sprach- und textbasierte Forschungsdateninfrastruktur

Presentation of Text+ at the 2nd NFDI conference, July 8th and 9th 202

Text+ und die GND – Community-Hub und Wissensgraph

In dem auf die Forschungsdaten sprach- und textbasierter Disziplinen ausgerichteten NFDI-Konsortium Text+ spielen Normdaten eine zentrale Rolle für die interoperable Beschreibung und semantische Verknüpfung von verteilten Datenquellen. Insbesondere die Gemeinsame Normdatei (GND) ist ein bedeutender Hub im Zentrum eines im Entstehen begriffenen, domänenübergreifenden Wissensgraphen. Diese Funktion soll im Rahmen von Text+ durch den Aufbau einer GND-Agentur für sprach- und textbasierte Forschungsdaten weiterentwickelt und ausgebaut werden. Ziel ist es, niedrigschwellige, qualitätsgesicherte Beteiligungsmöglichkeiten für Forschende zu schaffen und zugleich den Vernetzungsgrad der GND auch durch Terminologie-Mappings zu erweitern. Spezifische Anforderungen und Nutzungspraktiken werden hierbei anhand der Datendomänen von Text+ exemplifziert.Authority data play a central role in the interoperable description and semantic linking of distributed data sources in the NFDI Text+ consortium, which is dedicated to the research data of language and text-based disciplines. The Integrated Authority File (GND) in particular is a key hub at the centre of a nascent cross-domain knowledge graph. This function is to be developed and expanded within Text+ through the establishment of a GND agency for language and text-based research data. The aim is to create low-threshold, quality-assured ways in which researchers can participate. A further aim is to expand the level of networking within the GND, including through terminology mapping. The specifc requirements and use practices are exemplifed by the data domains of Text+

Mind the Fungi

Published in print by Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin, ISBN 978-3-7983-3168-6Dieses Buch berichtet über die Bündelung der Kreativitätsmotoren Wissenschaft und Kunst und wie daraus ein lebendiges Dreigespann aus Wissenschaft, Kunst und Gesellschaft geschmiedet werden kann. Eine schöpferische Triade, die sich über einen Zeitraum von zwei Jahren hinweg gemeinsam der Utopie verschrieben hat, eine Synthese aus nachhaltiger Wirtschaft, gesunder Umwelt und einer gerechten Gesellschaft zu ermöglichen. Das Projekt Mind the Fungi („Achtung Pilze“) ist ein Citizen-Science-Forschungsvorhaben, welches aus der Kooperation der Fachgebiete für Angewandte und Molekulare Mikrobiologie und Bioverfahrenstechnik der TU Berlin sowie der Kunst- und Forschungsplattform Art Laboratory Berlin entstand und welches Bürger_innen die Möglichkeit einer wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeit ermöglichen sollte. Das Projekt sollte einerseits einem breiten Publikum die Bedeutung der Pilzbiotechnologie für eine nachhaltige Zukunft näherbringen und andererseits hier an der TU Berlin ein Forschungsnetzwerk aufbauen, in dem unter anderem mit Citizen Scientists neuartige pilzbasierte Biomaterialien erforscht werden sollten. Die wissenschaftlichen und künstlerischen Wege im Mind-the-Fungi-Projekt, die wir gemeinsam mit der Öffentlichkeit von 2018 bis 2020 gegangen sind, so auch die Art & Design Residencies, können jetzt mit diesem Buch in Texten und Bildern nachverfolgt werden.This book reports on the bundling of the creativity engines science and art and how a living triad of science, art and society can be forged from this. A creative triad, which over a period of two years has jointly committed itself to the utopia of enabling a synthesis of sustainable economy, healthy environment and a just society. The project Mind the Fungi (“Achtung Pilze”) is a Citizen Science research project, which resulted from the cooperation of the Departments of Applied and Molecular Microbiology and Bioprocess Engineering of the TU Berlin and the art and research platform Art Laboratory Berlin. It was intended to provide citizens with an opportunity for scientific collaboration. On the one hand, the project was intended to give a broad public an understanding of the importance of fungal biotechnology for a sustainable future and, on the other hand, to establish a research network here at the TU Berlin, in which, among other things, novel fungus-based biomaterials were to be researched with Citizen Scientists. The scientific and artistic paths in the Mind-the-Fungi project, which we followed together with the public from 2018 to 2020, including the Art & Design Residencies, can now be traced in text and images in this book.TU Berlin, Open-Access-Mittel - 202

Mind the Fungi

This book reports on the bundling of the creativity engines science and art and how a living triad of science, art and society can be forged from this. A creative triad, which over a period of two years has jointly committed itself to the utopia of enabling a synthesis of sustainable economy, healthy environment and a just society. The project Mind the Fungi (“Achtung Pilze”) is a Citizen Science research project, which resulted from the cooperation of the Departments of Applied and Molecular Microbiology and Bioprocess Engineering of the TU Berlin and the art and research platform Art Laboratory Berlin. It was intended to provide citizens with an opportunity for scientific collaboration. On the one hand, the project was intended to give a broad public an understanding of the importance of fungal biotechnology for a sustainable future and, on the other hand, to establish a research network here at the TU Berlin, in which, among other things, novel fungus-based biomaterials were to be researched with Citizen Scientists. The scientific and artistic paths in the Mind-the-Fungi project, which we followed together with the public from 2018 to 2020, including the Art & Design Residencies, can now be traced in text and images in this book