Alle Beiträge von Berit Greinke

Freie Projekte (2025)

WiSe24/25 // Modedesign // Semesterprojekt 

Eine zeitgenössische Lehrpraxis im Bekleidungsdesign wird bereichert durch diverse Perspektiven, die über das klassische Lehrangebot hinausgehen können. Fragestellungen, die von den Studierenden selbst ausgehen, bergen das Potential, Definitionen und Sichtweisen innerhalb der sich fortwährend weiterentwickelnden Disziplin zu erweitern und fördern kritisches und eigenständiges Denken. Freie Projekte bieten die Möglichkeit, an einer eigenen Entwurfsprojektidee oder an einem eigenen gestalterischen Forschungsvorhaben zu arbeiten und dieses unter der Betreuung von Lehrenden des Instituts durchzuführen.

 

Luis Amlsgruber

Creative Direction and Production: Josephine Aymar @josephineaymar
Design and Styling: Luis Amslgruber @luisamslgruber
Art Direction / Photography: Julia Lee Goodwin @julialeegoodwin
Hair and Make-Up Artist: Henriette Aue @fr.aue
Model: Qianyu Yu @uy.qianyu via @vivamodelsberlin
Jewelry: @larsen.jewelry @carolinegorg.atelier

 

Tim Escher

FEELING OF CLOTH
Mode kann viele Gefühle entstehen lassen und transportieren, da sie mehr als nur eine äußere Erscheinung ist. Sie ist eine Form der Selbstexpression, die tief in die menschliche Psyche eindringt und eine Vielzahl von Emotionen vermittelt. In unserer Kleidung geht es um wesentlich mehr als nur Design, Stofflichkeit oder Verarbeitung. Es können radikale Expressionen hervorgerufen werden, welche sich mit Gegensätzen beschäftigen und so gegen traditionelle Normen und Werte fungieren. Jedes Kleidungsstück erzählt eine eigene Geschichte; es ist wie ein Kapitel in unserem persönlichen Buch, welches unsere Stimmungen, unsere Träume und unsere Persönlichkeit widerspiegelt. Sie spricht eine eigene Sprache und will uns ihre Emotionen übertragen. Durch das Wiederspiegeln von Gefühlen, erhalten wir die Möglichkeit, uns selbst auszudrücken, ohne ein einziges Wort zu sagen.

Ein Anzug oder eine Uniform vermitteln Stärke und Autorität. Durch das Gefühl des Tragens lässt es das Auftreten verändern. Es wird sowohl ein Selbstbewusstsein nach Außen übertragen, als auch eine Raffinesse, da Kleidungsstücke wie der Anzug zu den kompliziertesten Kleidungsstücken in der Herstellung zählen. Zu den wohl stärksten Emotionen, die Kleidung weitergeben kann, gehören Anmut, Glamour, Zugehörigkeit, Individualität oder Nostalgie. Die Sprache der Mode ist universell und grenzüberschreitend. Sie kann Menschen miteinander verbinden, indem sie gemeinsame Werte und Emotionen teilt, und gleichzeitig individuell einzigartige Geschichten erzählen.

In der heutigen Zeit ist die Wahl der Kleidung oft eine sehr bewusste Entscheidung, die darauf abzielt, unsere Werte und Stimmung zu kommunizieren. Die Mode soll nicht nur als äußerer Schein fungieren, sondern als ein Spiegelbild unserer Seele, unserer innersten Gefühle und unsere Psyche.

In meinem freien Projekt möchte ich mich zu einem mit den Gefühlen, welche Mode vermitteln kann, auseinandersetzen und zum anderen, wie Gegensätze von Materialien, Formen, Subversionen und Banalitäten die tragende Person beeinflussen.

Welchen Einfluss haben die verschiedenen Aspekte des Designs auf den Menschen, wie z.B. die Subversion von Geschlechtern, die Stofflichkeit, die Silhouette, der Zustand eines Kleidungsstückes und welche Gesten werden vermittelt? Wie verändern sich die Gefühle von einem sehr tragbaren zu einem untragbaren Kleidungsstück? Dies alles in Hinsicht auf die Introspektion (Def.: In·t·ro·s·pek·ti·on /Introspektion/ Substantiv, feminin [die]nach innen, auf das eigene Bewusst- sein, die psychischen Vorgänge gerichtete Beobachtung) der tragenden Person.

 

Charlotte Hüttenloher

Siblings
Inspired by the concept of siblings wearing matching outfits, this design draws influence from children‘s and toddlers‘ clothing. Initially, the same print and color palette dominate the ensemble. However, upon closer inspection, the unique characteristics of each piece and the various ways they can be worn reveal the undeniable individuality of the garments and overall looks.

Photo: Charlotte Hüttenloher
Model: Arkadiusz Swieton

 

Leif Kessler

 

Melchior Rasch

Der sich aufpumpende Mensch erschafft sich selbst. Gleich einem Bildhauer der sein Werk aus Marmor schlägt, trainiert er präzise die Muskeln seines Körpers durch Bodybuilding. Es geht ihm nicht um den Zugewinn von Kraft, es geht ihm darum sein eigenes Bild von Kraft herzustellen, Sein eigenes Bild zu modellieren, bis zur Perfektion. Doch was ist der Antrieb dahinter? Ist das wirklich zeitgemäß? Und Ist der sich aufpumpende Mensch von Unfreiheit geprägt? Die in den Körper investiert Zeit fließt in einen unabschließbaren Prozess der Selbstoptimierung. Und in seiner Unabschließbarkeit steht er still, staubt er ein, der Körper, der irgendwann doch ohnehin verfällt.
In den Designs wird das Spannungsfeld von Körperkunst, Männlichkeit und Unfreiheit eines Mannes inszeniert, der aussieht “wie aus Stein gemeißelt.

Photography: Melchior Rasch
Models:  Aleksandar @i.am.aleksandar, Alexander @lexius_prince

Masken des Alltags | Valeria Lehner | 2025

Masken des Alltags | Valeria Lehner | 2025

 

Diese Arbeit untersucht die Wechselwirkung zwischen Mode und Kostümdesign und hinterfragt die konventionelle Trennung beider Disziplinen. Basierend auf praktischer Erfahrung im Kostümdesign für die UNIT-Theaterproduktion Edging Faust (Dezember 2024) entstand eine Kollektion, die auf dieser Arbeit aufbaut. Durch diese Art von Feldforschung wurde untersucht, inwieweit Kleidung sowohl als individueller Ausdruck als auch als performatives Mittel fungieren kann. Die zentrale Frage lautet: Wie eng sind Mode und Kostüm miteinander verbunden? Gibt es klare Grenzen, oder verschwimmen diese in der Praxis? Ist Mode nicht längst das Kostüm des Alltags, das in einer globalen Inszenierung seinen Platz gefunden hat? Das Ergebnis ist eine Symbiose beider Disziplinen, die deren Schnittstellen aufgreift und die Möglichkeiten ihrer Fusion zulässt.

Credits:

Valeria Lehner

@ rias.magic.art
@ riaisafairy

PHOTOSHOOT 1
FOTOGRAF: Daniel Nartschick @ daniel_nartschick
MODELS:
Sera Ahamefule
Louisa Beck
Clemens Bobke
Pablo Moreno Pipino de Andrade
Azaria Dowuona-Hammond
Agnes Iduna Kirfel Hestholm
Salar Jafari
Louis Arturo Romeu Pena
Svenja Peters
Daniel Petrenko
Franziska Annekonstans Winkler

PHOTOSHOOT 2
FOTOGRAF: Becky @ mad.becksss
MUA:
Karla @ karlaromeromakeup
MODELS:
Alexandria @xalemra
Henny /kein Insta
Garance @garancestaehli
Edwin @edwin_jonkman
Lena-Mariama @lamein

PHOTOSHOOT 3
FOTOGRAF: Monika @ electraskians
MUA:
Sofi Garcia @ sofipintomakeup
MODELS:
Photo0 – Mikhail @mikhailfabiano
Photo1 – Elly @ellysfee
Photo2/3 – Dominique Ricardo @silvherrr

PHOTOSHOOT 4
FOTOGRAF: Ruben @ votogram
MODELS:
Photo0 – Elly @ellysfee
Photo1 – Dominique Ricardo @silvherrr

 

BECOMING MY ALTER EGO | Mascha Berger | 2025

BECOMING MY ALTER EGO | Mascha Berger | 2025

 

Press button… reset, a borrowed face I can’t forget. Becoming My Alter Ego explores personal and social identities through the lens of gaming culture and fashion. By deconstructing archetypes and playing with common stereotypes, the collection challenges them as a performative act of becoming oneself.

The act of looking and being looked at shapes how we present ourselves. Every gesture is shaped by what has gone before, every role influenced by the presence of another. The boundaries between performer and observer blur, making it unclear who is leading and who is following. The mother, the son, the man, the woman— each stepping into a role shaped by the past, yet never unchanged. Stories are retold, movements repeated, but meaning is never fixed. What once seemed defined by tradition is constantly rewritten, leaving no clear distinction between continuity and transformation.

As online and offline realities merge, especially for a constantly connected generation, the project examines the influence of digital personas. It looks at how the digital and analogue worlds shape identities on equal footing. In this shifting space between everyday life and fantasy, Becoming My Alter Ego attempts to unpack the concept of selfhood—are we the ones coding, or just hitting ‚respawn‘?

Credits:

My Instagram : @prewozny

Photos: Jan Luis Hartung / Instagram: @janlouishartung

Maximilian Neretin / Instagram @maximilianneretin

Accessories: Collab with / Instagram @kira.jpeg1000

Models: Daniel Berger, Antje Engelmann, Caspar Engelmann, Janis/ Instagram @paradoxun

 

Meter | Aaron Alvin Keller | 2025

Meter | Aaron Alvin Keller | 2025

 

METER erforscht alternative Konstruktions- und Fertigungsstrategien von Bekleidung, die eine zeitgenössische Auseinandersetzung mit sozialen, technologischen und ökologischen Fragen der Textilindustrie ermöglichen. Durch die gezielte Nutzung und Manipulation der Jacquard-Webtechnik wird das Weben ganzer Kleidungsstücke als experimentelle Methode erprobt, wodurch klassische Produktionsschritte wie Zuschneiden und Vernähen entfallen. Im Zentrum von METER steht die Vision einer Neudefinition der Modeproduktion, die technologische Innovation mit handwerklicher Tradition verbindet.

Credits:

Foto (Alle Bilder): Aaron Alvin Keller, Bastian Marx (Model)
Video: Aaron Alvin Keller

Russische Folklore Dämonologie | Elizaveta Efimova | 2025

Russische Folklore Dämonologie | Elizaveta Efimova | 2025

 

How can mythological consciousness be translated into matter? Can fabric embody an archetype, and can a silhouette become a ritual?

In my project, I explore how myth can exist in physical form, interwoven into textiles, texture, and movement. By bringing mythological figures to life, I aimed not just to recreate their outward appearance but to convey their essence—the hidden logic that allows them to endure in cultural memory.

Baba Yaga is the guardian of the boundary between worlds, a trial that the hero must face. In her costume, witch-like hands grasp the body and lift the skirt, creating the illusion of animated garment, as if the material itself has become part of her being.
Leshy is the embodiment of the forest, woven from tangled roots and moss. His texture is fluid, dissolving into the woodland space. Scarlet velvet forms splashes of color—like sudden bursts of life: poisonous berries, traces of animal claws, drops of blood.
Rusalka lingers at the threshold between worlds—her drapery, resembling wet skin glowing underwater, appears frozen in motion, while strands of hair are woven into the fabric, becoming one with it.
Chort is a demon who constantly teeters on the edge of the permissible. A fitted tailcoat tightly embraces his body, almost “constricting” his nature, yet his torso remains provocatively exposed, and through the lacing of his jeans, glimpses of skin reveal an overt display of corporeality.
Vodyanoy is the embodiment of water itself—ever-changing and unpredictable. The primary fabric is chameleon-effect organza, deep red at its core but shifting to blue hues depending on the angle. This interplay of colors and layered organza creates an illusion of movement and hidden danger, as though the material itself is in constant transformation.

This project is not just a visual interpretation of myth but an attempt to experience it through matter, to make it tangible and perceptible. Myth does not belong to the past alone. It continues to manifest—in art, in culture, in fashion. It adapts, transforms, but never disappears. Perhaps this is its true immortality.

Credits:

Baba Yaga & Chort
Model: @v.shelihova
Photo: @gautamma

Leshy
Photo: Evgeny Sorokin
(model prefers not to be mentioned)

Rusalka & Vodyanoy
Photo: @polina_was_online
(model prefers not to be mentioned)

 

 

House of Fools | Jakob Deutschmann | 2025

House of Fools | Jakob Deutschmann | 2025

 

The show is over, the audience is gone. And if the audience stays away, so does the money. The “House of Fools” collection takes a look behind the scenes of an old, once large and respected circus company and its old, broken costumes, sad faces and tells of the harsh reality of a circus after its golden age.

Modern silhouettes, elaborate handicrafts and a dirty, broken aesthetic come together, contrasts and patterns are reinterpreted. The result is a playful, detailed collection that is funny and sad at the same time.

Credits:

H&M: Julia Waltner @juwa.makeupartist

Photos: Lili Cirksena @itslilihere

Models: Annika @saurebaeren, Alida @alidasparty, Charlotte @diejayyy &

Moritz @moritzallerseits

Assistant: Wiktoria Okuniewska @wiktoria.rsk

Illustrationen: Carlotta Klein @carlotta_klein

Thank you: Amal Embroideries, Lotre Studio, GaleottiPiume, Barth &

Könenkamp Seiden & Loden Steiner

 

 

REDEFINED UNIFORMITY | Tim Escher | 2025

REDEFINED UNIFORMITY | Tim Escher | 2025

 

Credits:

Design & Concept
Tim Escher @tim_escher_

Art Direction
Josephine Aymar @josephineaymar

Photo
Denise Bakker @denisebakkerr

Hair&MakeUp
Henriette Aue @fr.aue

Talents
Emma Nourani @emma_nouriani
Shima Jafari @shima.lia
Claudia Goehner-Escher @ammerlandervintage
Anton Wallner

Hat development
Susanne Stein @suz.berlin

Brooches development
Fatma Cankaya @fatmacankaya

Knitwear development
Goran Sidjimovski @boiknit I

llustrations
Sina Schlerf @ssinasch

Assistants
Nikolaus Hofmann @nikolaus.hofmann
Lars Bollgönn @lars_bollgoenn
Nicolas Moses @mosesethos
Johanna Quester @questeerr

Helping Hands
Maria Melzer @maria.melzer
Laurin Schuler @laurinschuler

Special Thanks to
Fabiola Eberle @lola_eberle
Jakob Deutschmann @jakob_deutschmann
Barth&Könenkamp Seiden (sponsoring) @barthseiden

 

 

Panopticon | Philip Welp | 2025

Panopticon | Philip Welp | 2025

 

In meiner Bachelorprojekt „Panopticon“ geht es um eine Dystopie, in der die Gesellschaft mittels KI gestützten Überwachungssystemen von einer kleinen Minderheit überwacht wird. Das Machtgefälle wird anhand folgender drei Gruppen visualisiert und soll einen überspitzten Ausblick auf die Zukunft von Gesellschaften bieten, falls die totalitären Gedanken einzelner weiter an Zustimmung gewinnen. Die gesamte Kollektion ist dabei aus Leder entwickelt, welches ich in meinem Praktikum bei Eccoleather selbst designed und angefertigt habe. Ruler – die herrschende Elite, die sich durch technologischen Fortschritt und KI-Überwachungssysteme an die Spitze gesetzt hat. Sie haben sich durch ihre Mittel von der restlichen Bevölkerung entfremdet und verkörpern absolute Kontrolle. people – die unterdrückte Mehrheit, die durch eine strenge Kleiderordnung uniformiert und ihrer Individualität beraubt wird. Sie repräsentieren Machtlosigkeit und Anpassung. Riots – eine Widerstandsbewegung aus Akteuren beider Gruppen, die sich der Überwachung durch Tarnung und Sabotage entziehen. Sie stehen für Hoffnung und Veränderung. 

Credits:

Fotografin: 
Da Hye Kim @__lace___

Assistenz:
Johanna Weilert @johannaweilert
Andreas Soyka @bloncoboheme
Oona Baron @oonabaron

Models:
Noemi Braun @noemi.braun
Sophia Nordhausen @sophiwa
Fides Blank @fides.blnk
Veit Musenberg @veit.mp3
Fynn Krystosek @fynnkrystosek
Emma Mende @emmamnd_
Nika Knorr @sorrymutti
Emily Wehr Famodimu @emily_.ife
Happy Bamrah @happylepremier

Installation:
Lukas Henneberger @lukashenneberger

Print:
Paula Schwarger @paulacoschh

 

 

 

FUNGIfiction restart our system | Lara Geyer | 2025

FUNGIfiction
restart our system | Lara Geyer | 2025

 

 

Credits:

Alle Sootingfotos von

Florijan Suta @floriyaann

Stoffsponsoring von Finkhof @finkhof_eg

Betreuer*innen: Gastprof. Franziska Schreiber, Prof. Dr. Gesche Joost, Prof. Dr. Berit Greinke, Stefan HippDorothée Warning

 

 

 

New 4-year Horizon Europe research project STELEC – Sustainable Textile Electronics

The Wearable Computing group in the Institute of Experimental Fashion and Textile Design kicks off new Horizon Europe project STELEC – Sustainable Textile Electronics with partners on 7-8 November 2024.

STELEC is an interdisciplinary research project funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) under the Pathfinder programmes in the responsible electronics topic seeking cutting-edge innovation with an end goal at TRL 2-3. The project is a multinational collaboration of research institutes, universities and companies across Europe. It aims at developing next generation textile-based electronics in applications from sensing, processing to AI, with a commitment to full lifecycle sustainability.

The researchers in the Wearable Computing group will lead Work package 5 Responsible e-Textile Production. It is dedicated to ensuring that STELEC e-textile technologies are applicable to industrial textile production and sustainable processes at prototyping stage and at future scale. Key to this is the integration of textile design knowledge on all levels of technical production (from material to circuit).

 

 

CONTEXT AND OVERALL OBJECTIVES

E-textiles are rapidly emerging as an important area of electronic circuits applications. The European Apparel and Textile Confederation (Euratex) expects that the EU market for e-textiles and textile wearables reaches €1.5 billion in 2025 and will be a significant factor for an important European industry sector. It is also a facilitator for many socially important applications such as personalized health, elderly care, and smart agriculture. Unfortunately, the environmental impact and sustainability of e-textiles remain very problematic.

With e-textiles, electronic circuits are entering a new application domain increasing the number of devices that need to be produced and recycled. The vision behind e-textiles as part of Internet of Things is that intelligence (electronic components) will diffuse into more and more everyday objects, eventually leading to electronics being virtually everywhere in the environment, so that we are looking at a potentially huge environmental impact. E-textiles are particularly difficult in terms of recycling and re-use. This is because in general they involve electronic components being deeply embedded in textile substrates. Before recycling/reuse the two need to be separated which is a non-trivial task that disrupts established recycling/re-use chains. Furthermore, the focus of research and development so far has been on overcoming the challenges involved in producing cost effective and robust conductive textile structures with little regard for environmental impact and sustainability.

Photos © ECDF/PR/berlin-eventfotograf.de

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101162257.

 

2 May: Online artist talk – Jordan Cunliffe

Open online artist talk
As part of the seminar ’stitch data‘

Jordan Cunliffe

2 May 2024, 16:00

Jordan is an embroidery artist who specialises in data visualisation in her stitch. She takes experiences, memories and stories from her own life and encodes them into stitches to maintain anonymity. Her work has a focus on the ‘everyday’ celebrating life’s smaller, quieter moments and documenting them in her stitch archive. Her work uses large amounts of small scale hand embroidery stitches which allows for a meditative and soothing practice. Each piece requires hours upon hours of sewing which is the perfect time for reflection and relaxation.

Jordan will present her own work and that of other artists from her book “Record, Map and Capture in Textile Art: Data visualization in cloth and stitch” (2022).

JOIN ON WEBEX  at https://udk-berlin.webex.com/meet/b.greinke

7 May: Sustainable Futures – III. Symposium BOL X Hybrid Plattform

flyer for the BOL symposium with date and title

The third BOL X Hybrid Platform Symposium will focus on exploring and implementing new materials and transformative working methods, in order to shape more sustainable and desirable futures.
Researchers and artists from the Berlin Open Lab (UdK Berlin) and the TU Berlin will address a wide variety of topics – from 3D-clay printing in architecture, AI optimisation in the baking industry, microbiomes and multi-sensory experiences with sourdough, the social recognition of mycelium architecture, to velvet fabrics as e-textiles and the digitalisation of knowledge about ancient craft techniques and materials.
The symposium intends to highlight hybrid and interdisciplinary practices from the art and science domains that pose the question of materiality in the intersection of the analog and the digital.
We expect an exciting and lively exchange of research results and experiences!

Program (more info):

  • 13:00 / Welcome and introduction: Sustainable Futures / Prof. Dr Gesche Joost, UdK Berlin
  • 13:15 – 14:15 / Panel 1: Digital transformation of traditional techniques / Saqib Aziz, Emma Wood (BOL/UdK)
  • 14:30 – 15:30 / Panel 2: Materiality, digitalisation and socio-ecological transformation / Julia Wolf (BOL/UdK), N.N.
  • 15:45 – 16:45 / Panel 3: Neurological perception, sensory qualities and sustainability / Maciej Chmara (BOL/UdK), Gudrun Rauwolf (TU), Klaus Gramann (TU)
  • 17:00 – 18:00 / Panel 4: Waste transformed and circular economy / Sam Hill, Aeneas Stankowski (BOL/DFKI), Johannes Scholz (TU)
  • 18:00 – 18:30 / Aperitivo at the BOL Garden

please register here until April 30th (free entrance)
The panels will take place in BOL II (MRLab) and online on Zoom. Between the panels there will be short breaks with snacks and drinks in BOL I. Presentations will be held in German and in English.

contact: /
organisation: Tonia Welter (BOL), Anne Kurr und Michael Fowler (Hybrid Plattform)
partner: Hybridplattform
graphic: D O P Studio

Interwoven Sound Spaces – Werkstattkonzert im Konzertsaal 21. Dezember

A cello player wearing an interactive textile sleeve making expressive movement of cello playing

Foto: Nikolaus Brade

Interwoven Sound Spaces – Werkstattkonzert

Das Werkstattkonzert erforscht die Möglichkeiten telematischer Musikperformances in der Neuen Musik. Ensembles in Berlin und Piteå präsentieren das gemeinsame Konzertieren und Interagieren auf Distanz und erproben neue musikalische Ensemblepraxis durch Textil- und Netzwerktechnologien

Können zwei Ensembles, die Hunderte von Kilometern voneinander entfernt in Berlin und im schwedischen Piteå konzertieren, spürbar miteinander musizieren und interagieren und auf diese Weise ein völlig neues Musikerlebnis für das Publikum und das Ensemblespiel der Musizierenden an beiden Orten erschaffen? Genau dies erforscht das Projekt „Interwoven Sound Spaces“, die Möglichkeiten telematischer Musikperformances in der neuen Musik. Durch neue Textil- und Netzwerktechnologien wird eine spürbare Interaktion zwischen Musiker*innen ermöglicht, die räumlich an verschiedenen Orten sind. Die Ergebnisse dieser Forschungen präsentiert „Interwoven Sound Spaces“ in einem gemeinsamen interaktiven Werkstattkonzert mit dem Ensemble KNM in Berlin und dem Ensemble Norrbotten NEO im schwedischen Piteå.

Mehr Informationen unter: https://www.interwovensoundspaces.com/

Mittwoch, 21. Dezember 2022, 20 Uhr: Werkstattkonzert „Interwoven Sound Spaces“ im konzertsaal der udk berlin

Neue Werke von: Ana Maria Rodriguez, Ann Rosén, Cat Hope, Malte Giesen

Kostenlose Tickets unter: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/interwoven-sound-spaces-werkstattkonzert-tickets-473398055327

(Eintritt frei, Einlass ab 19 Uhr, vor und nach dem Konzert gibt es die Gelegenheit, die verwendeten Technologien in einer Ausstellung im Foyer des Konzertsaals in Berlin zu besichtigen)

 

Fotos: Nikolaus Brade, Emma Wood, Codi Körner

Looming Over – Performance @ Designtransfer

Looming over

“If something looms over you, it appears as a large or unclear shape, often in a frightening way.”
Definition of ’loom‘, Collins Dictionary.

The experience of being with others, of proximity, of social spaces has undergone sudden, intense shifts. Public life suddenly saw us with our faces concealed and physical proximity put on hold until further notice. Our exchanges often occurred in mediated environments with most of our bodies left out of sight, and the spaces around each of us filtered, blurred, or entirely concealed and replaced with arbitrary imagery of non-places.

Deep into a long period of increased uncertainty, we faced the need to learn new ways of being and expressing ourselves. The material and the immaterial are constantly intertwined, our senses adapt and learn to perceive the concealed, to see through the medium, to touch without touching.

While we’re moving closer, something is drawing near.

“Looming over” is a performative interactive installation housed in the Vitrine of the designtransfer gallery at Universität der Künste Berlin at Einsteinufer 43. The enclosed space of the Vitrine is concealed by large pieces of fabric. Embroidered sensors create electromagnetic fields that react to proximity and touch. A performer moves inside this isolated yet public space, activating sound and light by means of body movement and physical presence. The large glass surface of the Vitrine itself becomes the medium through which sounds and vibrations are transmitted. Bystanders and passers-by are invited to get closer.

Performance:

25 February 2022 // 18:30
@ Designtransfer Vitrine, Einsteinufer 43, 10587 Berlin

Designed and fabricated by:

Berit Greinke – https://www.beritgreinke.net/

Federico Visi – https://www.federicovisi.com/

Emma Wood – https://wovenbywood.com/

Performed by:

AQAXA – https://aqaxa.bandcamp.com/

 

BOL Symposium 2021

Date/Time

May 18th, 2021
9:30 – 13:30

About 45 people are currently working in the Berlin Open Lab, doing exciting projects on wearables and smart textiles, on AI and ethics, on dancing, making music and acoustics in VR/AR/MR, on 3D printing, on critical making and designing (trans./feminism post-anthropocentric approaches in DIY/DIT), on machine learning and the digitalization of human learning and many more…Find out more about who is doing what in BOL in our program and meet us on BigBlueButton!

BOL Symposium Program

Many thanks to: Nikolaus Brade, UdK Photography (footage) and Irina Bogdan, Projekt Galath3A

Mini-symposium „Light, Textile and Colour Matter“

Light, Textile and Colour Matter

21 April 14:00 – 16:30 CEST

Four design, art and research talks on smart textiles, dyes and body / light experiments, and a discussion with the speakers and audience in a panel afterwards.

With talks by Barbro Scholz, Sandra De Berduccy, Alex Börner, and Sara Robertson & Sarah Taylor.

Organised by Berit Greinke as part of the seminar ‘LUX (live)’ at Berlin University of the Arts.

Enter via Cisco WebEx >>  https://udk-berlin.webex.com/udk-berlin-en/j.php?MTID=m6270f72c2120f53b49569c584c0a16db
Meeting number: 121 243 1172
Password: PmK3ryFKC82

Speakers

Barbro Scholz

Barbro Scholz is a designer (BA, MFA) and research assistant in textile design (Textile Printing and Finishing Laboratory) at HAW Hamburg, conducting research with a focus on electronic textiles and interaction. She is interested in the influence of design on society, especially textiles as user interfaces for technical or stand-alone devices.

Barbro is currently investigating the possibilities of using light as material on the body. Her work addresses light as an extension of the body, as opposed to textile material being separated from the immateriality of light and code. Another aspect of her exploration is the social impacts of worn light.

Sandra De Berduccy

Sandra De Berduccy, known as aruma, is a new media artist, weaver and independent researcher from Bolivia. Aruma works with textile as technology, exploring the relationship nature, processes of traditional Andean weaving, and the languages of new media and electronics. She has carried out research on traditional textile techniques of the American continent, especially of Andean and pre-Columbian textiles, for nearly two decades. This work has lead her to understand the Andean loom as a thinking machine, with a logic that offers a very wide range of possibilities, a model of flexible order to which we are able to treat as collective memory. In each of Aruma’s works, woven in Andean looms including various contemporary technologies, she proposes a form of continuity of the millennial textile culture that is currently developing in Andean lands, of which she considers herself a part.
>> Sandra De Berduccy

Alex Börner

Alex Börner is a fashion and costume designer and educator, who is interested in connecting body, movement, light & video projection in fashion contexts. Her work deals in particular with cross-overs of analogue and digital tools and forms of expression.

Alex works as an artistic assistant at the Institute of Experimental Fashion and Textile Design at Berlin University of the Arts. After completing her training as a tailor for womenswear, Alexandra Börner studied fashion design at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art in Halle. After finishing her master in 2017, she founded Super Health Studios. Since then she has been involved in numerous collaborations with artists, fashion designers and dancers.
>> Super Health Studios

 

Sara Robertson, Sarah Taylor

Sara Robertson leads the specialism Soft Systems: Smart Surfaces, Structures and Digital Assemblies within the MA Textiles programme at Royal College of Art. Prior to joining the RCA Sara was Programme Director for Textiles and Lecturer in Craft Innovation and Smart Materials at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee. She completed her PhD at Heriot Watt University’s, School of Textiles and Design in 2011, on the design and application of smart materials for textiles.
>> full academic profile

Sarah Taylor works as a senior research fellow at Edinburgh Napier University, and is a design practitioner and researcher with expertise in the area of smart, light-emitting textiles. Since her pioneering research investigating the properties of fibre optics for application within woven textile structures (1995) she has continued to innovate through the use of optical fibre, digital technologies and textile practice.
>> full academic profile

 

 

9.12. 17 Uhr: Digitales Gespräch zu kritischer Weißseinsforschung

Wir laden herzlich ein zu einem Gespräch von Dr. Mahret Kupka, Kuratorin, Autorin und Beirat Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland e.V. (ISD e.V.), mit Prof. Dr. Anna Greve, Direktorin des Focke-Museums. Bremer Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Honorarprofessorin der Universität Bremen, Autorin von “Farbe – Macht – Körper: Kritische Weißseinsforschung in der europäischen Kunstgeschichte (2013)”.
Wir sprechen über die kuratorischen Tätigkeiten, Forschung und Haltung, und beginnen einen Austausch über kritische Weißseinsforschung, Antirassismus sowie die Schnittstellen von Kunst und Mode.
Wir freuen uns sehr über eure Fragen im Chat!
Die Gäste sprechen im Rahmen des Weberei-Seminars Critical Crafts N°3 – Weaving x Reading Groups, das Gespräch ist für alle interessierten Studierenden offen.
 Hier die Links der beiden Sprecherinnen:
Hier kann man das PDF der Veröffentlichung herunterladen:
Am Mittwoch, 9.12.20, 17-18.30 Uhr

Plus Minus 25: Melting curtains that could regulate room temperature

Both Koppmann and Willemsen were concerned with how climate change is affecting the global temperature. They began investigating old technologies that were used to heat and cool space, hoping to uncover a low-tech, sustainable, and affordable option for modern homes. Their research led them to PCM, and they knew immediately that this semi-forgotten material had great potential.

PCM is a substance that stores and releases thermal energy when changing phases from solid to liquid. It can be used in thermal storage systems and is already commonly used in refrigerators and in ice packs.

“Centuries ago water was used as a PCM in the basement of buildings. When the ice slowly turned to a liquid state during summer, food was kept fresh. In winter it froze and released energy to the building in form of heat,” explained Willemsen.

“This opened new applications. We found that PCM is available in a micro-encapsulated form which makes it possible to mix it with other building materials. That discovery was amazing because it enabled us to mix the material with paint and print it on fabric,” said Koppmann.

This realization led to their final Plus Minus 25, a temperature regulating curtain. The fabric of the curtain is printed with PCM that absorbs and releases heat to have a cooling effect in summer and a warming effect in winter, without using conventional devices or using any electricity.

The PCM used in the prototypes for Plus Minus 25 is active at 25 degrees Celsius. Around this temperature, the PCM starts to melt. During this melting process, it cools the air around it, and as the temperature drops, it hardens again. The melting temperature can be adjusted, and the material can be applied with different thicknesses for different climates.

Koppmann and Willemsen have been selected to be part of the antenna 2020 conference during Dutch Design Week, where 10 global graduates from across the world will share their ambitious and ground-breaking projects. Ahead of their talk, we had a chat with the two young designers.

An interview with Anna and Esmeé and Microtek is online. You can read it here including a link to their Case Study

You can also find out more on their semester project including the film they made here/below

 

Ramyah Gowrishankar defended her doctoral thesis on electrostatic textiles as part of the European Training Network ArcInTex

Ramyah Gowrishankar defended her doctoral thesis titled “Engaging with e-static textiles: An investigation into textile interaction design for shaping body-driven energy harvesting in the interior.” on 10 Nov 2020 at the UdK.

Her thesis was part of the ArcInTex ETN (Architecture, Interaction Design and Textiles European Training Network) research project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions. The ArcInTex ETN project aimed to strengthen the foundations of design for more sustainable forms of future living by connecting Architecture, Interaction Design and Textiles in a training network of early-stage researchers. The project consortium consisted of 6 universities and 5 companies from around Europe who hosted 15 PhD students. Ramyah was located at the Design Research Lab at the University of the Arts in Berlin.

Ramyah’s doctoral thesis deals with electrostatic (or e-static) energy harvesting in textiles at the scale of the interior and investigates the implications of actively engaging the human body in electricity generation through an interaction design inquiry. Through the process of making, discovering and experimenting with the electrostatic harvesting circuit, the thesis develops a textile-specific methodology for designing interactions with e-textiles and presents examples of constructing e-static textiles and setups using easily-accessible materials. Furthermore, it argues for considering temporal scaling of interactions relevant for energy harvesting as an inquiry into the sustainability of interactions. One of the key results that support further research in this area is the ‘e-static textiles prototyping board’ and workshop kit. The e-static textiles prototyping board is a PCB that can be easily connected to high voltage inputs and sewed on textiles to safely design and prototype interactions with static electricity.

The thesis would soon be available to view and download on the UdK’s online publishing archive.

Thesis supervisors/examiners:
Prof. Dr. Gesche Joost
Prof. Dr. Berit Greinke

Advisors from Arcintex ETN project:
Dr. Phil. Katharina Bredies (UdK)
Prof Jolanta Vasalinskiene (Vilnius Academy of Arts)
Mr. Ian Higgins (Royal College of Art)

Links for further info:
estatictextiles.cc
vimeo.com/estatictextiles
arcintexetn.eu
Design research lab