MIND THE FUNGI

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

MIND THE FUNGI by Institute of Biotechnology, TU Berlin and Art Laboratory Berlin is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work
at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ_qfB8A-qM. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be
available at http://www.artlaboratory-berlin.org/html/eng-email.htm
.








Brochure #1 MIND THE FUNGI

• 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


 
Brochure #2 MIND THE FUNGI

• Artist-in-Residence | Theresa Schubert
• Designer-in-Residence | Fara Peluso

Brochures: Graphic design by Eva-Maria Bolz, Berlin // www.evamariabolz.de





 

Mind the Fungi
Ed. by Vera Meyer and Regine Rapp
Berlin 2020


TU Berlin University Press, in English and German


151 pages | 193 coloured images | 21 black & white images |
28 x 21 cm | Book design: Eva-Maria Bolz | Copy editor: Julia Kühn |
Printing house: ProBusiness

Digital publication | ISBN 978-3-7983-3169-3 | free access
http://www.artlaboratory-berlin.org/assets/pdf/Mind_the_Fungi.pdf

Hardcover | ISBN 978-3-7983-3168-6 | 24,90 EUR
https://verlag.tu-berlin.de/produkt/978-3-7983-3168-6/




MIND THE FUNGI | A Variety of Event Formats


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

More information: https://futurium.de/en/blog/opening-of-the-futurium







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 Top
Lab

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.

For further details visit TopLab's webpage http://www.top-ev.de/biolab/mind-the-fungi/ contact them via email: lab@top-ev.de

Pre-registration is required. Registration deadline: April 24th, 6PM.
https://eventyay.com/e/9a13b699/





Mind the Fungi: Creative Workshop
22 March, 2019




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: