Material and art: a process of give and take? An interdisciplinary workshop on 17 March 2015 will bring together the multi-faceted research activities at Technische Universität Dresden and the “Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden” (Academy of Fine Arts - HfBK) in the fields of materials sciences, the humanities and also art technologies. The aim is to enable interested scientists to enter into a dialogue. In her role as patron, Prof. Sabine von Schorlemer, who holds the UNESCO Chair of International Relations at TUD, will give the welcoming address at the event in the University’s ALTANA Gallery.

The event merges experiences from art history, art technology and art education with those from materials analysis and science. Alongside current projects (e.g. “FARBAKS”) and activities concerned with the visibility of materials and the ability to experience them (e.g. “Material Hub”, “Makerspace”), successfully completed collaboration projects of TUD and HfBK will also be presented (e.g. “Art engineering”). Here, the spectrum ranges from real needs, such as the development of new cleaning and conservation processes to protect works of art from decay, via non-destructive materials analyses, the development of new carrier materials with a high degree of durability and environmental resistance or the use of composite materials and new constructions, right through to the humanities research of sources in art technology.

The current BMBF research project “Farbe als Akteur und Speicher” (FARBAKS – Colour as actor and memory; duration 2014-2017) addresses, for example, the interface of art and material by examining the object of investigation “colour” in its manifestations. These encompass art, materials sciences and the humanities: colour as transmitter of images, colour in its materiality and as a medium for generating social realities.

The workshop is organised by the Project Scouts, who, as part of the Excellence Initiative, set up innovative research projects that accompany scientists at TUD in their planning of third-party-funded research projects, and assist them with linking interdisciplinary research competences both within and outside of the University.

Information for journalists:
Birgit Holthaus, Phone: 0351 463-35327


Project Scouts
Dr. Christina Ada Anders, Phone: 0351 463-43160

Dr. Udo Krause, Phone: 0351 463-32662

www.tu-dresden.de/projectscouts