SFB1258 & SFB42 #1: #eco-techno-cosmo-logic (2018)
(all photos on this side: Jol Thoms and Diogo da Cruz)
In summer 2018 a group of art students got interested in the science activities of the SFB1258. The link was built around Angela Neumair, an art education student at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München (AdBK), and her cousin Birgit, a PhD student at the chair of Stefan Schönert. Soon after, a group of art students around Angela, Amelie Lössl and Diogo da Cruz formed, calling themselves 'SFB42' - based on the name of the DFG research program and the number '42', which is, according to Douglas Adam's book 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy', the answer to the 'ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything'.
The program '#echo-techno-cosmo-logic' as a first joint venture between the SFB1258 and the SFB42 was launched in September 2018. Physics and art students interested in a dialogue were asked to apply for the program led by Jol Thoms - a workshop at the Gartenhaus of the AdBK from 29 - 31 October 2018 and an excursion to visit the Gran Sasso mountain and the experiments Gerda, CRESST and Borexino at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy from 25 - 29 November 2018.
An equal number of art and physics students were chosen to take part. They first met at the Gartenhaus workshop introducing each other to their work, methods, and approaches. Stefan Schönert gave an introduction to the research activities of the SFB1258 focused on searching for dark matter and exploring the properties of neutrinos. At the end of the three days, they started working on the possibilities of a joint project.
Thus well prepared, they went to the excursion to L'Aquila. On their first day, the group met for a first workshop sequence at the Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI) and after that had a guided tour through the LNGS lead by Stefan Schönert and Matthias Laubenstein. The day was followed by a workshop morning at the GSSI and a hike to Gran Sasso mountain in the afternoon. On their final day with they again went to Gran Sasso mountain again, visiting the medieval village of Assergi. The local guides of the group were the PhD students Elizabeth Mondragon and Konrad Altenmüller, the program was again led by Jol Thoms.
From #eco-techno-cosmo-logic, the idea for the 'transobjects' finally developed.
