Workshop: Pulling Blood from a Stone

On-site at TU Berlin over 5 days: 17-19 April and 24-25 April. With two additional weeks to complete work. (6 Credits) 

How does cobalt get processed into a battery? How are diamonds and graphite similar? Is there such a thing as ethical mining? And can you pull blood from a stone?

Over two weeks with 5 on-site days, we will collaborate between the Uni_Versum and the Mineralogical Collection, followed by independent work towards a final creative response to explore the relationship between humans and minerals.  

Week 1: We will begin our learning from the minerals themselves, with Dr Johannes Giebel, the ‘keeper of the minerals’, about how they form and transform in colour, texture and elemental composition. Over the course of the first week, we will look at the historical uses of minerals, learn how to paint with rock powder, and its uses in manuscripts and ceramics. On day three, we will focus on the use of minerals in contemporary technology, particularly for renewable energy- through a discursive conversation about the colonial origins of geology and mineral extraction. 

Week 2: We will work together for a further 2 days in the studio to reflect on your interests to start making a creative response together. This can be reflective of your current studies and could result in; a model, a drawing, a song, a poem, etc. 

Following these 5 on-site days, you will have another two weeks to complete your work/works, with follow-up tutorials from artist-in-residence Niamh Schmidtke (they/them) in Uni_Versum and support at the department from Annette Muller and Robert Neimann. Your responses can be made either as one cohort, in smaller groups or individually.

Dates and location: 17-19 and 24-25 April on-site at TU Berlin. Each day will run from 10-17h.
Exhibition: The creative responses resulting from the workshop will be exhibited at the Uni_Versum in October as part of Science Gallery Berlin.
Language: This module will be taught in English.

To participate, please contact Niamh Schmidtke (she/they) through email at n.schmidtke@outlook.ie

For credit information, please contact Annette Mueller at annette.mueller.1@tu-berlin.de or Robert Nieman at robert.niemann@tu-berlin.de

Irish-Swedish visual artist, Niamh Schmidtke is the artist in residence of the third edition of the “Earth Water Sky” research residency funded by the Fondation Didier et Martine Primat.