Teaching

Talk to me is the title of an exhibition that was shown 14 years ago at the Museum of Modern Art. Here is a short extract:

Talk to Me focuses on objects that involve direct interaction, such as interfaces, information systems, communication devices, and projects that establish a practical, emotional or even sensual connection between their users and entities such as cities, companies, governmental institutions, as well as other people.

Some time has now passed and we will probably soon reach the figure of 50 billion when we look at the things and objects that are connected to the Internet. An unimaginable number and we ask ourselves who is actually communicating with whom in an ever-evolving world of networked objects and systems. In the project module - Talk to me - Connected Things and Objects, we would like to search for mysterious, playful, imaginative and ecological ways of dealing with things and objects that can create and translate possible tensions, expectations and disappointments on different levels. The focus is on discourse, questioning and discovering different forms of communication from a creative and artistic perspective. In the course of the project module, we will research, design and develop objects and things that communicate and exchange information in any form and relate to each other. Their autonomy and self-sufficiency are at the centre of their presence. Everything is possible, from nervous systems to fragile infrastructures and humorous individual characters. The project module is supported by practical insights into various production and manufacturing possibilities such as 3D printing, CNC and laser cutting from the BFFL, Bauhaus Form and Function Lab.  A joint exhibition of the projects/objects/things is planned for Summaery 2025 and will be developed in the project module. The project module offers self-motivated and self-organised projects a place for discussion, production and debate. The Fachmodul by Brian Larson Clark – Physical Computing: The Secret Lives of Networked Objects – as well as the Fachmodul by Jesus Velazquez Rodriguez – Tools, materials and approaches for FDM Rapid Prototyping - offers itself as a supplement to the project module.

Keywords: interactive art, autonomy, self-life, unexpected events, sustainability, low power, LoRa, ultra-wideband technology, networks, objects

KICAD is a popular open source software for designing printed circuit boards. This rather pragmatic small workshop series will introduce the basics in KiCAD, so you can learn how to design your own custom electronics devices.

We will build (or improve) our KICAD skills for developing new or existing media art/design projects such as interactive installations, kinetic sculptures, DIY instruments, etc. If you're a beginner you just can follow along. If you have an existing project that you would like to extend with custom boards, you're more than welcome to bring that to our workshops. Suitable for beginners with little or no prior PCB design experience. While basic electronics knowledge is not required, it is of course helpful to follow this seminar.

The dates for the workshop are, each day from 10:00 - 16:00:

- THU 2025-04-10 + FRI 2025-04-11
- THU 2025-04-24 + FRI 2025-04-25
- FRI 2025-05-09

If you would like to join the workshops, please write me a short e-mail with your name, study background and briefly describe your interest in the class (max 250 words).

P.S. {
Note that this class is connected to my other seminar *The Printed Circuit Board as an Artist Publication*. It's not mandatory that you join both, but if you have little or no experience with electronics and designing PCBs, then I'd recommend you to join this workshop series in addition to the class *The Printed Circuit Board as an Artist Publication*.
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Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are the core functional electronic architecture of our everyday technologically-mediated reality. In this class we will dig deep into what materialities, design conventions, energetic regimes, (un)written rules and assumptions are embedded in PCBs - in order to understand, break, diverge or expand on them:

- What alternative materials can we think of to implement electronic schematics?
- What hidden humor can we inject in electronic schematics?
- What aesthetics may emerge from electronic boards if their most important design criteria are not efficiency or functionality?
- Which alternative approaches to making PCBs can we imagine other than designing/engineering? (craft, alchemy, witchcraft, hacking, …)

The production-oriented aspect of this class will be coupled to a strand of research on artist publications: Zines, net art, photo books, editions, etc. are established artist publication formats that have a similar mass- or selfproduced character. Also, we will take a look at some media artists’ practices who have made PCBs a central artistic medium.

This class introduces some manufacturing processes of how to DIY/DIWO produce circuit boards (for example etching + milling), but mostly invites you to expand on the repertoire of design methods to develop unconventional ways of producing analog, digital, expressive or non-sensical physical electric/electronic objects that might possibly double as artist publications.

If you would like to join this class, please write me a short e-mail with your name, study background and briefly describe your interest in the class (max 250 words).

P.S. {

This class is loosely connected to the KICAD workshops *How the Electron goes from A to B*. It's not mandatory that you join both class + workshops. If you have little or no electronics knowledge (or you are interested in a more pragmatic workshop to design PCBs), then I'd recommend you to join this workshop series. But you are welcome to join both.

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This course explores the intersection of physical computing and networked communication, focusing on wireless-enabled microcontrollers as a platform for building interactive, connected objects. Students will learn how to design and program devices that not only sense and respond to their surroundings but also exchange data over the Internet and communicate remotely with other devices.

Through hands-on projects, technical exercises, and discussions on relevant theory, students will develop skills in embedded programming, wireless networking, and distributed interaction. Moving beyond traditional screen-based interfaces, this course challenges students to create novel, networked experiences that bridge the digital and physical worlds.

This is a student-driven course. Topics will be determined by the interests/needs of the class. Basic practical experience in physical computing is required.

• In this hands-on course, students will delve into the fundamentals of photogrammetry workflows as a foundational step in transitioning from the physical realm to digital 2D and 3D environments. This course emphasizes practical skills in working with photogrammetric equipment, primarily digital cameras, and mastering specific processes to extract precise geometry and positional data. The acquired knowledge and skills will empower participants to recreate real-world objects and scenarios within a virtual three-dimensional space.
• This block seminar will introduce the basics of volumetric and temporal rendering and imaging with such techniques as Neural Radiance Fields and Gaussian Splatting.
• Introduction to specific photographic acquisition methodology.

Course dynamics
Lectures, assignments, presentations, feedback.

• A mandatory theoretical and practical introduction for users of the new Interface Design 3DPrintLab.
• This Blockmodul will give participants an insight into 3D printing, from modeling with different prototyping tools to prepare objects for printing, evaluating and selecting appropriate materials. 
• Digital and physical workflows.

Course dynamics
Lectures, assignments, presentations, feedback.