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Short abstract:

During the workshop, the participants will explore the relationship between society and technology with the help of a special crystal, Rochelle salt. A crystal that was frequently used in military technology among other things in Germany and Japan during the Second World War.

Long abstract:

New technologies, as they emerge, integrate naturally into old societies and form new social systems. For some years now, we have been in the third wave of AI, which celebrated another triumph last year (2023) with the availability of high-performance AI-based text and image generators. Many people now use these services on their private PCs and cell phones as a matter of routine. Although AI systems have existed before, they were not perceived as revolutionary by society at large and no one is aware of them today. Materials and associated technologies are also developed, prosper, disappear again and fall into oblivion. Sometimes they are rediscovered and reappear in a different context, a seemingly natural process.

The material at the center of the workshop is crystals of a special type of salt (Seignette salt or Rochelle salt). These crystals are of organic origin and are found in nature, particularly in wine. In 1920, it was discovered that they have ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties. Since then, they have not only been actively used as piezoelectric elements in headphones and microphones, but also in weapons technology, particularly in Germany during the Second World War, for underwater surveillance devices (passive sonar) such as anti-submarine defense, among other things.

In an artistic context, the material will be used and staged in a new way, thus reinterpreting the relationship between nature, technology and society.

Therefore, during the workshop we will explore the relationship between stones, minerals, crystals and new technologies and conduct experiments with these materials.