Kosfeld Fenna Thesis - Flipbook - Page 33
Talk and Workshop with Laura Tripaldi
Parallel Minds - Discovering the Intelligence of Materials
Laura Tripaldi, who is an expert in nanotechnology
and author of the bespoke book Parallel Minds,
I participated in her workshop on thinking about and
talking about materials differently. We all brought a
material or object, and we shared its meaning with
the rest of the group. I got a piece of bone char and
wood biochar, which led to a lot of fascination. Most
people were
familiar with
charcoal and
even the concept of Biochar,
but to see
different sources of pyrolysed
material, especially charcoaled bones, spiked excitement. Laura
Tripaldi talked about the common notion of what a
material is
“a solid substance out of which we can make things”.
An outdated but still existing way of seeing the
world. An anthropocentric approach of separating
all non-humans from humans ( which is a concept in
itself that lacks sense as we are only human thanks to
non-human entities).
Most of the time,
we think of the material as something
we can manipulate
or possess, form
or shape, that we
have control over,
use, take advantage
of, put into a new context, or change its appearance.
When we interact with the material, which is never
happening, we forget that everything around us and
the things in themselves is in昀氀uenced and connected
with our bodily existence. Laura Tripaldi describes
that as the interface. We can think about it on a nanomolecular scale or approach it from a more abstract
point of view. In both ways, one message is clear: the
atoms of the fork I have in my mouth are melting and
interfering with the atoms of my, for example, my
saliva. As much as we try to divide everything into
categories, shapes, objects, and separate entities, it is
the opposite that is. All material is constantly actively changing and adapting. Even the one that seems
dead.
Intelligence is usually denoted by complexity, behaviour, cognition and the mind. That would leave us
and most other animals and plants on the intelligent
spectrum instead of inorganic or non-alive material. But if we look at intelligence as a symbiosis, an
ecological interconnectedness, intelligence within
the material just
for its existing
and being in this
world. All material changes properties depending
on the interface
relation, the other
entities melting
into each other. In 1953, a guy, Miller Urey, proved that organic
elements could come from inorganic components,
such as gases, etc., in the atmosphere. Acid and even
sugar can evolve from water. This experiment showed
that there is no divine boundary between living and
non-living. There is no such thing as separation or
division. Everything is a community. This sounds very
spiritual and esoteric, but the concept of the interface
of any matter is a matter of physics and the existence
of everything in this universe.
The concept of the
interface and its
role in de昀椀ning any
material’s intrinsic
intelligence led me
to ponder about
biochar and its
remarkable material
intelligence. While this inert material may seem separate and neutral, it is, in fact, the most primal form
of an interface, constantly adapting and changing its
properties in response to environmental impacts. The
porous structure of biochar acts as a dynamic battery,
responding, adjusting, and absorbing as its interface
de昀椀nes its intelligence. When biochar is integrated
into the soil, it becomes part of a vibrant community,
interacting with numerous organic and inorganic,
living and non-living organisms. The pores of biochar
resemble a Gaudi-like architecture, a complex structure that hosts its own community. I perceive biochar
as a physical and metaphorical battery, symbolizing
the ecological interconnections and material interfaces that shape our world.
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