Michaela Vieser & Susa Pop & Ayça Tugran & Prof. Dr. Gesche Joost
Liquid Commons: Bringing Ocean Science into Global Media Architecture
Seminar, Englisch/Deutsch, 2 SWS, 2 ECTS, 10 places
Wednesdays, 17-18:30 h, weekly, starts on 22.4.2026 at 15:45 h in-person at UdK’s Design Research Lab (R215, Einsteinufer 43).
Course venues: Design Research Lab at UdK (in-person classes), Zoom (online classes), museum visits.

Registration: please send your matriculation no. and study program to Joanna Cywinska at joanna.cywinska_ @drlab.org. 

The ocean connects everything. Yet for most people, it remains distant, abstract, or invisible.
In this class we ask you to change that. Together with Public Art Lab and Michaela Vieser we imagine new ways of making the ocean present in everyday urban life, using large-scale digital screens, data-driven storytelling, and screen-based visual narratives embedded within the fabric of cities. The aim is not only to inform, but to provoke curiosity, empathy, and a shared sense of responsibility for our collective ocean future.
During the 13 weeks class you will create a 1 min video production that will be submitted to the City Digital Skin Art / CDSA festival and be shown on screens worldwide, bringing the oceans into the cities. There are further screenings planned in Berlin.
In small workshops with guest lecturers from international ocean research institutes you will find your own topic of exploration and work on a visual representation of it. Creative software skills are welcome. Tutors will guide you through this design research focused class and help you deepen your knowledge in this particular scientific field as well as in video production tools.

Fulfilment criteria for ungraded accreditation: regular and active participation.

Michaela Vieser is a writer and radio producer, currently working on The Atlas of Deep Sea. She has been part of the DY200 expedition with the NOC and her piece Whalefall has won the Rachel Carson Center Prize for creative non-fiction (www.michaelavieser.com).

Susa Pop is an urban media art curator and co-founding director of Public Art Lab. She is a pioneer in curating urban screens, known for initiating and leading large-scale projects such as the Media Facades Festival and Connecting Cities. She is also a co-curator and jury member of CDSA.

Ayça Tugran is an artistic project coordinator at Public Art Lab and a trained architect and researcher. She holds a Master’s degree in Media Architecture from Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and is a DAAD scholarship holder. In 2024, she was awarded the CDSA Festival Prize.

Gesche Joost is Professor for Design Research at the Berlin University of the Arts and since 2005 heading the Design Research Lab. With international partners, she conducts research and development projects in the areas of human-computer interaction, wearable computing, as well as user-centered design and participation. She acts in various committees, amongst them on the board of DGTF e.V. [German Society for Design Theory and Research] and on the board of the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes).