Pigeon Towers
In the Summer of 2020, Arne Hendriks and Mediamatic started experimenting with different shapes and methods to build this living cycle, and investigate material decomposition as part of the design process. In 2021 many different towers emerged at the biotope, a lot of mushrooms were harvested, we organized workshops and lectures, and we experimented with ways to care for the mycelium waste. By organizing gentle disco's, were people are invited to gently dance on the mycelium waste, we prepare the mycelium for the building process.
Susanne and Arne discussing life cycles -
Pigeon towers at Dutch Design Week
The experiment even traveled to Eindhoven for Dutch Design Week!
Inhuman Carnaval
Kick off at Dutch Design Week
How can we break out of our anthropocentric worldview and learn to feel more empathy for the other species on the planet? Can we train ourselves to see the world from a non-human perspective by wrapping ourselves in pink velvet and becoming the endangered pink velvet worm?
We challenged artists, designers, grime artists, creators and audiences to dress up themselves and each other as one of the many beautiful species of our ecosystem during the kick-off of this new research interest at Dutch Design Week. We hosted talks, parties, an exhibition, a tattoo stand, workshops and an open costume lab where we tried to experience what it's like to be something else then a human.
Serres Separees
During Covid-19 virus times we are intrigued by contamination precautions and the redesign of togetherness. How can we rethink a restaurant and dining experience? Dining in a personal small greenhouse! Our greenhouses protect you from the outside and others while offering you a unique experience of intimate dining.
Year two of the pandemic, and the serres separees, we tried to optimize the process and researched how to deal with factors as cold, rain and wind.
During the winter periods we served pizza from our home made clay oven.
Serres Separees Dutch Design Week & Dubai Design Week
Serres Séparées at Dubai Design Week 2021 - Photo by Nabeela Huda
Beftival
For Museumnight, artists and curators Ine Poppe and Olga Middendorp created a festival featuring over 30 artists and scientists. The festival created an artistic space to discuss, feel and celebrate fe-male sexuality, gender and preference.
Beftival portraits of Olga and Ine -
Colourful course in oyster, with flowers from the aquaponics - Tasting and testing the Bef dinner
Odorama
In 2021, we hosted four odoramas: our lecture program on the intersection of art and smell. We learned about the smell of happiness, about the smell of summer, how smell is intergrated in feminism and we learned how the sense of smell from different species differs from ours.
Robin Habbé's presentation at the 43rd edition of Odorama on Happiness -
Open Aromalab
In our Open Aromalab, we challenge people to create a scent using our scent library. Want to make a perfume? Or recreate the smell of a chair, your grandma or a dream? Our scent artists help you on the way.
Carefully counting the amount of drops -
Neo Futurist Dinner Research
Alice Heron and Martin Butler did a recidency at Mediamatic where they developed a new Neo Futurist Dinner experience. Click here to read more about the research week.
New life in Raising Doubts
Raising Doubts is the living eco-graphic that you see next to Mediamatic. We renewed the installation and using our own waste materials, we created compost and bokashi to revive the soil in the eco-graphic.
Workshops
In 2021 we developed the following new workshops, that were added to our workshopprogram: Keukenkast snuffelsessies, Essential Eau de Cologne, Foraging for Mental Health, Observational Plant Drawing, Enzo Mari workshop.
Carefully counting the amount of drops -
Machine no.2
Machine No.2, also known as Reindert, is a steel machine with its sole purpose being to drop helicopter seeds. However, a lot more lies beneath the surface. The mechanism not only drops the seeds but also transports them back up again by means of air and a valve system. While showcasing this work along with his background in photography, David developed machines to capture natural phenomena in a fashion beyond mere image. The installation is made by David Kerssens Goedhart.
David Kerssen's Machine No.2 - Visitors at the opening of the exhibition
Tumulus
Tumulus is an enclosed garden installation that functions as a natural ruin, compost heap, soil sculpture, seed bed, earth work, dyeing source, and dunghill. Over the course of several seasons from June 2019 onwards, artist Ruchama Noorda transforms the patch of greenery next to our Sluisdeurenloods into a living sculpture and performance site. This year a new mediation hut was made, and we hosted firings where Ruchama Noorda, together with artist Suzanne Bernhardt, experimeted with clay and traditional Reki Firings.
Suzanne and Ruchama during the different stages of firing -
Haeckel Hunt
This year we launched our app about Ernst Heackel. The virtual reality app 'Haeckel Hunt' takes you on an adventure on the Marine Terrain, while discovering the inspiring prints of Ernst Heackel.
Haeckel was also celebrated in the sustainability exhibition in the Contamporary art Museum in Busan South Korea!
The Mediamatic Garden and its fruits
Mediamatic is surrounded by growbeds that give space to hundreds of medicinal plants. Also the greenhouse grows many rare fruits, herbs and vegetables. The harvest was used for the restaurant, fermented or used for artistic research.
Scoby for making kombucha - Photo 2021 by Ben Hopley for Mediamatic
Pomegranate water kefir - Photo 2021 by Ben Hopley for Mediamatic
Our Elderflower tree - Picking the biggest Elderflower heads as possible to make champagne
Water kefir grains - Photo 2021 by Ben Hopley for Mediamatic
Pop-up De Voddenmannen
Mediamatic and Voddenmannen hosted the Voddenmannen 1 pop-up shop. The pop-up sold affordable design items that are remodelled from discarded textiles.
First Collection of Voddenmannen - Affordable design items remodelled from discarded textiles 
Disclosing Discomforts
The Disarming Design department at the Sandberg Instituut presented Disclosing Discomforts at Mediamatic: an exhibition sketching research from 17 participating artists and designers through action, participation, performance and installation.
Open Podium: Marjolein Boterenbrood
Artist Marjolein Boterenbrood used the Mediamatic biotope for her research on underwater life and surfaces.
Collaborations
We are proud of our collaborations in 2021 with these partners: Expedition Oosterdok, the Witchcraft, Nemo - Weekend of Science, Museum Night Amsterdam, Shaffy's Garden, Verbruggen Mushrooms, Baltan, Natlab, MU, Dutch Design Foundation, Museum of Contemporary art Busan.
We would like to thank the following people:
Simone Brus, Mieke Auguste Macenaite, Illiana Somoroff, Suzana Orsolic, Larisa Dima, Reginaldo Goncalves, Dominik Einfalt, Nathan Henneken, Ejla Miletic, Nadine Schütz, Ben Hopley, Amber van de Ven, Gabrielle de Haseth, Hyunsuh Kim, Nur'Ain Taha, Ruth Brickland, Minh Sandberg, Lisa Witte, Jessica Cohen, Nour Akoum, Ejla Miletic, Abhay Villa, Linh Nguyen, Elise Chalcraft, Maureen Kortenbusch, Sadhbh O'Donnell, Alessandra Avanzi, Aakash Nair, Abdul Hadi Paryani, Abigail Larasati Setiadi, Josie Dibnah, Jana Stocker, Héloïse Floc'h, Jeanne Rousselot
