Science Year 2020|21 - Bioeconomy

Science Year 2020|21 - Bioeconomy

Creative Bioeconomy!

At the University of Hohenheim, the topic of the bioeconomy is not only looked at scientifically but also interpreted artistically.

Literary interpretation: Bioeconomy – a journey into the future

Read - or have it read aloud: Under the title "Bioeconomy - a journey into future literature," the University of Hohenheim would like to bring together natural science and literature for the "Science Year 2020|21 - Bioeconomy".

The author Philipp Schönthaler has interpreted the topic of bioeconomy in a literary way for the University of Hohenheim with text sequences from the fields of poetry, prose, or aphorisms. The texts are available as PDF and audio versions.

Looking to the future: "Wetlands"

The story "Wetlands" is about the big picture: The Earth system, on which we all depend, has begun to falter. The effects that human civilization has left behind cannot simply be reversed in a hurry.

There is only one way forward: with technology and science. At least, that is what the nameless first-person narrator believes while working as a scientist in an artificially created wetland. But the balance of the system is highly fragile...

"Wetlands"

Hörversion: "Wetlands"

Nutrition: "How I learned to lose weight in all directions.”

An essayistic foray through the history of literature, philosophy, and ideas. Language and food: Both are indispensable for humans. If you trace their relationship in cultural history from the Stone Age to the digital present, amazing connections reveal themselves.

The essay begins with the cave paintings of the Stone Age: Exciting stories can be told about hunting, in contrast to gathering. Therefore, prehistoric cave drawings probably show more animals and spears than plants and pouches. Perhaps these narratives shape our ideas about food, gender roles, and society more deeply into the present than we are generally aware ...

"How I learned to lose weight in all directions. On literature and nutrition"
 

Audio version: "How I learned to lose weight in all directions. On literature and nutrition" (Part 1)

Audio version: "How I learned to lose weight in all directions. On literature and nutrition" (Part 2)

Mobility: "Mit zunehmender Höhe wird die Welt statisch"

For his text on mobility, Philipp Schönthaler has chosen a rather unusual text form, a so-called montage text. This makes it easier to address general aspects and to ask more questions about the structural conditions of mobility.

For example, when mobility is held up as a high, if not absolute, value, while immobility is negatively connoted as stagnation. The montage makes it possible to show that, for example, we perceive our bodies no differently than machines or cars, subjecting them to the same logic in which immobility means failure, misfortune, or catastrophe.

"Mit zunehmender Höhe wird die Welt statisch"

 

The Online Courier interviewed him about it:

Audio version: "Mit zunehmender Höhe wird die Welt statisch"

About the author

Philipp Schönthaler, born in 1976 in Stuttgart, is interested in contemporary, capitalist-conditioned conformity phenomena and their flip sides: "Survival in the 80s. The thin skin of civilization" (2016) analyzes the social catastrophes and fear phantasms in the Federal Republic of Germany on the basis of the purchase of survival manuals. The volume of stories "Before Dawn" (2017) opens a cycle of works under the subtitle "Life and Services," which deals with new technologies. The novel "The Way of All Waves" was published in 2019 as a sequel.

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Floral masterpieces

In the master florists’ pieces from 2018, a dialogue between the art of floral design and science was created. Discussions with professors and students, visits to lectures, specialist presentations, and visits to institutes preceded the floral implementations.

Although flowers do not change the world to the same extent as university innovations, a world without flowers is unimaginable.  Artistically designed flowers change many things, and they change the world within us.

Bioeconomy - Biorefinery

"My piece represents a tree trunk with bark on the outside. I have designed the center with folded book pages and a flower arrangement of paper flowers and living flowers. I want to show that new products can be created in a biorefinery by breaking down the materials into their components. In addition, the bioeconomy is concerned with ensuring that the plants are used as fully as possible. The tree trunk is meant to show that wood can also be used to make paper, for example."

Climate change - Global changes in the four elements fire, water, air, and earth

"My work is intended to represent the delicate balance between the earth or nature and humankind. Above all, it is humankind who is upsetting the fragile ecosystem. Only a third of the CO2 emitted by humans can be absorbed by trees and plants and released again as oxygen. 

The four pillars symbolize the four elements of the earth on which all life is based. If one element breaks away, our whole ecosystem and thus life collapses. The metal arch shows life. It arises from the elements and is free-floating. This causes a slight swinging of the bow, which indicates the imminent imbalance between life and earth. On the life/arch the human being is enthroned, represented as fire-red floral materials. After all, it is high time that we change our behavior to keep our earth in good condition as long as possible."

New foods - Flavors from mushrooms

"Technical and scientific knowledge makes it possible to produce artificial, natural, and nature-identical flavorings in the laboratory. With the help of mushrooms a variety of flavors can be obtained.

The static and transparent structure of the piece reflects the structured processes of a laboratory. From this, a fungus develops, from which the individual aromas, in the form of delicate flowers and fragrant plants, emerge.

Mushrooms have become an indispensable part of today's aroma production and add a variety of odors and flavors to it. Flavors are able to steer us emotionally and are an important component of the most diverse consumer goods.”