Ladies Tea

Regular hang-out, network and community meeting for FLINTA* (women, lesbian, inter, non binary, trans and agender folks) in Berlin. Varying locations. If you are interested get in touch.

PREASURE LAB @ 2727 California Street, Berkeley, US

During a residency at 2727 California Street, an art and education initiative and artist in residence program, we designed and built hug machines which we modeled on a prototype built by the US American autism activist and animal scientist Temple Grandin. Grandin built herself a hug machine when she was in college: she desired the feeling of being held yet felt overstimulated by human touch. Based on her research we investigated the effects and affects of physical pressure on the human body. At the end of the residency we organized a one night preasure lab where the public was able to try out the hug machines. Visitors interacted with the machines and experienced the sensuous and affective changes of being cared for by a machine.

Kids Workshop "Temple Grandin - Research and Build"

At this workshop we give children the opportunity to create their own hug machines that are based on an initial exploration of their sensual and haptic preferences and dislikes. First, the kids are invited to try out simple hug machines modeled on the original prototype by Temple Grandin and are encouraged to reflect on this experience with the group. Second, the kids are asked to touch and feel a wide range of materials: their textures, temperatures, smells etc. They are encouraged to approach feeling not as merely sensing: What emotions does fresh seaweed evoke in contradistinction to aluminium foil? On the basis of this investigation, the children build their own hug machines with the goal to create a device that can evoke a desired feel-state when used. Children at a workshop in California built an excitement machine, a soothing machine and an anxiety machine.