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ZANE BERZINA

Зане Берзиня

touch me

source: zaneberzina

Artist, designer and researcher Dr. Zane Berzina, originally from Latvia, is involved in interdisciplinary projects across the fields of science, technology, design and art. Her studio practice and research evolves around responsive, active and interactive textiles, soft technologies, new materials and processes as well as biomimetic practices. In 2005 Zane Berzina accomplished a practice-based Ph.D. ‘Skin Stories: Charting and Mapping the Skin’ at the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London using analogies of human skin in relation to her textile practice.

Since 2008 Zane Berzina has become a Professor for Textile and Surface Design, Conceptual Development of Materials and Surfaces, at the Art College Berlin-Weißensee, Germany. She is also an Associate of the Goldsmiths Digital Studios, Goldsmiths, University of London and a co-founder and director of electronic-text+textiles (e-t+t) in Riga, Latvia which focuses on investigations of the interrelationships between text and textile practices within technological and electronic environments.

Since 1991 Zane Berzina has been exhibiting extensively in Europe and USA participating in more than 70 curated international exhibitions. She has also had eleven solo exhibitions in Berlin, Riga, London and Helsinki; the most recent of them being ‘E-Static Shadows’ together with architect Jackson Tan at the Science Museum’s Dana Centre in London, UK in 2009 and ‘Skin Stories II – Archaeology of Skin’ at the Foreign Art Museum in Riga, Latvia in 2006 by invitation of the British Council.

Zane Berzina is actively involved in the cultural debate across design, art, crafts, technology and creativity. Her theoretical and practical research outcomes and findings have been incorporated into academic articles and conference papers, which have been presented at international conferences in Europe, USA and Canada.

From 2007 to 2009 Zane Berzina was Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Research Fellow and the Main Researcher on the ‘E-Static Shadows’ project at the Constance Howard Resource and Research Centre in Textiles, Goldsmiths, University of London. On this cross-disciplinary research project, funded by AHRC and supported by the Arts Council of England, the National Lottery, OSRAM and others, she collaborated with the Textile Research Institute Thüringen (TITV) in Germany; Department of Materials, Queen Mary, University of London; Department of Computing, Goldsmiths College and the architect company in square Lab, UK.

Previous research collaborations include the Fraunhofer Institute, Division for Synthesis Technology and Polymer Engineering, Germany; Freie Universität Berlin, Institute for Biology and Zoology, Germany; the Textile company Création Baumann in Langenthal, Switzerland and Strigl + Kramm Architects in Darmstadt, Germany.

She has worked as a lecturer at The University of Arts Berlin, College of Design and Architecture, Institute for Experimental Fashion and Textile Design, Germany (2000-2004) and at the Goldsmiths College, Visual Arts Department, University of London (2004-2006 ). In 2009 Zane Berzina was ‘Eurolecture – European Programme for Innovative Academic Teaching’ award holder by the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung on the project e-MOTION at the University of the Arts Berlin, Institute for Experimental Fashion and Textile Design, Germany. She also gives guest lectures, masterclasses and consultations at various higher education institutions, companies and research institutes internationally.
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source: aneberzina

“I am fascinated by the dermis as a material, sensor, contact organ and medium for non-verbal communications. While our lives are increasingly surrounded with artificial intelligence and digital networks I am interested in the directness of the skin – skin as an analogue system. […] The Touch Me installation invites visitors to create visual responses through touch and metamorphoses from one state into another.”

From my essay ‘Re-thinking Touch’ at ‘ Sk-interfaces ‘ edited by Jens Hauser. (2008)

Various versions of the space specific ‘Touch Me’ installation were shoved at V&A (‘Touch Me’ exhibition, 2005), the Foreign Art Museum in Riga, Latvia (solo exhibition ‘Skin Stories II – Archaeology of Skin’, 2006), FACT – Foundation for Art and Creative Technology in Liverpool ( exhibition ‘Sk-interfaces ‘, 2008) and Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain ( ‘Sk-interfaces’ , 2009).