Review: Hybrid Talks XXXVIII – Resistance

On Thursday evening, the 16th of January, the Hybrid Plattform hosted the 39th event within the series of Hybrid Talks. Moderated by Prof. Dr. Stefan Weinzierl, the the presentations circulated around the theme "Resistance".

Starting off with a historical perspective on oppositional powers Prof. Dr. Wolfganz Benz introduced us to the different groups of resistance during the 20th century in Germany. There's a thin line between not-agreeing and resisting and ten minutes were not enough to stretch, think and philosophize about these different states of opposition but Benz published a book about exactly that topic (check it out here).

Next on stage was Prof. Axel Kufus who talked about aesthetic and creative resistance within his field of Product and Process Design. He named his talk "Widerstand mit "ie" schreiben?" (a german word pun that is hard to translate) showcasing that the desire to innovate, change and resist the status quo has been there forever and repeats itself in different forms.

Marta Górnicka, director, author and singer started her presentation by showing us a YouTube clip named "Grundgesetz (Trailer)" where people from different backgrounds performed certain paragraphs of the German constitution. They were all part of the "Political Voice Institute" that Górnicka created with her mission of giving underpriviliged and unheard people a platform to communicate problems and ideas.

As Prof. Dr. Berit Greinke wasn't able to present due to illness, Prof. Dr. Julien Weiss was the fourth and last speaker of the evening. He talked about different forms of air resistance and how the transformational process of thermal energy becoming mechanical energy produces CO2. He ended his talk addressing our ecological footprint. Who knows: he might have triggered some reflections and exchanges on our lifestyle. As always we enjoyed the chats and discussions that started after the talks and which gained energy as we kept offering snacks and drinks to all the guests.

- Aljoscha