Future Artefacts FM / The diamond’s less sexy sister / 12.03.23

In this episode we welcome our first guest presenter, Ariane Koek, to discuss Niamh Schmidtke’s work-in-progress, The diamond’s less sexy sister. Somewhere between a radio essay and a voicenote, the 5 minute piece explores human relations to minerals, specifically with graphite. Combining scripted and organic conversation, prose and academic information, the audio slips in and out of speculation; is that a mineral speaking, or a person speaking about a mineral? Together we untangle Niamh’s current research as part of their artist in residence program at TU Berlin, with the Science Gallery Network and Fondation Didier et Martine Primat. We collectively question the ways minerals could speak for themselves through technology, materiality and the act of holding hands.