BarabásiLab. Hidden Patterns
A visualization of a network is shown. The edges of the network are colored in different colors.
Network Thinking
Sat, May 01, 2021 – Sun, April 03, 2022
Atrium 1+2, 2nd floor

The exhibition »BarabásiLab. Hidden Patterns« introduces the work of the physicist and network scientist Albert-László Barabási and his research laboratory. The focus of the exhibition is the development of network visualization over the past 25 years, which can be seen in the projects of BarabásiLab.

Intro | video commentary by Albert-László Barabási

The world today produces more data per day than previously generated in a decade. The world's knowledge doubles every two years. To cope with this amount of data, a new science is needed: the visualization of characteristic nodes and networks, of parameters and patterns.

The innovative and interdisciplinary field of network science enables the analysis of various cultural and social phenomena. Invisible, hidden connections and constantly repeating patterns within nature, society, language, and culture can not only be explored but also made visible. Barabási's network approach promises to deliver a comprehensive, universal method that will illuminate many phenomena with scientific precision. 

A network of red and black lines running at right angles.
BarabásiLab, »Invasion«, 1995

Visitors to the exhibition are offered a comprehensive overview of the highly topical fields of application of network science. The network diagrams and structures are visualized in a variety of ways and use state-of-the-art technology. The exhibits, at once scientific and highly aesthetic, range from prints and sketches to videos, and include real as well as virtual data sculptures.

The »BarabásiLab. Hidden Patterns« exhibition is a collaboration with the Ludwig Museum, Budapest, where it will be on show from October 10, 2020 to June 20, 2021.

About the artist

Albert-László Barabási (*1967, Cârța, Harghita, Romania) originally studied sculpture, before changing to the study of physics at the universities of Bucharest and Budapest. He gained his PhD from Boston University. Barabási developed the theory of complex networks in the USA, at Northeastern University. He currently works at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard University and teaches at the Central European University in Budapest. He lives and works in the USA and Budapest.

Guided tour through the exhibition

MOME augmented reality application

Especially for the work »Flavor Network as a 3D Data Sculpture«, the Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design (MOME) Budapest has developed an augmented reality (AR) application to make the hidden patterns behind the network sculpture even more tangible!

With the opening of the exhibition, it will be available for use on tablets on site.

A person stands in front of a white 3D network sculpture and holds up a tablet on which the sculpture can be examined more closely using augmented reality.

Insights into the exhibition

Open Gallery
  • A close-up of a small glass box engraved with a network.
  • Two men stand in the exhibition room in front of a projection that shows the cosmos as a network. They are covered by the projection. The left man is the scientist Albert-Lázsló Barabási. The right man is Peter Weibel. Both are smiling.
  • A network with many connections and points represents the secret connections of different tastes, e.g. the connection of coffee and peanut butter.
  • An exhibition space. In the foreground are 10 small glass boxes showing fine networks. In the background hang 4 screens that also show networks. On the right hang two large screens, on the left is an explanatory text on the wall.
  • Two large canvases. The left one shows a network that spreads from the inside to the outside. The right one shows a network like small piles lying next to each other.
  • In the foreground is a medium-sized sculpture showing a network with many nodes. Behind her are projections of networks in the form of a mouse brain.

Insights into the exhibition

Overview
  • A close-up of a small glass box engraved with a network.
  • Two men stand in the exhibition room in front of a projection that shows the cosmos as a network. They are covered by the projection. The left man is the scientist Albert-Lázsló Barabási. The right man is Peter Weibel. Both are smiling.
  • A network with many connections and points represents the secret connections of different tastes, e.g. the connection of coffee and peanut butter.
  • An exhibition space. In the foreground are 10 small glass boxes showing fine networks. In the background hang 4 screens that also show networks. On the right hang two large screens, on the left is an explanatory text on the wall.
  • Two large canvases. The left one shows a network that spreads from the inside to the outside. The right one shows a network like small piles lying next to each other.
  • In the foreground is a medium-sized sculpture showing a network with many nodes. Behind her are projections of networks in the form of a mouse brain.

Open Gallery
  • You can see a network that has a similar shape to a jellyfish.
    BarabásiLab, »Fake News«, 2018
  • A visualization of a network is shown. The network looks like a ball. More edges and nodes accumulate in the center than further away from the center.
    BarabásiLab, »Interactum«, 2012
  • A visualization of a network is shown. The shape of the network reminds of a star that explodes.
    BarabásiLab, »Success in Science«, 2016
  • A visualization of a network is shown. The network consists of several, color-coded groupings.
    BarabásiLab, »Art-World Success«, 2018
  • A visualization of a network is shown. It looks like a spider web.
    BarabásiLab, »Art-World Success«, 2018
  • A visualization of a network is shown. The shape of the network reminds of a star that explodes.
    BarabásiLab, »Art-World Success«, 2018

Overview
  • You can see a network that has a similar shape to a jellyfish.
    BarabásiLab, »Fake News«, 2018
  • A visualization of a network is shown. The network looks like a ball. More edges and nodes accumulate in the center than further away from the center.
    BarabásiLab, »Interactum«, 2012
  • A visualization of a network is shown. The shape of the network reminds of a star that explodes.
    BarabásiLab, »Success in Science«, 2016
  • A visualization of a network is shown. The network consists of several, color-coded groupings.
    BarabásiLab, »Art-World Success«, 2018
  • A visualization of a network is shown. It looks like a spider web.
    BarabásiLab, »Art-World Success«, 2018
  • A visualization of a network is shown. The shape of the network reminds of a star that explodes.
    BarabásiLab, »Art-World Success«, 2018

Accompanying Program

 

Panel Discussions

September 2, 2021                                                  
                                        		 

Epidemic Spreading

 

Vittoria Colizza (INSERM / Sorbonne)

Dirk Brockmann (RKI / Humboldt-Universität)

Marta C. González (Epidemiologist Harvard School)

Albert-László Barabási (Physicist, network scientist)

October 7, 2021 

Biological Networks

 

György Buzsaki (Biggs Professor of Neuroscience at New York University, founder Buzsaki Lab)

Korinna Allhoff (Assistant Professor Institute of Evolution and Ecology University of Tübingen)

Alice Schwarze (Post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Biology at the University of Washington)

Albert-László Barabási (Physicist, network scientist)

November 4, 2021 

Data Reflection & Design

 

Kim Albrecht (artist)

Matthew Richie (artist)

Wendy Chun (Canada 150 Research Chair in New Media, Simon Fraser University)

Albert-László Barabási (Physicist, network scientist)

December 2, 2021      

Art Networks

 

Mitali Banerjee (Assistant Professor, HEC Paris)

Albert-László Barabási (Physicist, network scientist)

Viola Lukács (Curator, writer)

Maximilian Schich (Leader of ERA Chair for Cultural Data Analytics at Tallinn University / University of Texas)

January 6, 2022
(as part of the
ZKM Open Day)		 

Communication Networks & Deepfakes

 

Martino Mauro (founder of Visual Artificial Intelligence Lab, MIT-IBM Research)

Carlo Ratti (architect, engineer and professor at MIT)

Heidi J. S. Tworek (Associate Professor of History and Public Policy; new book: »News From Germany«
Brooke Foucault Welles (Associate Professor, Northeastern University, Boston)

Further participants will be announced here soon.

 

Book presentation

February 24, 2022                        

The end of medicine as we know it – and why your health has a future

Harald Schmidt, MDm phD, PharmD (physician scientist)
Peter Weibel (Chairman and CEO at ZKM | Karlsruhe)

 

 

Digital Opening: BarabásiLab. Hidden Patterns

Live discussion with Albert-László Barabási, Alice Grishchenko, Isabel Meirelles and Peter Weibel about »Network-Thinking«

Exhibitions team

Kuratiert von | curated by: Peter Weibel mit | with Clara Runge
Projektmanagement | Project management: Teresa Retzer, Clara Runge
Technische Projektleitung | Technical project management: Anne Däuper
Grafikdesign | Graphic design: Sascha Fronczek

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