Workshop, Magazine

What if stories emerged from the movement of water? What if remnants of algae told those stories? Or what if non-human actors perceived them? During a three-day workshop, participants collaboratively develop site-specific investigations that trace narrative sediments and reveal them in the spirit of décollage.

As part of Indiecon 2026, »Narrative Sediments« explores the Hamburg HafenCity area as a laboratory of urban resilience. The focus is on those traces, data, and artifacts that bear witness to the persistence of non-human actors in a planned, artificially created environment. What becomes visible when we view the site not from the perspective of architecture, urban planning, tourism, and consumption, but through the eyes of its (non-)living island inhabitants?

Against the backdrop of experimental archiving and design processes, we observe, measure, collect, and document artifacts and observations in various areas of the island. We intend to curate and discuss our findings and impressions in order to subsequently publish them in the form of a magazine. At the heart of the workshop is the spreadsheet—or rather, the spreadsheet program, which serves as both a repository of knowledge and a publishing tool. As a tool, the spreadsheet thus enables low-threshold, collective collaboration that frames and inspires editorial, curatorial, and design processes. Design thus becomes a practice of sedimentation.

Many thanks to the IndieCon team for the invitation and generous support!

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