The future in the sewing machine box

Old and new objects from the university’s collections play a central role in the exhibition in the Humboldt Laboratory. Computers from the C.A.S.E collection show how rapidly technology – and its significance for science – has developed in recent decades.

Not so long ago they represented the state of the art, but today the clunky, beige-coloured boxes look old-fashioned. Nine computers from the years 1977 to 2004 will be on display in the Humboldt Laboratory. They provide an insight into the rapid development of information technology – and its significance for university teaching and research.

For example, there is the IBM Portable 5155 from 1985, whose housing looks more like a sewing machine than a computer. From today’s perspective, the term ‘portable’ no longer seems appropriate, as the device weighs around 15 kilos. The nine objects come from the C.A.S.E computer collection of the Centre for Applied Statistics and Economics of the Faculty of Economics. It includes computers, calculating machines and software related to the development of statistics and econometrics.

In the Humboldt Lab, a look at university collections will play a central role. The research and teaching collections are also archives of the history of science, emphasises Dr Gorch Pieken, lead curator of the exhibition. Alexander von Humboldt studied the major issues of his time against a meticulously reconstructed historical background, for which he spent a great deal of time in archives. In the Humboldt Laboratory, current research projects are also examined in their historical development and placed in relation to specific exhibits from the history of science.

The 38 objects and groups of objects are displayed in showcases hanging from the ceiling of the hall. They can be moved up and down with the help of pantographs, like those used in film studios. ‘This contradicts the conventions of museum presentation that have been common since the 19th century – we are referring to an even older form of exhibition,’ says Gorch Pieken. The dazzling and confrontational juxtaposition and interaction of the exhibits is intended to create the impression of a cabinet of curiosities, as was popular in the late Renaissance and Baroque periods.

The nine computers are also exhibited in hanging display cases. As some of them have a considerable weight of their own, they are divided into three stations, reports Andreas Geißler, who as curator at the Humboldt Laboratory is also responsible for the computer exhibits.

Right at the start of planning their exhibition, the four-member curatorial team visited most of the university’s 45 collections together. ‘Each and every one of us perceives things differently,’ emphasises Geißler. What is considered particularly exciting, important and worthy of attention is a professional, but also a subjective decision. ‘All the objects went through a rigorous casting because there was no other way to end the agony of choice,’ says Gorch Pieken.

Making research and teaching collections visible

The current selection is a prelude. Over time, the showcases in the Humboldt Lab will become a hub for collection objects and stories of all kinds, he explains. The fact that the objects are from research and teaching collections, many of which are still in use, creates a dynamic. By presenting them in the Humboldt Lab, they become visible outside the university, which can contribute to the long-term preservation of the collections because their importance is recognised and acknowledged by a broad public, says Gorch Pieken. ‘You create an important public sphere that would otherwise not exist at the university,’ emphasises Andreas Geißler.

This is because some institutes do not have the financial, human or spatial resources to comprehensively care for and present the collections. Some treasures are stored hidden away in boxes in small corners and cellars, while others are housed in adequate rooms, explains Geißler.

The Humboldt-Universität’s collections have their origins in the Berlin Kunstkammer and the Bergakademie. Shortly after the university was founded in 1810, the natural history collections were moved from the Kunstkammer to the main building. As the university’s collection portal reports, this meant the dissolution of interdisciplinary collecting in favour of separate subject-oriented collections, which became more differentiated over the course of the 19th century. The losses during the Second World War, for example, were significant. In 1944, for example, millions of objects were burnt in a single night during the fire at the Botanical Museum, while only individual objects from the Christian Archaeological Museum and the Museum of Oceanography still exist today due to the destruction caused by the war.

The objects on display in the Humboldt Lab provide an insight into the diversity of older and more recent collections. The computers from the economics department are normally exhibited in corridors and offices of the faculty, reports Geißler. The collection was created by Wolfgang Härdle, statistician and professor of economics. ‘He started by saving the computers from his professional career,’ explains the curator. This results in a biographical reference on the one hand and a technical reference on the other, which presents the current possibilities for calculating statistical issues. The technical requirements influence the teaching, research and publishing activities of scientists.

Discarded computers – evidence of the history of media and science

The discarded devices are to be brought back to life in the exhibition. That is why the Humboldt Labor is cooperating with the Signal Laboratory of Media Studies at the Humboldt University. Artefacts from various generations of computer and computing history are exhibited and maintained there. Among other things, this means that research results on historical data carriers can be retrieved, explains Geißler. Under the leadership of Dr Dr Stefan Höltgen, curator of the technical collections of media studies, the nine computers were restored to working order. At the C.A.S.E station, visitors will be able to follow the development of user interfaces on the screens – and even interact with some of the computers themselves.

In addition to the past, however, the present and future will also be examined. Topics such as virtual currencies, blockchains, computerised high-frequency trading and emotion recognition software will play a role in the exhibition’s educational programme, reports Geißler.