German-American collaboration deepens media-archaeological research.
At the end of March 2024, the HAWK Faculty of Design had the honor of welcoming an outstanding international project: Professor Tom Levin from Princeton University returned to Germany from a sabbatical specifically for a workshop. The aim was an intensive, research-oriented engagement with the Princeton Phono-Post Archive, a globally unique collection of private voice messages on phonograph records, which were sent by mail as "speaking letters" during the first half of the 20th century.
The project marked the highlight of the two-semester seminar "Research in/and Design," directed by Prof. Dr. des. Konstantin Haensch, a former PhD candidate in German studies. It brought together the interests of design students and researchers at the intersection of media archaeology, design, and history.
The center of the workshop was devoted to the analysis and design of future publications related to the Princeton Phono-Post Archive. The intensive working days took place both in Prof. Levin's office in the historic East Pyne building and at a display case in the Friend Center, where a selection of personal recording devices was presented. Together with doctoral students Martin Gnadt, Lucius Märtner, Josefine Naß, and Ina Szczepanski, and in cooperation with Prof. Levin and Prof. Haensch, key questions of research and design theory were explored in practice. ---
Technical innovation and dokumentation
Within the framework of an accompanying project, the student Annekathrin Kirchner produced high-resolution images of the archive holdings using a self-developed panoramic camera. These multi-part photographs are digitally assembled, thus offering new possibilities for the visual exploration and documentation of the objects.
Outlook
The project group is currently working on finalizing and expanding the publication series, as well as on the continuous integration of new materials and researchers. In doing so, the Princeton Phono-Post Archive is establishing itself as a central resource for media-archaeological research and as an international flagship project for interdisciplinary, collaborative work between universities.
