SPEKTRUM is an art & community space in Berlin focused on creating new links between art, science and technology. Apart from organising performance nights, events and exhibitions, we have from the beginning concentrated on building up a community program that seeks to involve people from different backgrounds (such as artists, scientists, hackers, designers and activists) in an environment that stimulates experimentation, interdisciplinary thinking and horizontal learning. Communities around topics such as olfactory art, live cinema, sonic coding, gaming, motion technology and digital fabrication have been set up at SPEKTRUM and are meeting up regularly to share ideas, exchange knowledge and create new projects together. In a time where contact between people happens increasingly online through social media and various digital devices, we strongly believe in the power of connecting different groups of people in a physical space, and after nearly two years of community building we are seeing the exciting results.

This talk will give an overview of the creative synergies formed so far, and the process of community building itself.

We will explore the MadeByUs community in particular, which is a making community focused on artistic, DIY, and experimental uses of digital fabrication techniques like 3D printing and laser cutting. In 2016, MadeByUs has set up a makerlab at Spektrum: building the machines from open source kits and engaging the community diretly to build the lab together. The SPEKTRUM lab is an access point to a growing online movement of developing and remixing open source physical objects. It allows the SPEKTRUM communities and all interested parties to use digital manufacturing tools such as 3D printers, laser cutters and electronic tools for the purpose of local, community-based production, interdisciplinary collaboration and critical, artistic exploration of new technologies.