"Superficial matters" will be a hands-on workshop focused on creating an open space for the encounter between humans and materials. Our culture considers materials as passive "tools" to be shaped and used for utilitarian applications. The central objective of the workshop is to open an environment in which our relationship with materials is as far away as possible from the paradigm of instrumental use. Therefore, materials will be used as non-human subjects and not as passive objects of study. They will be given the opportunity to be "useless". Through construction, manipulation and dialogue with different materials, participants are introduced to both scientific and philosophical ideas and are invited to discuss their own perspectives on each of these concepts. Participants are invited to "think with the materials", letting them take an active part in the "conversation". How can an encounter with a material change the way we think? How does it...