Comics
Becoming an Agent of Change
ARTIST
MARION DENGLER
A non-binary queer comic artist living in Berlin, trying to work as a freelancer. Likes the macabre and gothic horror. Main inspirations are Symbolism, Art nouveau and works from the golden age of illustration. Eerie, mysterious stuff with hidden meanings is my jam, which is why my stories and illustrations tend to veer into magical realism, if not outright fantasy. I grew up with Franco-Belgian comics, started reading manga after that and now primarily read American indie graphic novels, preferably with queer themes. Successfully blending these three different styles of comic art and narration is something I want to achieve in my own work.
Location
Berlin, Germany
Artistic Focus
Magical realism, gothic horror, fantasy
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
The Adventures of Tuwwo the Water Molecule
Becoming an Agent of Change
Why did you participate in LUX:plorations?
“During the comic festival at Contern in 2019, I was approached by Serge Haan who told me about the project and invited me to join in. I liked the focus on comics and the fact that this project would assemble most of the established luxembourgish comic artists in one project so as a newcomer, I would be in good company.”
What did you like most about LUX:plorations?
“I liked working with the University students on their stories since they gave me a lot of artistic freedom and trusted me on my decisions. At the same time their input was often crucial in guiding me in the right direction in regards to visuals, like clarity of message and so on. I liked that I was given a lot of free reign to make something that would be visually interesting as well as informational.”
What was the biggest challenge for you?
“The biggest challenge for me was also the most interesting aspect of the project: distilling a lot of information into 2 comic pages. While the university students had to work on the narrative, it befell to me to form said text into a visually clear and concise comic story. You can tell a lot through pictures alone so preferably one would want to keep the actual text in the comic as short as possible to let the pictures speak for themselves. That’s the challenge and whether or not I succeeded depends on the reaction of the readers.”
SCIENTISTS/AUTHORS
ADRIANA COPPOLA
Adriana Coppola works at the Department of Engineering (DoE)
of the University of Luxembourg (Uni.lu) on energy efficiency.
Research Focus
Energy Efficiency
Affiliation
Department of Engineering (DoE)
University of Luxembourg
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
Becoming an Agent of Change
CHRYSOVALANTOU KALAITZIDOU
“We know that not only the intrinsic genetic programme of a cell, but also external influences coming from their surrounding environment affect their behavior. This environment comprise the Extracellular Matrix (ECM). Cells deform the ECM by applying forces to it in order to drive a number of their functions…even to communicate with other cells! My work is to understand how these forces alter the Extracellular Matrix and in order to do so, I combine computational mechanics with data-driven models.”
Research Focus
Data driven modeling
Affiliation
Data-Driven Computational Modelling and Applications (DRIVEN), Department of Engineering (DoE)
University of Luxembourg
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
Becoming an Agent of Change
Why did you participate in LUX:plorations?
“It was a great opportunity to interact with other researchers over topics that matter to us and find an artistic way to present them to the public.”
What did you like most about LUX:plorations?
“Scientist’s interaction. One can learn a lot when they are open to new paths and ideas.”
What was the biggest challenge for you?
“Putting great ideas in short sentences!”
ELEFTHERIA CHARALAMBOUS
“My research focuses on how facing adversity during the first 1000 days of life shapes the microbiome, epigenome and immune system. I am specifically looking for changes detectable in adulthood.”
Research Focus
Immunology, Microbiome, Epigenetis, Integrative Biology
Affiliation
Immune Endocrine and Epigenetics, Department of Infection and Immunity
Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH)
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
Becoming an Agent of Change
Why did you participate in LUX:plorations?
“I find science communication a very important skill. During my PhD journey, I wanted to experience how to communicate an important and complicated matter in an efficient and creative way.”
What did you like most about LUX:plorations?
“I loved the creativity of the team and the interdisciplinary discussions we had during the process.”
What was the biggest challenge for you?
“Biggest challenge for me was to unleash my creativity in order to communicate my thoughts.”
JOHANNA JASCHIK
Johanna Jaschik works at the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH) of the Uni.lu, focusing on border and migration studies of Eastern Europe.
Research Focus
Border studies
Affiliation
Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH)
University of Luxembourg
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
Becoming an Agent of Change
MENTOR
JESSICA BURTON
Jessica Burton is a researcher at the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH), working on the relationship between European comic transfers in the 1960s within the Popkult60 project. She specialises in comics studies and has previously worked as a comic editor for Titan Comics, on titles such as Doctor Who, before embarking on her PhD. She is a mentor for LUX:plorations, and teaches classes on comics history at the
University.
Research Focus
Comics, History, Cross-cultural Transfers, Popular Culture
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
Becoming an Agent of Change
Chronicles from Platform 6
Inside the Solar Cell
Microglia: Guardians of the Brain?
Why did you participate in LUX:plorations?
“I truly believe in the power of comics to inform and educate, so jumped at the chance to help fellow doctoral candidates learn how to tell their research through comics form.”
What did you like most about LUX:plorations?
“Watching the doctoral candidates work on their ideas and seeing them engage with the artists for an amazing end product.”
What was the biggest challenge for you?
“Finding the balance between suggesting ideas and allowing participants maximum creativity.”
SUPERVISOR
BRUNO TEHEUX
Bruno Teheux is a researcher in the Department of Mathematics (DMATH) at the University of Luxembourg. He is a mathematician working at the interface of mathematical logic, discrete mathematics and theoretical computers science. He also likes to organize activities that allow a wide audience to experience research in mathematics and help discovering its contemporary aspects.
Work Focus
Mathematics, research, science communication, higher education
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
Becoming an Agent of Change
A Furry Tale
Why did you participate in LUX:plorations?
“I lead the creation of the first comics booklet entitled ‘Through The Looking Glass’ and I was willing to pursue since science and comics are two complement ways to understand the world.”
What did you like most about LUX:plorations?
“The interactions between Phd candidates and artists were amazing. The resulting pieces of art are much more than the simple sum of their inputs.”