35 years of mdh - Inspirational thesis no. 1 (January 2023)

2023 - our anniversary year! We are celebrating 35 years of mdh. In the course of this, we are taking a look at the past, showing locations and faces as well as exceptional final theses. In January, we present the final thesis of our alumna Ann-Kathrin Peuthen. She studied Media Design at mdh and successfully completed her studies in Düsseldorf in 2021. She created the inspiring work: Xenotop - The surreal geometry of fractal mathematics and its significance for the design of the future. "Can a human being create something new that is not just a modified copy of something that already exists? What designs would we create if we had no preferences and ideas, no experiences and no templates?", Peuthen addressed these questions and developed a new alien flora based on fractal geometry, which she presents as a book form in a bound encyclopedia. The media design student used mathematics and the programs Mandelbulb 3D, Zbrush and Photoshop to create a new nature. She gave the resulting plants names and characteristics, categorized and cataloged them, and translated them into Latin, according to the doctrine of species. She illustrated the plants in detail and described their habitat.

The encyclopedia Xenotop comprises 100 pages. In a scientific manner Ann-Kathrin Peuthen created a unique work, which in scope and accuracy reminds us of the works of Alexander von Humboldt and during the study of which we wonder: `Does the 'wandering fairy cloak' really exist and where does reality and fiction blur at the highest level`.