whose impulses are not centralized in a brain. One could say that a jelly-fish is its brain. In all living things, the autonomization of relation is effected by a center of indetermination.
- Brian Massumi, The Autonomy of Affect, 1995
Artwork: Tale of the Non-human Materiales: microbial skin grown from probiotic bacteria and yeast Collaboration: Waag Society's wet lab in Amsterdam Exhibited: Hemisphere 55°40’23N12°34’56E, Dome of Vision. CPH, Graduation Festival. Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, The Netherlands. The Hauge, Sol kommer sydfra, søster til måne. Udstillingsstedet Tys. CPH Photo Credit: Ed Jansen, Katarina Galisnove, Naja Ryde Ankarfeldt Year: 2015
The exhibited material is a microbial skin grown from a symbiotic relationship between probiotic bacteria and yeast. It is a microorganism, which makes a strong polymer structure and in contrary to “death” materials like synthetic plastic this material is literally alive.
Artwork: The Microbial Skin Grower Exhibited: Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, The Netherlands Materiales: Wood, electronics, plastic rollers, microbial cellulose Collaboration: Waag Society's wet lab in Amsterdam Photo Credit: Ed Jansen and Katarina Galisnove Year: 2014-2015
As a part of my studies at Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, I collaborated with the Waag Society's wet lab in Amsterdam. We began an investigation of the artistic properties of a symbiotic culture consisting of bacteria comprising Acetobacter (a genus of acetic acid bacteria) and one or more yeasts, also known as “Kombucha Mother”. The culture is a polymer structure that that has qualities remarkable similar to materials like textiles, leather and plastics. Growing and working with bacterial cellulose has enriched my idea of materiality and autonomy in many ways. Foremost, through paying attention to the entanglement of the material’s life cycle with that of the artist: one must feed and clean it in order for it to ferment. This constellation creates a symbiosis between the artist and her material.