How humans’ aesthetic perceptions have shaped other life forms, from racehorses to ornamental plants. Humans have bred plants and animals with an eye to aesthetics for centuries: flowers are selected for colorful blossoms or luxuriant foliage; racehorses are prized for the elegance of their frames. Hybridized plants were first exhibited as fine art in 1936, when the Museum of Modern Art in New York showed Edward Steichen’s hybrid delphiniums. Since then, bio art has become a genre; artists work with a variety of living things, including plants, animals, bacteria, slime molds, and fungi. Many commentators have addressed the social and political concerns raised by making art out of living material. In Green Light, however, George Gessert examines the role that aesthetic perception has played in bio art and other interventions in evolution. Gessert looks at a variety of life forms that humans have helped shape, focusing on plants-the most widely domesticated form of life and the one that has been crucial to his own work as an artist. We learn about pleasure gardens of the Aztecs, cultivated for intoxicating fragrance; the aesthetic standards promoted by national plant societies; a daffodil that looks like a rose; and praise for weeds and wildflowers. Read here
Structural Color is by no means a new phenomenon. Back in the 17th century, English scientists Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton observed the first structural colour in nature. Structural colour is visible in a number of organisms including the peacock tail feather, in which nanostructures interact with incident light to reflect intense hues, the Morpho butterfly and the shield of a beetle amongst others. Microscopically structured surfaces interfere with light and creating iridescent colours. In this research, we collaborate with Flavoacteria grown on low-value industrial waste, to create structural colour.
How does the Flavobacteria produces its structural color, and what is it exactly?
The challenge is to explore possibilities of the creation of objects and artifacts that are alive and can grow in such a way that the color of the artifacts colors can change through the structure of the objects in relation to the light reflecting the iridescence color.
How can we keep the Flavo alive? Within this question it opens for multiple ones; do we need to keep it alive? why and for what purpose? Can we use the properties of the structure to give color to our buildings, fashion and daily objects, without using polluting dyes? Can we grow it in symbiosis with other natural occurring organisms in our city?
The initial experiments occurred in collaboration with scientists Raditijo Hamidjaja and Colin Ingham from Hoekmine BV and TU Delft researchers Elvin Karana and MA alumni Ward Grouters. During this exploration it has shown that the geometry determines in certain angles, the light reflects from surfaces and interferes constructively. Other angles show us that the light interferes destructively; different colours therefore appear at different angles. The iridescence only happens when the bacteria is alive or after a few days before death.
Picture extracted from the scientific paper “Genetic Manipulation of Structural Color in Bacterial Colonies” where they show a study of the genetic manipulation of the structural coloration of Flavobacterium IIR WT and mutants / Diagram explaining how the light occurs being scattered by the structure of the bacteria colony.
Except from the documentary Life That Glows, 2016. It is a British nature documentary programme made for BBC Television, first shown in the UK on BBC Two on 9 May 2016. The programme is presented and narrated by Sir David Attenborough. Life That Glows films the biology and ecology of bioluminescent organisms, that is, capable of creating light.
Research
Ivan and Emma harvested wild type Flavo bacteria from the Maas River in Rotterdam and De Esch, a city park. Flavobacteria are found in soil and fresh water in a variety of environments. The samples were stored in test tubes and jars. Immediately after the harvest they diluted drops of the water into a nutrient medium in the lab. They used cell spreaders to gently spread all the organisms in the petri dish. The water contains hundreds of other organisms such as bacteria and micro algae. In order to keep them alive, salt and a composition of nutrients are added to activate the Flavo bacteria. The process of isolating the Flavo could take days in order for them to light up between the other organisms. Once isolated, the colony can grown on its own.
Dissemination of Knowledge
workshop TUDelft
In September 2019, Ivan and Emma gave a series of workshops for TUDelft bachelor students from diverse engineering background. In this workshop, basics of laboratory protocols and usage were given, apart from an introduction of bioart and biodesign led by the artist/designer/reserchers Henriques and van der Leest. The aim for this workshop is to expand the students’ knowledge of emerging materials (smart and living materials) and their material pallets for prototyping.
The students were exploring possibilities of variables set by the workshop leaders. They divided themselves in groups and each one decided to go in depth in each of techniques with the focus in the change of time. They were observing the passage of time in of the bacteria from their transfer until their growth with the structures that they created.
In the first pictures, students used a 3D printer to create a surface where the flavo bacteria could adapt easily and create geometries to compose an artifact.
In a second moment, the same group created spheres with an edged rings to test the growth in such a surface.
The second group custom made petri dishes to fixate the bacteria with variable of resins to test their adaptation in flexible and hard materials, to keep the color over a long period.
The second test, is observing their growth. What is the influence of the gravity on the growth of the Flavo bacteria?
Below, the picture on the left, the flavo bacteria growing from top to down, on the right, growing from bottom to top.
The third experiment the elaboration of a candle that represents the ‘time’ and the flavo bacteria growing on its surface from top to down.
The third group within the research of time, created a zootrope, where each ‘slide’ was a petri-dish, inoculated with the flavo bacteria in different days.
The Zootroop made by TU students Pia van der Theems, Tomas de Vries and Marijn Soeterbroek
Workshop WDKA at BlueCity
In January 2020 Ivan and Emma gave an elective at Willem de Kooning students called ‘The Microbial Map of Rotterdam’. Students from different studies got a general introduction about biodesign and growing bacteria and fungi in the lab. The goal was to create a ‘living’ map that shows the city grid of Rotterdam including its soil life.
This installation presents 16 square petri dishes containing Flavobacteria and other microorganisms that were harvested from respective locations in Rotterdam. The Microbial Map shows the invisible yet important microbial life beneath our feet. It shows the collaboration between different species. They interact by showing different structures and colours produced by fungal mycelium to yeast and Lichen, a symbiosis between a fungi and algae or cyanobacteria and Flavobacteria that are present in the Maas river, ponds and canals in the city. All together they represent and grow the city boundaries of Rotterdam. The variety shows the beauty of different structures, colours, patterns that are as diverse as our city. Making the invisible visible forms your perception, experience and appreciation for the city and its nature.
Every colour has a story, and here are some of the most alluring, alarming, and thought-provoking. Very hard painting the hallway magnolia after this inspiring primer.’ Simon Garfield The Secret Lives of Colour tells the unusual stories of the 75 most fascinating shades, dyes and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso’s blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history. In this book Kassia St Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colours and where they come from (whether Van Gogh’s chrome yellow sunflowers or punk’s fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilisation. Across fashion and politics, art and war, The Secret Lives of Colour tell the vivid story of our culture.
“Field_Notes – From Landscape to Laboratory – Maisemasta Laboratorioon”
Edited by Laura Beloff, Erich Berger and Terike Haapoja
This publication is the result of “Field_Notes – Cultivating Grounds” field laboratory which took place in 2011 in Kilpisjärvi. It is a hardcover book, bilingual in Finnish and English and contains 17 articles and additional material of Finnish and international contributors on 256 pages.
Every second year the Finnish Society of Bioart invites a significant group of artists and scientists to Kilpisjärvi Biological Station (run by the University of Helsinki) in Finnish Lapland, to work for one week on topics related to art, biology and the environment. “Field_Notes – From Landscape to Laboratory” is the first in a series of publications originating from this field laboratory. It emphasizes the process of interaction between fieldwork, locality and the laboratory. Oron Catts, Antero Kare, Laura Beloff, Tarja Knuuttila amongst others explore the field and laboratory as sites for art&science practices.
Erich Berger, Kasperi Mäki-Reinikka, Kira O’Reilly, Helena Sederholm (eds.)
Publisher: Aalto ARTS Books
What worlds are revealed when we listen to alpacas, make photographs with yeast or use biosignals to generate autonomous virtual organisms? Bioart invites us to explore artistic practices at the intersection of art, science and society. This rapidly evolving field utilises the tools of life sciences to examine the materiality of life; the collision of human and nonhuman. Microbiology, virtual reality and robotics cross disciplinary boundaries to engage with arts as artists and scientists work together to challenge the ways in which we understand and observe the world. This book offers a stimulating and provocative exploration into worlds emerging, seen through art as we don’t know it – yet.
Art as We Don’t KnowIt showcases art and research that has grown and flourished within the wider network of both the Bioart Society and Biofilia during the previous decade. The book features a foreword by curator Mónica Bello, and a selection of peer-reviewed articles, personal accounts and interviews, artistic contributions and collaborative projects which illustrate the breadth and diversity of bioart. The resulting book is a tantalising and invaluable indicator of trends, visions and impulses in the field.
The book marks the 10th anniversary of the Bioart Society but instead of looking back we joined forces with Biofilia – Base for Biological Arts to have a glimpse forward and to scan what kind of questions and topics in the realm of bioart, art&science and its politics could be relevant for our work in the coming years. The result is a 280 page volume in four sections with articles, reports, interviews, artist sections and more. The stunning cover image is from a yeastogram by Johanna Rotko and the amazing coppery design by Safa Hovinen.
We have an inspiring lineup of contributors which we are very grateful to for sharing their thoughts, ideas and insights: Markus Schmidt & Nediljko Budisa, Andy Gracie, Adriana Knouf, Marta De Menezes & Luis Graca, Marietta Radomska & Cecilia Åsberg, Crystal Bennes, Bartaku, Erich Berger, Antero Kare, Laura Beloff, Johanna Rotko, Kasperi Mäki-Reinikka, Teemu Lehmusruusu, Antti Tenetz, Ian Ingram & Theun Borssele, Paul Vanouse, Rian Ciela Visscher Hammond, Christina Stadlbauer, Paula Humberg, Denisa Kera, Leena Valkeapää, lifepatch, Jurij Krpan, Anu Osva, Kristiina Ljokkoi & Tomi Slotte Dufva, Ulla Taipale & Christina Stadlbauer, Margherita Pevere, Heather Davis, Elaine Gan & Terike Haapoja, Ida Bencke, Mari Keski-Korsu, Oron Catts & Ionat Zurr, Kira O’Reilly, Pia Lindman, Helena Sederholm and Lauri Linna and with a foreword by Mónica Bello.
The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves, 2009
W. Brian Arthur
More than anything else technology creates our world. It creates our wealth, our economy, our very way of being,” says W. Brian Arthur. Yet despite technology’s irrefutable importance in our daily lives, until now its major questions have gone unanswered. Where do new technologies come from? What constitutes innovation, and how is it achieved? Does technology, like biological life, evolve? In this groundbreaking work, pioneering technology thinker and economist W. Brian Arthur answers these questions and more, setting forth a boldly original way of thinking about technology.
The Nature of Technology is an elegant and powerful theory of technology’s origins and evolution. Achieving for the development of technology what Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions did for scientific progress, Arthur explains how transformative new technologies arise and how innovation really works. Drawing on a wealth of examples, from historical inventions to the high-tech wonders of today, Arthur takes us on a mind-opening journey that will change the way we think about technology and how it structures our lives. The Nature of Technology is a classic for our times.
The Book of Trees – Visualizing Branches of Knowledge, 2014
Manuel Lima
The critically acclaimed bestseller Visual Complexity was the first in-depth examination of the burgeoning field of information visualization. Particularly noteworthy are the numerous historical examples of past efforts to make sense of complex systems of information.
In this new companion volume ‘The Book of Trees. Visualizing Branches of Knowledge’, Manuel Lima – expert in the field of data vizualisation – examines the more than eight hundred year history of the tree diagram, from its roots in the illuminated manuscripts of medieval monasteries to its current resurgence as an elegant means of visualization.
Manuel Lima presents over two hundred intricately detailed tree diagram illustrations on a remarkable variety of subjects, from some of the earliest known examples from ancient Mesopotamia to the manuscripts of medieval monasteries to contributions by leading contemporary designers. A timeline of capsule biographies on key figures in the development of the tree diagram rounds out this one-of-a-kind visual compendium.
Tree diagrams suggest strategies for representing data across many disciplines, including science, law, geneology, linguistics, economics, and sociolog. The book ‘The Book of Trees. Visualizing Branches of Knowledge’ includes fascinating examples, such as early conceptualizations of heaven and hell, kinship diagrams of kings of France and West Virginian mountaineers, and analyses of recipe ingredients’.
This issue is focused on the rapid urbanization and globalization of the planet. Demographic growth led to the concentration of population in major global cities, making them strategic territories to address contemporary challenges (environmental awareness, ubiquity of digital technologies) while trying to achieve a sustainable economic, social and environmental development. The Anthropocene describes a new geological age, where human activity has become the predominant geophysical force. The implications of this concept exceed the context of scientific debates. Stream 03 explores conceptual tools to apprehend our new urban condition.
The effective design and analysis of experiments in biology are critical to success, yet graduate students in biological and medical sciences typically receive very little formal training in these steps. With feedback from readers of the first edition, colleagues, and students taking the very popular experimental design courses taught by the author, this second edition of Experimental Design for Biologists retains the engaging writing style while organizing the book around the four elements of experimental design: the framework, the system, the experiment, and the model. The approach has been tested in the classroom, where the author has taught numerous graduate students, MD/PhD students, and postdoctoral fellows. The goal of every scientist is to discover something new and with the aid of Experimental Design for Biologists, this task is made a little easier.
This handbook explains how to establish the framework for an experimental project, how to set up all of the components of an experimental system, design experiments within that system, determine and use the correct set of controls, and formulate models to test the veracity and resiliency of the data. This thoroughly updated edition of Experimental Design for Biologists is an essential source of theory and practical guidance for designing a research plan.
