Monday, 28 March 2011
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Friday, 21 January 2011
DIARY_WEDNESDAY 19/01/11
A previous architectural project done by Steve Pike in 2001 also included microbes into an architectural design. He created portable monitor cells that included different types of media and exposed them to particular locations in order to capture their attendant microbes.
Notes on his project:
- Monitor cells - exposed to particular locations and their attendant microbes to identify those specific to a given environment.
- Aspergillus - common in fabric of our built environment
- Micrococcus - populating the surface of our skin
- Competing for colonial territory
- Distinct microbes associated to plant, fruit, bread or diary material are responsible to unique visual transformations, revealing an almost epidemiological history
- Structure, facilitators, inhibitors, moisture extracts and photo sources support the flourishing growth
- Media - potato dextrose + agar or BG 11 + agar solutions
Associations with microorganisms:
she:
increasing
disgusting
negative
harmful
infection
altering
destroying
can change properties (milk, cheese,...)
causes mutations i.e. in plants, trees...
overpowering
out of control
he:
unhygienic
lurking
everywhere
danger
biological
small - invisible
in constant change
fascination
dislike
no differentiation between like and dislike - just negative
panicking
part of biological cycles
me:
system within a system
follow certain rules
metabolical processes
relationship to their environment
character
necessary / destroying
harmless when under control
harmful when overpowering other systems
adaptive to their environment
part of our environment / of us
bizarre / uncanny
beautiful / disgusting
our relationship to them not obvious
they can change our behaviour, we can change their behaviour
we judge / experience them usually by their reaction with the environment (infections...) otherwise invisible to us
negative image
our body serves as a host that houses and controls microorganism all the time
living organisms
they need food to grow
colonising / separation / social network / territories
different species depending on the environment
they can die and being destroyed - collapse of a system
antibiotics
they usually become visible when overpowering other species
laboratories - controlled growing
free environments - unpredictable results change of behaviour
contamination of structures via aerial flow or direct contact
change through different media, temperature, light...
invisible on a superficial level
visible through growing or zooming in - fundamental characteristics
disgusting insect that turns inside out (metamorphosis)
counterparts of the image we are clean
own character / personality
The Tree Man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJLG85gn0bc
Erno Erik_Bacteriograms: http://www.microbialart.com/galleries/erno-erik-raitanen/
DIARY_TUESDAY 18/01/11
By coincidence I met Dr. Finn Werner from the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology (ISMB) at the UCL, who was very helpful in explaining the process of preparing petri dishes, etc.
In order to have good plates to grow any organisms on I will have to prepare the petri dishes with a rich medium that can vary depending on which organisms I want to grow. Also they have to be heated up in an autoclave prior to exposure to avoid any contamination. Fungi will develop under cold temperatures where as bacteria prefer a temperature around 37 degrees (human body temperature!).
He also recommended to outline the experiment first and get an idea what I want to collect to prepare the right base.
DIARY_MONDAY 19/01/11
Phrase out of my synopsis:
In order to underline the metabolical statement, an experiment with a living biotope, inspired by Eduardo Kacís installation 'Specimen of Secrecy about Marvellous Discoveries' (Kac, 2004/06) will be set up and hopefully integrated in a final installation that allows different individuals to take part.
http://www.ekac.org/specimen.html
What sort of 'biotope' could I set up, what sort of living organisms shall I use, which ones would underline the idea of the mask processes, daily actions wit our environment, etc... and which organisms would I actually be able to collect and grow?
By doing some research I came across this website:
http://www.microbialart.com/2011/01/microbiota/
"Microbiota is a photographic installation that maps bacterial life in the city of Kingston. Blending microbiological protocols with artistic vision, the artist reveals invisible yet ubiquitous aspects of our shared environments. This collection of bacterial photographs from various locations in Kingston were sampled, cultured and photographed during the summer of 2010, and aims to raise public awareness of the unseen bacterial environment around us."
(Julia Krolik, 2010)
What are Microbes?
microbe (noun)
a microorganism, esp. a bacterium causing disease or fermentation.
ORIGIN late 19th cent.: from French, from Greek mikros 'little' + bios 'live' (dict.)
A microorganism; also spelt micro-organism, micro organismor microbe is an organism that is unicellular or lives in a colony of cellular organisms.
Microorganisms are very diverse; they include bacteria, fungi, archaea, and protists; microscopic plants (green algae); and animals such as plankton and the planarian.
Microorganisms live in all parts of the biosphere where there is liquid water, including soil, hot springs, on the ocean floor, high in the atmosphere and deep inside rocks within the Earthís crust. Microorganisms are critical to nutrient recycling in ecosystems as they act as decomposers. As some microorganisms can fix nitrogen, they are a vital part of the nitrogen cycle, and recent studies indicate that airborne microbes may play a role in precipitation and weather.[4]
Microbes are also exploited by people in biotechnology, both in traditional food and beverage preparation, and in modern technologies based on genetic engineering. However, pathogenic microbes are harmful, since they invade and grow within other organisms, causing diseases that kill people, other animals and plants. (wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microorganism
If microbes are on us, in us, around us, they are part of our shared everyday environment, why not use them and their character to reveal our interactions with life.
How can I collect them?
How can I cultivate them?
Will need a contact to a microbiologist...
How can I document them and incorporate into my project?
Insructions: http://www.scienceenterprises.com/growingbacteria.aspx
material I need for a start:
petri dishes_nutrient agar as medium_iodine solution (an antibacterial)_sterile cotton swabs_sterile distilled water for dry surfaces_chicken/vegetable/beef broth or other rich media.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
DIARY_SUNDAY 16/01/11
Continuation of the Mole Man Site drawing.
Overlaying the print "walking the fence" with the path drawing. Highlighting the monotony of the path along the protecting fence around the site, to the point where I got enticed by the changes in the fence, like the colour of the door and the holes that allowed me to get an glimpse of the other side. Although I was not able to overlook the whole situation, by the change of my position around the holes I got a sort of patchwork image of the behind. Space for imagination...
Associations with the drawings:
- print of the whole walk around the site on one sheet - limitations to what we experience that triggers our association / imagination
- blurred, imperfect picture underlines how we perceive, reflect our environment. The gaps in the print itself leave us space for interpretation / imagination and individual completion. The monotonous corrugated iron fence reflects the monotonous perception we have of our surrounding through routine.
- the holes in the fence are the only strong contours in the image. As in the real situation of the site they are the enticing points that trigger the observer to change his perspective and dig deeper, to look behind the skin of the fence.
- starting points for interaction with the site.
- through the peepholes we can glimpse the behind in limited but sharp cut-out views. The observer is forced to change his position in order to collect further sections of the behind that help him to puzzle the stored pictures to one piece.
- curiosity and the patchwork of his reality and imagination makes the spy to a participant of the site.
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