Toolkit, tutorial, manual, 2016-2019
This toolkit introduces symbiotic relationships between living organisms and non-living things. Symbiotic relationships are outlined with references to artistic projects and scientific research. It refers mainly to three different kinds of research: a theory of the origin of eukaryotic cells proposed by Lynn Margulis, formerly Lynn Sagan (Sagan, 1966), the Human Microbiome Project carried out by the National Institutes of Health in the United States (NIH, 2012), and a manifesto-like proposal of interspecies dependencies by Donna Haraway (2008).
The kit includes tools to experience relationships between microorganisms: In the first case we grow SCOBY, and in the second we isolate Acetobacter bacteria from grown SCOBY in order to further cultivate colonies of single species. Altogether symbiotic relationships are experienced through experimentation with living microorganisms and non-living components, which enable the experimentation.
The experimentation is supported by a video tutorial and a manual, both available in the toolkit.
The work is part of the Introduction to Posthuman Aesthetics work series.
My gratitude goes to Dr. Brian Degger, Dr. Julian Chollet, Dr. Mirela Alistar, and Juan Pablo Diaz, who collaborated while executing DIWO experiments on symbiosis. The project was kindly supported by the Nordic Culture Point and by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
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