BACTERIQUID

Bacterial + Liquid

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THE IDEA BEHIND IT

I have mentioned a little about this in Bioflaskin, but the whole idea in using the Bacteriquid was to make the use of Biodesign and Laboratiorial technologies become a strongly apparent part of Dar À Luz.

From the very early stages of my ideation of this project I had the same aim: To bring new textile technologies close to the human body. Of course this seed of a concept developped into what is now the translation of an idea of a female human gestation of that technology in a laboratorial universe. It still has the objective of humanizing the technologies most people are yet to consider natural and intrinsicate parts of society as we know it. The performativity of this whole concept is made more literal and clear to the audience via using human-like skin and gestational systems (immitated with alginate as described on Biofalskin and Algrdress) being opposed to a very laboratory-looking liquid that is created within this system: Bacteriquid.

BIODESIGN

This book has been my main source of inspiration for all the laboratory-based imagetic of my performance, which was made more lively with Bacteriquid's addition to Dar À Luz.

REFERENCES

I am now going to repeat some of the references I included in my Inspiring page, to bring to light especially the of Victoria Geaney's and the reference she was so kind to share with me.

Victoria Geaney's research on Bioluminscent Bacteria

Lo Lamento side Bioluminescent Installation_Hi_Res (1) from Victoria on Vimeo.

Living Pixels, by Charlotte Furet

Dr. Simon Park's research on Bioluminescent Bacteria

Exploring the Invisible, by Anne Brodie and Dr. Simon Park

Xiamyra Daal's research on Glow in the Dark Bacteria for WAAG

Mushtari

I have been also greatly inspired by Neri Oxman's work overall, especially Mushtari

MUSHTARI from Mediated Matter Group on Vimeo.

PHOTOBACTERIUM KISHITANNI

Victoria Geaney herself used the Photobacterium Kishitanni and gave a basic guidance on how to grow it, as she had had a partnership with a scientist who led the thicker part of her growing process.

We then order the Bacteria from Universitat de Valencia que detiene la CECT, Colección Española de Cultivos Tipo.

All of the Documentation and instructions that came with our Bacteria are attached bellow on the Files, the last item of this page.

This is how it looked when it came:

MARINE BROTH CULTIVATION MEDIUM

This Bacteria derives from the Sea, funnily enough as well as all the materials I had used so far, thus itsmedium is a seawater based one, a very difficult one to get a hold of.

I was finally able to order a MarineBroth from Sigma Aldrich via Pidiscat, our neighbour at Fab Lab Barcelona.

The other option of Medium these Bacteria could be grown in is Artificial Seawater. Also attached on the Files, the the last item of this page are the 'recipes' for these Medium.

CRAG GENOMICA

Anastasia was really great and found some friends who work at CRAG GENOMICA a genetic biology laboratory at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona.

After they spoke, Jordi Perez, one of the lab's leaders there took my project on, and agreed to help me grow the Photobacterium Kishitanni.

Also in the lab he is developping a genetically injected the human stomach's Bacteria with the Bioluminescent Jellyfishe's protein. He sent us a picture of the possible colour swatches this genetically manipulated bacteria would allow me, when glowing in the dark:

These are the luminescent colours that can be inserted in the Bacteria with genetic manioulationbased on proteins:

He also mentioned that he could possibly manipulate the colour of the bacteria before it was on the dark, since naturally that would be a yellow shade and I planned to have it kind of reddish, pretty blood coloured.

I then payed him a visit (with Anastasia) at CRAG, one day before the COVID19 lockdown started, and brought him our bacteria and the Marine Broth so he could innoculate it in a very controlled bio-lab environment, rather than us doing it at the Fab Lab's Biolab.

Now he had sent us a picture of the only petri dish he managed to take home with himself once the lockdown started:

I have heard no more news from him for over a month now, though...

Some cool pictures we were able to take at CRAG, just because they represent a lot of what the environment of my performance would ideally be based on (and made rather poetical in a studio, again ideally):

FILES

Photobacterium Kishitanni Data Marine Broth Medium 'Recipe' Artifical Seawater Medium 'Recipe' Safety instructions that came with the Bacteria Species Photobacterium Kishitanni Seawater Broth 'Recipe' Cultivation Conditions for CECT strains