Nanotopia & the Mycelium Network • translating biodata from non-human organisms into music.

Recording live through-out the afternoon to broadcast that night on our Midnight Mushroom Music Podcast! Tune-in! Come visit us and experience interspecies communication!

Saturday, May 12th 2018 11am to 4pm only! 100 St. George Street, UofT- Room 1070 in the Sidney Smith Hall

BIO-SONIFICATIONS: NON-HUMAN COLLABORATIONS

 

Mycelial Music: Midi Bio-sonification experiments.

Super excited to share the following.

Yesterday I was finally and at last able to solder the battery pack to my JST connector.

Very carefully, very gently I placed bio medical pads onto the Mycelium. I’ve been caring and growing this Mycelium for several weeks now, see here for details on that. The Mycelium has grown off the flax substrate, creating long, rubbery mushroom-like, fleshy arms. They are soft.

Mycelium midi bio sonification.
First experiments placing electrodes onto mycelium, which send impulses that are converted to Midi. This Midi data is then plugged into AniMoog. Mycelium Music.

The Mycelium likes it dark. I recorded affects by shining a UV light into the Mycelium (it DID NOT like this light), and LED light. Later I found the Mycelium grew increasingly active in the dark and more glitchy in the light.

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Waking up early this morning, Sunday April 8, I wondered what sounds might my Turnip plant might make…? I purchased these beautiful, organic turnips last week that starts sprouting leaves. I carefully removed the leaves by cutting off the top, just below them and placed this into a small jar of water. I wasn’t sure if they would thrive and grow, or die off. They live! A couple days later I added a Spider plant leaf with root attachment, into the Turnip jar.

Please take a peek and a listen. Like and subscribe to my Youtube channel- all of this helps towards further experimentation!

xo

Thanks so much 🙂

10% Human

 In May 2018 I will be installing work for the Science Rendezvous, Toronto!
An iteration of Wonderlandish.
This version of Wonderlandish will be comprised of glass sculptures depicting Human interactions with various flora and fauna microbiota. Entering into Wonderlandish visitors will see artistic renderings of scientific data depicting life-size versions of the organisms mentioned above. A live, VR component will allow visitors to interact with microbiota on display.
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Spirillum Bacteria Cells of a marine spirillum bacteria stained with Cyber Green and viewed at 1,000x magnification under a light microscope. Courtesy of http://www.biology101.org

Users are depicted as their microbial self

Users interact with other microbial organisms; plant, animal, air pollution, etc.

We are literally writhing with microbes. The air is full of microbes- good and bad.

The concept is to bring the invisible into view. What we mediate or cannot see and what we cannot hear.

I imagine the experience as very organic.   All of it makes me consider how connected we are with our environment yet, how human beings* seemingly strive to distance themselves from this reality. So much so that we are now in peril of destroying the shared environment.

I conjecture that since we are apparently *only 10% human (what does that even mean?) That we are transferring and transforming microbial clouds. Perhaps held together by frequencies on a sub atomic level, in order to experience this existence (life) the Human aspect has chosen to mediate these layers of reality…?

“Image courtesy of the Lewis Lab at Northeastern University. Image created by Anthony D’Onofrio, William H. Fowle, Eric J. Stewart and Kim Lewis.”

I am working with artist/musician, Andrei Gravelle. Senior technical manager of Tiff Bell Lightbox.

Game developer, Chris Tihor of Ironic Iconic Studios 

and various scientists towards visual representations of various microbiota.

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A natural community of bacteria growing on a single grain of sand. The sand was collected from intertidal sediment on a beach near Boston, MA in September 2008 and imaged using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).  “Image courtesy of the Lewis Lab at Northeastern University. Image created by Anthony D’Onofrio, William H. Fowle, Eric J. Stewart & Kim Lewis.”

 

 

The Journey Begins

Towards a new, simplified web plan.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

postMoving forward my personal, artist site will reside within WP. I find it easier to update, keep on top of, and fine tune!

At some point I may even attempt to integrate the nanopod.me blog within these pages, but for now- I will keep the ‘News’ section just that, News concerning upcoming travels, residencies, classes (that I attend, not teach!), exhibits and what not.

 

Ok, that’s it for now. 🙂