Microuniverse Projection #1, 2016-2018
Microuniverse Projection #1 is part of the original Microuniverse series displayed in past exhibits such as To Scale at Eyebeam in New York. It consists of ‘bacteria slides’, which contain bacteria species grown on Petri dishes, dyed, dried, and mounted onto slide mounts. Slides are then projected in a carousel projector, which can be adjusted for projected size. Analog projection was chosen to make the connection between our rudimentary forms of biotechnology and past techniques for visual imagery. Each slide displayed can be thought of as its own little universe, and looking at an image, viewers can’t tell if it is something you would find at the bottom of the ocean, or a really faraway galaxy.
The Microuniverse series was inspired by the astoundingly diverse and numerous amount of bacteria in and on our bodies. One calculation I was the first to make was that there are more bacteria in our bodies than there are stars in our entire galaxy. This puts our identities as humans in perspective, not only as being part of the cosmos, but as complex heterogeneous organisms living symbiotically with bacteria and other microbes in our bodies. In turn, this observation has made me turn thoughts inward rather than look outward.
Microuniverse has been shown in several venues including Motorhouse, Baltimore, MD; Eyebeam, Brooklyn, NY; Da Vinci Creative, Seoul, Korea; Vittenparken, As, Norway; Waterfall Mansion & Gallery, New York, NY.
The series was profiled by The Creators Project, A Synthetic Biologist's Beautiful Palette of Bacteria Art, as well as by the TED Idea blog, The most beautiful bacteria you’ll ever see.