Info
The Case of Dataworm
Sohyun Lee
An experiment that utilizes RNA data and hand-detective interaction to awaken inherited memories engraved in our bodies
Can we inherit memories? The Case of Dataworm explores the possible genetic memory through human RNA data. The hypothesis that RNA transmits ancestral memories to the next generation is being studied by Prof. Rechavi.
Based on this idea, Dataworm 3D models were converted from human RNA data with computer programming.
These digital Dataworms acquire physical properties through 3D printing and integration of LED components. The Dataworm’s light turns on and off by interacting with the visitor‘s hand gestures.
Our gestures trigger these genetic memories and wake them up. An experimental harmony between a 3D video and an interactive object lets viewers immerse themselves in their own inherited memories.
_ _ harvest
Amelie Vierbuchen
Cultivating fulgurites as petrifying chaos, blending scientific fact and fictional attribution, examining the domestication of disorder
Fulgurites are fossilized lightning bolts, minerals that form when lightning strikes a sand ground. Its compounds melt around the flash and solidify as its offprint.
When dug out from underground, the fulgurites fumbled early discoverers due to their organic shape. They misread them as “fruits from the subterranean fire” which have grown straight from hell.
The fulgurite fruit presents inverted growing mechanisms, being only an imprint and thus an indicator of its surroundings. It is this fruit that I attempted to cultivate inside a metal printer.
What does the harvest look like when such a plant does not grow in deserts but is produced in a sandbox? How to cultivate the fulgurite fruit and thus: how to domesticate a thunderstorm?
Ghostly Collector
Pai Litzenberger
A metaphysical creature that can travel through spheres by transforming
Ghostly Collector is a metaphysical creature – a being that can travel through spheres by transforming. This DNA origami has only one purpose. It randomly grabs other microorganisms and molecules.
I developed this origami during my residency at Fraunhofer ENAS in Chemnitz, where I learned about DNA folding.
During the laboratory work, we pipetted all components for the origami, and distilled water was one of the essential elements for a successful process.
We would freeze the water at -60°C to preserve the biological materials. For usage, all tubes had to be warmed up by hand to become liquid again. This transformation process is reflected in the ice object, melting from the heat of a human chest.
Models utilized for both 3D renders and printed objects were developed using DNA origami software.
Currently, I am working on a more complex virtual environment with origami and illustrative protein structure predictions by the AI system AlphaFold.
How to Negotiate with a Material
Eugénie Desmedt
Notions of control and representation concerning the scientific and economic use of mycelium
A research project questioning the concepts of control and representation surrounding the scientific and economic use of mycelium.
By creating models depicting mycelium growth and decay, and by actively participating in utilizing a living organism to produce a good, the project prompts critical reflection on our inclination toward controlling and exploiting other life forms.
The displayed artwork consists of a multimedia installation divided into three parts: a video showcasing a 3D-modeled and animated Reishi fungus undergoing various stages of decay, a dried Reishi fungus emerging from paper waste, and materials utilized in the cultivation process of the fungi.
Safeness
Erwin Jeneralczyk
Navigating the dialects of noise and signal, seeking aesthetics and drama within the algoritms of big data
The work explores rhythm in mathematical sequences through visual representations of prime number sequences created using a proprietary algorithm.
The algorithm’s premise was to uncover non-obvious dependencies within the first million prime numbers. The inspiration for the process stemmed from research in emergence theory and chaos theory. I was particularly interested in the emergence of ordered patterns from chaotic systems.
The work consists of several matrices, each of them features the presence of a different digit within the sequence of prime numbers. The matrices coupled with a sound and a light source create a sculptural object.
