I, HOLOBIONT

I, H o l o b i o nt ...

Responsive Bacterial Capsules

Artist Intervention at Salon Zukunfstkultur 2023

ART FOR REGENERATION

conference by BMEIA Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at MuseumsQuartier Wien

Maaijke Middelbeek, Multispecies Entanglement, Interspecies communication, Symbiocene, Postanthropocene

Flyer and test-tube with the I, Holobiont responsive bacterial capsule

After the coffee break the audience found the card with the pill

on their chairs and a bottle of water under it.

The “I, Holobiont... Responsive Bacterial Capsule” is a living artwork — a red pill containing bacteria I first cultivated in my bioreactor in 2022. And it is an experiment of trust, as I invite the audience to swallow... my artwork, allowing the bacteria to guide them as they embark on an audio-guided journey through our microcosm. The one requirement to take the red pill and enter the bacterial wonderland is a willingness to let go of one's old, weary self. Because inside the pill there are two bacterial strains that are quite intense: the Bifidobacterium transformatis and Streptococcus dissolvens. These bacteria will reveal how deep the rabbit hole goes, cleansing our doors of perception. Afterwards, nothing will feel the same.

Above: part of the presentation during my artist intervention (with a turning red pill)

In my bioreactor that you see here on the stage with me (see photo below) I cultivated the bacteria for the pill. It is filled with symbiotic cultures of bacteria & yeast.

There are two types of bacteria in the pill that are, well, quite intense,

if you know what I mean...

They were both discovered last year.

Bifidobacterium transformatis & Streptococcus dissolvens

Click on the photos above if you want to zoom in

Maaijke Middelbeek, Multispecies entanglement, Symbiocene, Postanthropocene

Artist intervention at the Auslandskulturtagung - ART for REGENERATION - 2023.

Presenting the bioreactor in which I cultured the symbiotic bacteria that are part of the pill.

I will countdown from 5 to 1 and we will

swallow the pill altogether.

Ready?

Audience participating, with closed eyes during the collective audio guided trip through the microcosm, after swallowing the responsive bacterial capsule

The moment I ask the audience to get ready for the collective audio guided trip, when they take out the pill and open the water bottle.

Microcosm Audioguide : Soundcloud Link

Two poster texts above and below presentation of the work in:

Künstlerhaus, Vienna

Febr. 18th till May 21st, 2023

you can swallow the I, Holobiont... responsive bacterial pills

and go on an Audio-guided trip through (y)our microcosm

guided by

befriended invaders...

...

START A CHAT WITH YOUR MICROBIOME

Maaijke Middelbeek, Through ooze and slime, On the road again, Künstlerhaus Wien, interspecies communication, becoming with, symbiocene

Visitors swallowing the responsive bacterial capsules and scanning

the QR-code during the opening in Künstlerhaus Wien

Maaijke Middelbeek, Künstlerhaus, On the road again

Red Locker with cups with the responsive bacterial capsules

and on the left the QR-code (for the audio-tour below)

*Holobiont

is an assemblage of a host and the many other species living in and on it, which alltogether form a discrete ecological unit through symbiosis. The term “holobiont” was first introduced by biologist Lynn Margulis in her 1991 book: Symbiosis as a Source of Evolutionary Innovation.