Bio Ink: Co-creating with microorganisms

In a specially created room, Bio Ink research recently entered its second phase – at the studio of the Ars Electronica Futurelab. An experimental setup of chemical substances, test tubes and electronics serves the research team, consisting of Yoko Shimizu, Georgios Tsampounaris, Samuel Jakob Eckl, and Anastasia Bragina, as a factory of innovation. Once again, digital Wacom pens and tablets act as the starting point for the creation of Bio Ink artworks: living messages, created in a creative symbiosis between microorganisms and humans.

 

This time, however, the idea goes a decisive step further: the researchers can now actively interact with the microbial design process via the chemical reaction chamber and a digital touch display.

During the process of drawing, the system captures digital pen data, such as pen pressure, drawing speed and tilt, and converts them into biological parameters, such as temperature, humidity and biochemical reactions. A chemical reaction chamber then allows the researchers to automatically or manually interact with the living artworks as they grow.

 

Credit:

Ars Electronica Futurelab

Wacom

 

Photo: Birgit Cakir

 

 

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