Sonja Bäumel has been working together with scientists for four years now. She started out in the fashion industry. Her present endeavors are at the nexus of fashion, design, art and science. She specializes in skin bacteria. In conjunction with these activities, she recently spent five weeks at the Ars Electronica Futurelab and in the Ars Electronica Center’s BioLab working on the project that are featured in the Project Genesis exhibition entitled “Synthetic Biology: Life from the Lab.”
Sonja Bäumel, Expanded Self
“When I worked in fashion, I was always very interested in the surfaces around the body. In 2008 in Holland, I wrote my master’s thesis about whether it would be possible to use the bacteria that already exist on our skin to create an open, living system right on our body. That was the point of departure of my work. In Holland, I got acquainted with various scientists. That was a fascinating experience. One of the first I met was a researcher who had been working for over 30 years on combating bacteria and was quite surprised that I showed so much interest in his pursuits. He agreed to provide me with literature on this field. And that was the moment I realized: OK, this is the beginning of something.”
At the Biolab of the Ars Electronica Center
Sonja Bäumel proceeded to find more and more opportunities to work in labs, to observe the material she was interested in as it grew, and to do internships that enabled her to learn as much as she could about skin bacteria. During this time, she acquired knowledge and skills, and became proficient with the “tools of the trade.” But in doing so, she never ventured too far into the scientific direction; her perspective remained one of an artist.
Metabodies, her video installation that will be part of the Ars Electronica Center’s new exhibition, observes how bacteria that are found at various times on the skin develop progressively. To create it, she had two test subjects each leave hand prints in three specially prepared Petri dishes: once after athletic activity, once right after sex, and once fresh out of the shower. Over a period of 8 days, Sonja Bäumel photographed the impressions on an hourly basis to document the development process. Thus, visitors to “Project Genesis” will get interesting insights into the world of skin bacteria and how they adjust to diverse environments.
Everybody’s body is enwrapped by a membrane that protects it and facilitates the interaction with its environment. But what if you could influence this membrane, if you could fine-tune its functions in various environments? “How would our interaction change if I could adapt to local conditions? Would social integration occur if I could adapt externally? I’d also like to scrutinize the ‘second skin’ system—fashion, that is—and see what could be done with bacteria. Materials right on our skin could transmit information to external layers, which would enable them to adapt correspondingly to the environment.”
One of the test-objects, one can clearly see the outline of the hand created by the natural bacteria.
One of the key phenomena in “Metabodies” is quorum sensing. This refers to low-threshold communication among bacteria that enables them, by means of chemical reactions, to jointly regulate the number of bacteria in a particular environment and to adapt their “behavior” accordingly. For example, if enough bacteria are present on the surface of a squid, they can form proteins that enable the squid to illuminate its light organ and thus avoid detection by its natural predators.
“There might also be interesting uses of quorum sensing in everyday life—for instance, in fashion. With the right engineering and programming, bacteria could be integrated into an outfit to trigger color changes, adapt to various temperature zones, produce a certain fragrance or even prevent odors. Being able to build in features like these could fundamentally change the way we use clothing.”
And this is precisely the area in which Sonja Bäumel will focus her research in the coming years. The “Metabodies” project on display in Project Genesis can be regarded as an interim update.