Earthlink

Saša Spačal (SI)

POSTCITY

 “The relational capacity of the posthuman subject is not confined within our species, but it includes all non-anthropomorphic elements, beginning with the air we breathe.” –  Rosi Braidotti

Earthlink performs a planetary biogeochemical feedback loop catalyzed by microbial metabolism. Through the intimate process of breathing, humans are bound to the planet, immersed in an intra-flux of exchanges and negotiating relationships. However, what happens when the connections become technologically mediated? How will we breathe? Who or what will dispense the dose? What will the dose contain? Who will survive? How will we grieve?

The system of biotechnological installations aims to serve as an entrance point to the post-anthropocentric constellation of connections and environmental relations. Feedback looping,  connected with a network of tubes circulating air saturated with organic and inorganic compounds, entwines a series of biomes with microorganisms of various origins, a breathing station, a breath collector and a miniature ecosystem in constant negotiation traversing and affecting creatures from micro to macro scale.

On one side of the feedback loop, Inspiration, the breathing station dispenses air enriched with the soil bacteria Mycobacterium vaccae, which has been found by scientists to improve mood, reduce anxiety and increase mental capacity. However, the dose of the distributed air is not always guaranteed or evenly enriched by the respiratory masks.

The other side, Expiration, serves as a breath collector, where visitors can share their respiratory microbiomes on the collective externalized lungs. Microorganisms on the lungs are rinsed by an extract of graveyard cypress Cupressus sempervirens, and the collective microbiome dries out or evaporates on the heated soil. As the temperature rises, all we can offer is our breath for the disappearing habitats.

In the middle stands Symbiome, an ecosystem in a hydroponic chamber inhabited by two symbionts, red clover Trifolium pratense and soil bacteria rhizobia, which are silently processing gasses and negotiating the survival of numerous species in the loop, including us.

Project Credits:

  • Consultation, microbiology: Mirjan Švagelj, PhD
  • Glasswork: Pero Kolobarić, Zvonko Drobnič
  • Construction: Anil Podgornik, Scenart, Ambrož Modrijan
  • Production: Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana, Match Gallery, Projekt Atol Institute
  • Special thanks: Jani Pirnat, Uroš Veber, Jurij Krpan
  • Supported by the City of Ljubljana and Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.

Website:

Biography:

Saša Spačal (SI) is an artist working at the intersection of living systems research, contemporary and sound art. Her artistic research, exhibited, performed and awarded worldwide, focuses on the development of technological interfaces and relations with organic and mineral soil agents while trying to address the posthuman situation, that involves mechanical, digital and organic logic within contemporary biopolitics and necropolitics.
http://www.agapea.si