Heliotropika is a hybrid installation focusing on the interactions between microorganisms, humans and light energy. The project creates an interface between the visitors and cyanobacteria by integrating the photosynthetic activity of these cells, the dynamics of environmental light and the bioelectrical activity of the participants.
Using cell culture and computer vision, this work renders the photosynthetic activity of cyanobacteria in the form of an organic structure. It also produces dynamic geometries of solar energy by analyzing environmental data. Simultaneously, this work transforms the activity of the nervous system of each participant into“light”to stimulate the cells.
As a result, the visitors and cyanobacteria influence each other giving subsistence to a dynamic feedback system. This assembly, thus, questions the possibility of an interkingdom interaction system that could provide insight into the patterns orchestrating the coexistence of organic life. (Juan M. CASTRO)