The premise of the performance can be found in allowing microbes to “create” their own music and images. We film their activity, measure how they move and turn it into control signals that influence sound and moving images. For this purpose, we have devised specially designed software that measures the microbes’ activity. This approach however, gives us no indication what to present the work aesthetically. We therefore start from the idea that we are presenting a kind of landscape painting.

This might seem strange at first glance. But in order to make a landscape painting, the artist has to listen to and watch the vegetation, soil, mountains, water and sky and let them express themselves. What we do is the same. We let nature express itself. The only difference is that we do so on a far smaller scale and we use a different technique than the painter.

To achieve this goal, the images will be divided into three parts.

1. Traditional Chinese landscape paintings.
2. Contemporary videos displaying nature
3. Real time and recorded images of microbes under microscope.

The sonic landscape in the performance is taken from naturally occurring sounds: recordings of microbes and the gut. They will in turn be manipulated by the microbes in real time.

During the performance, Per Huttner is responsible for the sound and image and Robert Oostenveld focuses on the microbes, microscope and technology.

Microbes’ Agency was specially developed for:

Sonifications: a one-day festival on Microbes in Art and Science, J une 18, 2024 – ASIL Labs, Krook, Ghent —