METABOLICA leads us into the factory of life and tells a molecular story of metabolic cycles across five chapters – from the Industrial Revolution to the present and future, from whaling and the petromodern age to current and emerging scenarios of the bioeconomy. Algae and bacteria become artistic collaborators, forming a new visual and aesthetic practice through microbiological processes. This practice expands images, forms and symbols through what are termed metabols: while symbols signify and represent, metabols act and perform real processes.
Bacteria become sculptural agents, metabolising algae-enriched fatty acids into the bioplastic PHB (polyhydroxybutyrate). Where in the Renaissance sculptural material once came from quarries like Carrara, with the chisel as tool, in METABOLICA it is bacteria that act simultaneously as “quarry” and “chisel”. They produce a new material for sculpture, only to digest it again, alter its form and return it to the metabolic cycle.
METABOLICA was conceived in 2017 and, since 2020, has been supported by a team of scientists and engineers. The aim of the research is to harness carbon sources from wastewater streams in industrial and sewage treatment plants to produce PHB. PHB replaces petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene (PP), is fully biodegradable under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions in soil and water and stands as a model for a bioeconomic turn.
Bacteria become sculptural agents, metabolising algae-enriched fatty acids into the bioplastic PHB (polyhydroxybutyrate). Where in the Renaissance sculptural material once came from quarries like Carrara, with the chisel as tool, in METABOLICA it is bacteria that act simultaneously as “quarry” and “chisel”. They produce a new material for sculpture, only to digest it again, alter its form and return it to the metabolic cycle.
METABOLICA was conceived in 2017 and, since 2020, has been supported by a team of scientists and engineers. The aim of the research is to harness carbon sources from wastewater streams in industrial and sewage treatment plants to produce PHB. PHB replaces petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene (PP), is fully biodegradable under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions in soil and water and stands as a model for a bioeconomic turn.