METABOLICA. MOBY DICK (chapter 1)
exhibition view METABOLICA. MOBY DICK, Museion/NOI, Bolzano 2023
As in nature, the first chapter begins with photosynthesis, water and carbon dioxide. Unicellular green algae (Chlorella vulgaris) flow through a transparent tubing system, absorb light and reproduce. The sculpture HYDRA – a hybrid of whale, submarine and photobioreactor – filters plankton like a whale’s baleen and continuously pumps biomass into the sculpture FATTY FANTASY. There, through its own metabolic cycle and in the absence of nitrogen, the algae accumulate fatty acids within their cells. The sculpture MOBY DICK, a repurposed oil pump, no longer extracts fossil fuels, instead promoting the growth of renewable plankton and supporting the formation of fatty acids.
exhibition view METABOLICA. MOBY DICK, Museion/NOI, Bolzano 2023
As in nature, the first chapter begins with photosynthesis, water and carbon dioxide. Unicellular green algae (Chlorella vulgaris) flow through a transparent tubing system, absorb light and reproduce. The sculpture HYDRA – a hybrid of whale, submarine and photobioreactor – filters plankton like a whale’s baleen and continuously pumps biomass into the sculpture FATTY FANTASY. There, through its own metabolic cycle and in the absence of nitrogen, the algae accumulate fatty acids within their cells. The sculpture MOBY DICK, a repurposed oil pump, no longer extracts fossil fuels, instead promoting the growth of renewable plankton and supporting the formation of fatty acids.