What is the slime mold physarum polycefallum ?

 
Responds to chemicals in the environment (chemotaxis) - picking up signals from concentration of chemicals in environment

looks like "a slimy stomach crawling around on the ground"

cytoplasmic streaming - means of growing new branches, moving/moving information across the cell > this gives impression of pulsing

How can I create something that is visually exciting?
As opposed to rather unspectacular looking 'just yellow on oats' - how can I create exciting visual combinations and highlight the slime moulds texture?
E.g. work with a 'invisible' solution of nutrients?

What kind of organism will it eat/absorb?
They fead on fungi so perhaps there is possibility to connect both?

*This image looks almost like bruised skin > could I colour the mould e.g. with red beet to make it look more like veins/ more bodily?
Play with colour combinations?

Draw visual comparison to: fern, coral, moss, veins, lightning

Computation - Intelligence aspects

Question of forms of intelligence on earth
track oscillation
track movement /branches

Create a terrain for PP to spread on

QUESTIONS:

How does the slime mould interact with life/ living/growing substances and how with death/dead matter?
What is death to PP? What is death to us? ( we see how it consumes something we have perceived as dead, while it digests the 'living' microorganisms on the 'dead' matter)

Does it spare 'the living' or try to consume those as well?

How does the slime mould react to chemicals/prescription drugs?( antibiotics or other)

Create a terrain for the slime mould and option to track it's movements ; option for scientific hypothesis or question?
The beige and orange-y colored wax could be e.g. the slime mould

* To do: watch the full film 'The creeping Garden'

Working with arranging materials and thinking about colour - shape - composition.
Organic (decomposable) vs. hard materials

3D printing or creating a cast of something ... what kind of ground/substrat does is thrive on and how can I control movement through that?

Working with a sculptural still-life composition

structure - texture - porös rock or clear Quatz crystal with a path through it and food source at either end
Cut lines into rock that the mould could grow along if a clear nutrient solution is dropped in it

Create cut-out outlines for it to exist inside of.

I find the visual parallels drawn between human's eating collectively and the slime mould nutrients interesting .. now reminds me of internet trend of people being watched eating ..
Use the 'eating' process as a focus e.g. how the slime mould might turn a cereal box into a sculpture in its quest for nutrients.

External memory used by the group through chemical trails in form of a 'repulsive' slime trail which it does not trespass again. This trail functions as an external memory.

Presented as 'The Blob' link to Trashy B-Movie 'The Blob' - connecting biology /science and Pop-culture

Is intelligence the ability to problem solve?
The slime mould questions our understanding of 'intelligence' and whether we need to redefine it.
Intelligence, here, only meaning the ability to keep oneself alive.

Evidence for 'Habituierung bei einem Einzeller' > can learn e.g. get accustom to salt and communicate e.g. pass on this learned knowledge:
memory circulating in vein-net

They 'inject' the memory of salt with a syringe- possibility to instead inject natural dye?

Memory also related to origin and what the specimen has grown accustom to.

Protoplasm flows through the organism (can be compared to our blood flow) - shuttle-streaming, oscillates the membrane - spreads nutrients and information across the 'body'

Set-up ideas

Observing an organism in a closed space.
Option to capture this with a camera - close-up - microscopic and project as part of installation.( *see Wang Shui)

Could the nutrients be a type of 'liquid - mist' that settles across the environment?

In the Wang Shui piece I like that it creates a voyeuristic playing field with harsh spotlights and multiple camera recording angles - almost like a dystopian colosseum for small organisms.

This channel includes good biological outline characterisation of Physarum

Growing geometries Installation view - source: http://www.artlaboratory-berlin.org/html/eng-exh-37.htm

Wang Shui at Julia Stoscheck Collection, Berlin

Possibility to add nutrients in the 'soup' - especially for aesthetic reasons -
Do research > look into scientific papers > what the physarum needs and create own 'soup'
Find different ingredients for the soup > agar + oats is easiest

To just grow and create MASS and make it strong add oats (easiest)
When adding the oats use STERIL tools - Pinzette or Spoon
Best: Kölln Kernige VOLLKORN (not ZART Haferflocken)
USE GMU: Wiki as the summarised Diary

Agartine aka. Jellotin - buy at supermarket
Digital microscope on cellphone (normal microscope is 1000x)
Agar medium for cooking > surface for the slime mould to grow on > there are different possibilities to cook the medium with various ingredients:
0,8 - 1 g Agar + 50ml water : add together and cook (this mixture might have been a bit too much water) 
This mixture should be enough for 5 petri dishes >> 2mm in each petri dish
STERLIZE all your equipment (also petri dishes if re-used) and space with Spiritus - 70% alcohol - buy at drugstore (100ml + 30 ml alc to sterilize)

IF a mushroom taints the slime mould you need to remove it and re-place it in another petri dish >> this is called INOCULATE a new
It requires care to stay clean < large part of this will be simply to take care of it

Physarum avoids light
If you disconnect the physarum it will reconnect but different types (slightly different gnome) will not connect into one, one might be stronger than the other.
> if we are interested in different slime moulds we could get them e.g. 'Victor Aestheium'
> could imagine setting where different organisms meet > could be even broader
> Idea of 'Battle of life' physarum vs....


FOODSCOURCE: water: moisture + bacteria and microorganism
The physarum creates spores when it doesn't have enough food sources > reproducing new organism until it finds the right condition again
The 'sclerotinm' is the sleeping, dry, hypernating status of the physarum which it can be revived from
The plasmodium is living, hunting for food
> Idea to track the movement and record the oscillations like waves > how could this be meaningful?

It can grow on almost any surface - it crawls out of the petri dish
Definitely also grows on dead wood and other organic medium > project of 'letting it back into the woods'


Idea to connect crystals + branches - lay them out in a body like exhibition in Moscow and let the Physarum create the veins in between

Project can be more in the realm of speculative design than scientific work /experiment: opportunity to deal with the organism and the scientific component

Have experiments been made to alter the Physarum itself ?
From my observations the Physarum doesn't seem to care about the food ? Much food or little?

Syllabus
07.05.2020 - QA / testing BBB platform
14.05.2020 - /Introduction to the framework, tools, and organisms, checking related projects, dividing into the groups
21.05.2020 - no class (holiday).
28.05.2020 - checking video materials, cooking medium for the organisms
04.06.2020 - inspecting organisms, maze experiment (physarum) / clock experiment (euglena)
11.06.2020 - Timelapse (physarum) / clock experiment (euglena)
18.06.2020 - Timelapse (physarum) / clock experiment (euglena)
25.06 - presentation of individual ideas (midterm presentation)
02.07 - individual work
09.07 - individual work
16.07 - individual work
23.07 - project presentation and wrap up

> The outcome of the course is an interactive setting between humans and organisms.

"While there is life there will be interaction and within it there will be communication and language."
>> Physarum creating a "Survival/Language"
> "conceive the essence of improvisation for survival"

millions of nuclei organism, all sharing a cell wall, all operating as a single entity

oscillations: "The particularly way that Physarum grows also respond to a repetitive call-response pattern. They go two steeps forward and one backwards, then two forwards and one backwards and so on... They talk to each order und response, then grow..."

Habitat:
lives in dark and humid places and outdoors feeds on bacteria and fungi

Something I also observed in videos: "With or without Food source, Physarum expands, recognise and search in the same way."

Means for me I have not not only create an installation on which the Physarum roams free but an interaction, a way of supplying an influence to the organism and way of capturing (Feedback loop)

Notes:

Notes on Euglena:

How much food is good?
when to feed?
one petri dish where it always has fresh and one where I wait a bit?


When inoculating I gave all but one a lot of oat.
The one with less oats seemed to spread more clearly across the small petri-dish.
I now decided to give 3 of the little ones a 2-3 little oats and leave the one that has had the least from the beginning to see how it reacts. I'm also not giving the two medium dishes oats today because they seem like they've had enough and I'm curious to see if they will try to escape their dishes.
I figure if i just dump oats on them constantly I won't see any differences and also won't see the slime itself because it's mushed with the rest of the oats.

I like how there are different layers and it looks like something has tainted parts of it. Maybe it's possible to create stacks of different Agar with different nutrients in it and let the Physarum choose?

> Get info from the French scientist in arte documentary
> mix different soups

'soup' sculptures

This links to the question: Can I make the organism move as I want? Like a dog and pony show, possibly moving over obstacles.

Is the movement of Physarum arbitrary or can it be controlled and guided? 

Website/project that uses blob more as an abstract inspiration - micro-recordings and visual analogy. http://nonknowledge.org/ei

Think about also, trained Physarum and not trained Physarum

Some of the several approaches to Bioart:
(1) choose an organism, observe, let it teach you and inspire some conceptual artistic focus (feels more biological)

(2) Have a idea e.g. installation in mind and choose an organism according to your intentions

(3) Speculative design experiments that propose a critical/speculative idea

(4) interaction with audience /workshop format

I do find it important to collaborate with the organism and let it inform what I do with it.

Documentation feels like a important aspect!

My artistic interest is immediately focused on the visual aspects of the organism.
How can they be implemented?
How can I control them?

Notes on video:

Initial thoughts:

Concluding thoughts:

The look of PP quickly reminds me of the mutated - sculpture in the movie 'Annihilation'(2018) , which looks more mineral but has the same vein like structure. It is interesting because although it is a 'still' it communicates the idea of movement and time that it took to progress to what is visible. I conclude that certain structures and shapes can seemingly communicate movement and time because their shape implies the process that took place to produce them.

Forming a new habitat

Edit: Note: Reflecting on this first thought process I find it funny I instead of first looking to the natural habitat auf Physarum I immediately considered how I would present the organism. Perhaps, this comes from just seeing it in BioLab petri-dishes, already so removed from it's natural state I had no hesitation to imagine how I could make it do what I want with no consideration of the organism or it's origins.

Edit: Note: Reflecting back on this first step towards the organism I believe it is part of my artistic approach to be drawn to a 'grand-vision' in order to motivate my creative practice. To draw inspiration from existing works (here especially focused on installations) as a means of orientation and finding an entry point to the topic.

Damian Hirst

Basic desk research

Trying to understand Physarum Polycephalum

Notes from our first online session:

Interesting project with Physarum or other Bioart:

See other student's work
> Heather Barnett TED talk
> slime mould collective
> the Blob doc on arte

Biggest physarum: couple of square meters on a table - it's a matter of food source

Physarum is a 'in-between organism' hard to classify with features from other organisms.
Has many nucleaus who can join together - social organism - 'socialising platform' multiplying their nucleaus < conceptual aspect to potentially think about



> flows to light ; photosynthesis> colour changes in correspondance to light It exists in a dynamic Biotop > Eugena splits in the night > we'd be looking at the sum because the individual organism is too small to observe properly

Work with distilled water + chemicals + vitamins - needs to be exact and controlled environment
work/play with the physical elements: electricity - light - physical parameters
> it forms patterns

Notes from our second online session:

Questions/themes that arise:

How does our human ontological understanding shape our perception of other species? Concerning for instance concepts like Intelligence, memory, social behaviour, communication ? 

How do we understand, define and prescribe intelligence, memory ?

How long would PP stay in one life cycle without my human influence?

Does it get accustomed to/trained to depend on my human influence /feeding it or could it easily go back to fending for itself?

How does it perceive space? surfaces? dimensions? Does it?

What is in the realm of perception for PP? What other senses might it have that have no human equivalent?

Can it sense food source from a distance?

Can it sense it's species without being physically connected?

Is some 'memory' information stored about where it has been ? i.e. does Physarum react differently when put together with a new piece of the same slime mold type or when put back together with a recently separated piece?

My artistic approach:

My approach will draw from scientific methods in the sense of how the habitat is created (i.e. making agar/soup) and the exactness of documentation which serves the purpose of making information accessible and the parameters repeatable/ reproduce-able. However, my interest is artistic or of a speculative nature as I can not contribute to the scientific/biological insights by way of my interaction with PP.

This coming week we are doing a real-life meeting
and we'll talk about our project ideas - having this figured out should flow into my kreativfonds Antrag no?

How (long) can you live without me?

Mind map: Interests in the Organism Physarum polycephalum

Agar as artistic medium

Agar with 'invisible' food supplies - aesthetic reasons

Agar with 'invisible' food supplies - being able to stop feeding it/ retreating the human dependancy - this would involve a training period

More than just creating a Agar with nutrients I would have to habituate the organism over a process to give it less and less ...

Perceiving terrain

curious for new terrains

connects to PP always 'looking' for the best habitat / place

sensing without eyes

how would a landscape be sensed over a whole body?

artificially kept in a perpetual state of living

Human - Organism relationship: keeping it in a specific shape

shows our expectations of organism - productivity - functioning - confirming to our systems

questioning ontology and how people try to understand the organism through our human centred thinking and terminology

the surface as a design terrain/ space 'sensed' by the organism

Critical of terms like 'intelligence' , 'memory' , 'social behaviour'

analysis of natural habitat : surface, texture, light, moisture , time of year

the natural life cycle of the organism

somehow ironic question because it is such a perfectly established organism that is more ancient than the human species

investigating the habitat

* I'm also interested in extending my view beyond only physarum but to other slime molds and maybe fungi

to see, feelingly

distance - space

traveling a distance - given space

different structures - how might space (surface spaciousness) effect the structures of the organism ?

How (long )can you live without me ?

I woke up this morning and realised that I already knew what I want to focus on but it was so much in front of me that I couldn't see it clearly:

I'm interested in the STRUCTURES of PP - understanding why it does what when and controlling how it looks.
* seeing the structures also connects to having an Agar with the nutrients in it so the structure is not obfuscated by oats.
* I'd also like to get my hands on a second slime mold for my sculpture.

I also want to observe it in it's (more) natural habitat ( more space to spread out and move) - I want to see how it makes a journey, not just growing from one spot but going to another (this also connects to the 'my better half' idea of letting to split parts of PP find each other again)

Connected to the idea of the natural habitat is the idea of leaving retreating the human-influence / leaving it to it's self & freeing it from it's artificially induced 'perpetual state of living'.
* also connects to having Agar with nutrients so that I don't have to feed it but might also include a habituation period.
* mixing an Agar should ideally also connect to understanding the mix that surrounds it in nature.

I'm also interested in trying to understand how it perceives - the idea of sensing the surface and being guided by chemical compounds that change the surface and give feedback to whether it's been somewhere before.

'wrong' ontology

Originally I favoured wanting to build a box to my exact measurements out of plexi - however, plexi is of course very expensive, it would have been a big time investment and I don't have access to the 'Werkstätten', even if I did I wouldn't be allowed to use them without a 'Einführung' and even if I didn't need that I would know how to use the machines by myself - hence, alternative:

Originally I didn't want to buy a terrarium because I find the measurements (usually something like 60x30x30)very awkward. But I found this basin for rodent cages that has measurements of 67x36,5x20 - I like that they are all different lengths and especially/most importantly that the height is lower than the width, giving it more of a 'frame' feeling than a box.

Additionally I purchased an Acrylic glass plate 70x40 - leaving roughly 3cm on each side, visually maybe not absolutely ideal but better for handling and lifting the lid of the box. Once the items arrive I can view PP in a bigger space and also test my objects.

The process of growing and REJECTING ONES OWN BODY

I plan for my interaction with Physarum polychefalum to manifest in a sculpture that connects the organism's natural habitat (a place it exist freely) with the life lead in sterilised human captivity (alien environment). This sculpture will be based on a formstudie between trees (PP natural habitat) and the human body.

To this end I will try to implement a nutrient Agar that provides a feeding base more align with the natural habitat and would allow me to retreat my human care in the form 'feeding it' (also allowing the natural structure to be unobstructed and visible). Paradoxically, I will try to harness some control over it's visual appearance/structures to ensure a desired visual outcome as part of the sculptural installation to be observed by an audience.



What continues to intrigue me about Physarum is it's changing structure as it is artificially kept in a 'perpetual state of living'. I am primarily interested in the things I can observe myself. As a form of interaction with the unicellular organism I want to harness some control over shaping what these structures look like by analysing my method of inoculation and recreating the same conditions several times. This will investigate the question whether my human influence can manifest on a repeatable visual level or whether - as I suspect - much of how the organism takes shape is related to conditions like air quality, humidity, temperature which will vary in degrees I cannot control in my 'home studio'.

I have instead witnessed - presumably due to my inoculating of PP which is already climbing out of the petri-dish - what I would describe as the 'rejection of ones own body'. It seems that the plasmodium reaches a point after which certain parts of the body are too old to fully re-incorporate and are rejected as a blob like mass on which fresh Physarum grows. The blob instead can take on a dark/brown/black colouration. This is something I have read nothing about but seems the most striking feature in my interaction with PP.

At the same time I am aware that the conditions created for the plasmodial organism - and with them all observations I can make - are to a significant extent unnatural. Although it has lived with me for some time now, I know nothing of it's natural life cycle, I haven't e.g. seen any spores as it shifts between different hues of yellow, orange and brown/grey/green. And if it weren't for the Internet I wouldn't know that PP can move away from it's centre of origin. Hence, I am giving the organism a larger space (67x36,5x20), which will hopefully allow me to create a spacial environment that more closely resembles it's natural habitat. In it, I plan to track it's movement patterns.

I am also interested in the idea of retreating my human influence, which is most notably characterised in my 'feeding it' every day. The organism is unique in it's characteristic to wander in search of optimal conditions for it's survival. In it's natural habitat the organism roams free and feeds on bacteria, fungal spores, and other decaying organic material all drawn from the surface it covers with it's plasmodial body. I want to implement an Agar that more closely resembles these natural conditions by providing not only moisture but a 'feeding mix' for the organism to sustain itself and move on when the surface is no longer suitable for survival.



So far I have been waiting for the moment where I feel 'on top of everything', this moment eludes me still but it is time to take stock and reflect on my conduct so far. I have been documenting in the form of photographs a lot, simply because the organism is constantly evolving so that if not captured the moment will have passed.(As initially everything was new I was taking photographs of all dishes. I have since gone over to only documenting special structures, or bacterial infections or other unusual features.) I am also writing down short notes of thoughts that struck me, my immediate observations, without analysing those thoughts further yet. My broader conceptual thoughts have been on a basic level, connecting different impressions in order to form my own perspective towards the organism.

At the same time my point of view was never entirely free as I entered this project with (1) already an interest for (especially) the dynamic, mind-of-it's-own quality of a growing organism (also relates to Fungi) - meaning a special interest in structural/visual appearance and time/movement/growth and (2) the ambition to create a 'sculptural moment' i.e. a special interest in forms for the organism to grow on.

I am starting to realise that this might result in the approach that I want to create first a setting/environment/habitat( i.e. sculpture) and then let the organism live, grow, decay on it's own accord. So, creating an interactive setting and then re-treating the human influence. This would include a process of first understanding both the organism's natural (the woods) and man-made (the petri dish) habitat to then create a hospitable setting which will allow the organism to thrive and live autonomously (as it should/could).

What is slowly becoming more and more clear is that I am interested in what I see, in the immediacy of the time I spent with the organism and the things I can observe with my own eyes. Although Physarum polycephalum is especially interesting for it's complex survival features, which have made it not only unique as a unicellular species but also one of the oldest species on earth, I don't want to develop my project based on the established scientific facts I can google about it. As I come from a background in branding were concepts emerged often on abstract conceptual implications and connections found out by reading about something, this time I want to base my work on what I, myself experience, observe, think through my interaction with the life form. (I want it to be what it is - I want to abstain from conceptualising on some invisible meta level.)

Idea

Thoughts and planned conduct

Implement feeding Agar

Recreate structures

All these planned tasks should play into my sculpture

Reflections and thoughts weeks 1 - 4

Does altitude have any influence on growth?

Also documentation can be an artwork ...if it finds the right form

Re-reading my text now I realise it's very unclear and doesn't give a clear picture of what I want to do at all:

I plan for my interaction with Physarum polychefalum to manifest in a sculptural habitat that connects the organism's natural habitat - the woods - with the life it has been habituated to lead in sterilised, monitored and controlled human captivity. To this end, I am visually comparing the structure of tree trunks and/or branches to the human body in a 'shape/form-studie'. The sculpture should invoke a corporeal impression: In this context the human body will represent an analogy for the human-centred ontological terminology commonly used in both the media and scientific representation and study around the unicellular organism. Terminology like 'intelligence', 'memory', 'social behaviour', which we are quickly invited to use in our understanding of this other life form. I want to question such human-centred categorisation and how this (subconsciously) shapes our encounters with such species.

To develop this sculpture I will follow two guiding questions:

How can I shape the parameters and variables of the habitat to realise my vision, while tending to the 'needs' of a living organism? (Needs: moisture - Agar; micro-organisms - Oatflakes) (Parameters: SPACE; Light, temperature, humidity, aerosole, bacteria, altitude, etc.; CARE)
I.e. Which parameters need to be closer to a lab context vs. which should more closely resemble the natural environment, while maintaining the vital appearance?

How does my human influence manifest on a controlled, repeatable visual level? i.e. can I control the look (structure, color, movement)?





When looking at the tree-habitat of PP the three main variables: moisture, 'food' and space appear invisible to our view. In the petri-dish, these variables are the most visible and limiting. So much so that they obstruct the visibility of the natural structure, colour and movement of the organism. I want to close the distance between these different conditions and open up a third environment: My sculpture will represent a meeting point between the natural and 'human-controlled' habitat. As such I will habituate PP from the Lab-context back towards more natural conditions in a process of adapting the 'living conditions/variables' between the varying degrees of synthetic to natural.

The parameters to be defined and controlled:

(1) Moisture - Agar
The Biolab standard is a 100ml distilled water x 2g Agar solution.
The natural condition is moist tree trunks and soil (moisture naked to the human eye).

Approach (1) Provide moisture by simulating rain and spraying the organism with (distilled) water.
Approach (2) Create Agar/moisture 'pods' to show PP (at least partially) unobstructed. Akin to the idea of a watering hole in the desert: PP could draw its moisture from one spot from which it would branch out further possibly connecting these different 'moisture pods'.

(2) 'Food' - microorganisms, bacteria, fungi, yeast - oatflakes
The Biolab standard are oatflakes, from which the slime mold 'eats' only the bacteria on the flakes.
The natural condition are bacteria, yeasts, and fungi found on deciduous tree logs/wood drawn from the ground surface.

Approach (1) Investigate the question: How long can you live without me? by retreating the human influence and no longer 'feeding' it. Simultaneously, accepting that by releasing this control over the life cycle the slime mold might develop to spores or dry out, hence the artist looses control over the appearance.
Approach (2) Subsidies the oatflakes to something actually found in nature and supply this 'food' over the ground surface i.e. Agar base. I.e. develop an Agar mix that is both providing the essential 'food' source while not obstructing the visual appearance.

It is important to note that all decisions on technical parameter are made primarily on a visual aesthetics basis. This means that my aim is to create the most unobstructed presentation of the slime mold as possible within my sculptural vision.

(3) Space + Surface

When looking at the tree-habitat the first thing that strikes me is the surface. The surface is an obstacle course over which the organism sustains its life. This vital parameter is all but omitted in the lab context, where is sterilised, small and made conform for scientific observation. This parameter - Space + Surface - is the core of my work.

Approach (1) Source/collect tree trunks that have a visual semblance to the human body. Develop this found artefact further into a sculptural object through casting techniques (possibly with wax). In a second step: test PP's survival capacities on sculptural surface.

In parallel: Approach (1.1) Condition PP to live in a larger space (67x37x25 glass box), lifting the restrictive spatial boundaries and allowing for more natural movement patterns to emerge.

The space also includes the other invisible parameters: temperature, humidity, light (which are within the scope of being measured by me)

Approach (+1) measure, document, develop towards outdoor condition.


(4) Additional parameter through human interaction: Care

The method of inoculation can influence the appearance of Physarum polychefalum:
Approach (1) Inoculate 'fresh' PP with a chunk of the oat flakes.
Approach (2) Inoculate 'fresh' PP by scraping from the top of Physarum growing on oats.
Approach (3) Inoculate 'medium fresh' PP by scraping the veins that are reaching towards the outer walls of the petri dish
Approach (4) Inoculate 'old' PP by using the orange-y parts that have grown out of the dish.

Via recreating the same conditions several times and continued observation of these different methods of inoculation my understanding and control over the possibly visual structures and colourations of the organism grows.

This investigates the question to which degree my human influence can manifest on a repeatable visual level within the petri-dish environment. In a second step the control over the appearance will need to be transplanted to the sculpture.

Confirm Movement

Idea

Technical description

Which PP structures do I to showcase:

(1) Reaching, growing network
(2) leaving traces - possibly already dried trace
(3) 'Blob' mass

Is it enough to end the course with my set of set-ups creating a guide towards my sculpture and the technical parameters of working with a living organism:

"DIY guide to creating sculpture with a living organism:
Physarum polychefalum"

'towards the natural condition'

MOISTURE
Approach (1) 'nature approach'
Place Physarum in a petri dish WITHOUT the agar base.
(1) only in petri dish
(2) Since I am considering to make my sculpture out of wax I can place/test it directly on a wax base.

*In nature the base retains the water! - Ton

Approach (2)
Buy an ice tray to create Agar cubes in, which can be a 'moisture pod' for Physarum. Place Agar cube at center of petri-dish.

Edit: Added: Approach (3) 'Lab approach'
A full Agar base.

Tested:
Decision: Not suitable for my purposes for multiple reasons:
First, to cover the entire sculpture in Agar would be adapting the 'Lab approach' very directly i.e. too removed from natural habitat.

Second, this large surface of Agar is unsuitable due to scale i.e. the more untouched 'available' Agar there is the more bacteria can develop and does, quickly!

Third, to cover the sculpture entirely in Agar would dominate the visual appearance and obstruct the desired 'bodily impression'.

Fourth, transport and installation of the sculpture would be highly difficult and the appearance might change in unexpected ways. For instance, (if presented in woods) leaves, dirt etc. could quickly stick to the sculpture and ruin the desired 'bodily impression'.

This week:
Define experiment
create petri-dishes for each experimental setting

Concrete:

FOOD

Approach (1)
Track how Physarum develops after no longer feeding it.
Once, after it was fead for a period of time.
Once, not feeding it from moment of inoculation.

Approach (2)
Could an invisible transfer of microorganisms and bacteria take place from decomposing wood to a sculptural object?
E.g. if the sculptural object is put in exactly the dark, shaded, moist areal of the habitat - could it take on some of the invisible traits of the habitat?
*this connects to Ursula Damm's suggestion for me to go into the woods and spend time there; more habitat related field research approach I'm very much drawn to!(Away from pure conceptual, away from the screen)  

Approach (3) YEAST!
Rub it in yeast/ hefe - bacteria from yeast ???



Buy measuring device

3 different lighting conditions
room light
shaded spot (limited indirect light)
total darkness

Feedback:
Miga found most striking the question of 'how long is it possible to keep physarum in plasmodial stage' - in a way this question would need to be specified; generally keeping the PP alive in plasmodial stage would be possible over many months as I re-inoculate. Without reinoculating it can also be possible over many weeks.


The conceptual part related to The organism itself is not fully clear - it's approaching but I still need to figure out EXACTLY what it is that interests me (outside of the sculptural vision) ...
Here I can still be open to what it is and clean up my conceptual focal point:
E.g. It might be about the human - PP relation in regards to:
IMMORTALITY // 'The perpetual stage of living' might be one of the main aspects

Actually getting to an authentic place with an organism takes times, to understand it, to understand ones relation to it, to understand what kind of artwork or statement or concept has actual relevance.

I want to start coming up with a documentation style for my 'guide' (Only use own photos? Stage PP on tree photoshoot?)

The difference between Care vs. Experiments.
*I have been on to many projects and inputs at the same time to do experiments in a very strategic and focused way. Because I am going in with a specific vision, it's not an open-ended, hypothesis, scientific approach to experimentation but a design approach to experiments.

"Care and Design experiments"

*cutting as a form of care (to me this was simply a necessity, a natural step to take but should be notes.

Megane will contact the Paris Zoo to inquire how they keep and nourish the Physarum in their Terrarium.



There is no final deadline for the end of the Vorlesungszeit! But we should have a prototype that shows the intention. Which is definitely a good push! (Good that this course pushed me to create clear milestones in the project.)

We've uploaded
(1) conceptual
(2) technical on the Wiki
now
(3) aesthetic
image

(possible sub pages for process)

Notes from last session:

End of Vorlesungszeit: Prototype

Medium-sized cast Wax object with PP growing on it

Documentation of design experiments so far

Clear outline for steps to do

structure as indicator of 'happiness' ?

Reflecting on the description of the course

Not open to whatever input
my experiments are design experiments following a set vision and goal 'to have PP grow on sculpture' with reasonable openness towards means of achieving this (visual) desired result.

At the same time I am not fully forcing the organism because I am adapting parameters to it's natura habitat and behaviour.
My interaction is focused on PP through it's habitat i.e. needs and how that manifests visually.
The interactive setting also took place more on a cognitive level, considering the ontological definitions characteristic of human's relation to such other species.

The design of this sensor is interesting as it is a designed object in itself

The sensored parameters are also interesting:
moisture
temperature
light
nutrients

I would need to add a cell phone to show the measurements


The question is: does this kind of design make sense for my purposes?

I want to measure the environment around PP:
the light in the space
the temperature of the entire space
the humidity! not moisture in a spot/range like of soil but the humidity in the air
and 'soil' nutrient detector doesn't function for PP..?

Conclusion:
To use this measuring device for my purposes would lead to vage results and I need accurate measurements otherwise I don't need them at all.

This one is suppose to measure my three parameters of interest : Sunlight , Moisture , Temperature

Product reviews aren't good and the display seems to only give very general and vage information on the parameters.
Also could be a problem that it's taking a probe from one sensor point that should be pit into the soil..

+ Simple
+ Stylish
+ Low + High + Trend
+ More info over time

+ Simple

- Logos

+/- smiley indicating 'good' 'bad' makes it non neutral and more human focused, which could become an element of the work?

- unnecessary informations

+ all information with trends
- unnecessary informations
- many colours
- blue light display
- logo

+ simple design
+ no logo
+ simple number display
- no trend indications
+/- human centered smiley indicator

- looks more like alarm than sensor

The question is also: should it just be for my documentation or to be part of the sculpture potentially?

& if it is part of a Media art sculpture should the sensors be self-built?

+ might be good to have more than one to compare inside and outside of box at the same time?
- sensor is probably less specific

Measuring devices:

Wrapping up the course:

I will fully formulate, document and present the Bioart aspects of the sculpture, the conceptual thought, the working process with a living organism and the design experiment process as what I did for this course.

Instead of documenting the entire process or adding many many pictures of the experiments

I should focus on clear definition of the parameters that shaped the experiments and their outcomes as relevant for the final actualisation of the sculpture.

EDIT TO THE RELEVANT INFORMATION!
BE CONCISE!

Think along the lines of (Algorithmic art) creating a document that is an instruction on how to deal with the Physarum polycefallum and set up the sculpture.


How to create slime mold growth in an environment between natural and synthetic?

Insight from working with living matter in a psydo-scientific- artistic context:
by having a vision and trying to mend the organism to the vision parameters like oxygen and humidity - invisible parameters become visible -

the third space between natural and lab becomes populated by both philosophical and pragmatic insights.

"build situations for organisms to move the way we want."

> what insights both 'personal' (philosophical, ethical) and 'scientific' (parameters for living) emerge ?

The project exists between polarities

natural - habitat

vs.

man-made - lab context


personal- philosophical

vs.

scientific

>> from this I can create a graph

> these polarities also take on visual form in the sculpture

>> includes what is known + images from creeping gardens documentary

> analysis of the petri-dish - defining of parameters



>> this could include more poetic approach
> and visual analogies section


>> this includes testing / altering
establishing & already introduced parameters that influence the organism

hypothesis taken from own 'design experiments'
> space over nutrients
> humidity over moisture
> new parameters recognised : oxygen

"interspecies in between habitats psydo-science"

Chapters
> parameter altered/ tested
>> make a chart with (*think almost like a cookbook design)
> goal / intended outcome
> conduct
> outcome
> new hypothesis
> what does this mean for sculpture/outcome

Project intention:

conceptual
includes: baum - mensch form-studie

technical

aesthetic

Documentation wax colours:

Documentation thermometer: Which temperature and humidity is good?

Documentation of light

Documentation of it suffering right now as indication of warmer weather being better ...

dead log - severed limb

time based sculpture - about showing the growth and movement behaviour of Physarum polycephalum
> THE key characteristic that makes the non animal organism non plant, non fungi

Body Habitat - (the many headed) creeping garden

Mycetezoa - Fungusanimals

attributed a primitive form of intelligence

living material I can work with but not control entirely

not trying to manipulate it's behaviour but adapt it's environment

I can try to coax it to do something - behave, grow in a certain way but there are no guarantees - instead of trying to hide or deny this reality of working with living matter both from a scientific and artistic point of view - I should accept and acknowledge this in the final artwork

time based - devouring the human form - hungry for more - analogy to our devouring the planet and possibly cannibalising ourselves in the process

"um herauszufinden wie sich Netzgeometry und Anordnung an äußere Bedingungen anpassen ist Physarum der ideale Kandidtat"

> The final result will show how the net-geometry and composition is determined by the supplied conditions.

/
> The final result will show how all conditions come together to influence how the net-geometry and compisition of Physarum takes shape.

maybe the problem is not the term 'intelligence' but rather our human-centric limiting understanding of the term that could encompass other forms of intelligence as well
> here 'cellular intelligence'

To investigate/observe the mechanism of nature.

Artificial classification - by us
taxonomy is not done by nature - it is our construct

appear intelligent - alleged intelligence

mechanistic responses to environmental stimuli



our projections of our own presumptions about the simplicity of this other species and being surprised by their ability to do more than we expect which we then quickly want to praise as intelligence

Prolongation of life through science and technology

Additional experiment was to try to connect ph value with traces somehow. Exciting would have been if the slime left behind as traces could be made visible through ph- testing fluid. Sadly this did not just 'happen' as the fluid also only stays visible briefly and would have had to have been further explored.