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Microbial & Enzyme Technology
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INSTITUTO DE TECNOLOGIA QUÍMICA E BIOLÓGICA
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The Project Decon aims to explore biotechnology methods and materials as artmedia, in order to create paintings that are literally alive and changing while exhibited. Reproductions of Piet Mondrian’s geometric paintings were created on bacterial solid growth medium supplement with azo dyes (the largest and most versatile class of dyes used and that are recalcitrant to degradation). The colors from those paintings will be progressively degraded by the bacteria Pseudomonas putida MET94. During the development phase of the Project the artist had worked alongside with scientists researching the conditions to adapt bacterial performance to the exhibition conditions at Art Galleries. The paintings are artworks that will only exist while they are being degraded. Thus, one can interpret those paintings as a process of death and decomposition of the artwork.
This promotes the understanding of artistic motivations and creative strategies by the scientists. At the same time, the opposite also happen, with a better understanding of the scientific method by the artist. We also aim to use the present project as an example to launch the ECTOPIA program (from the Greek Ek, outside + Topos, place: outside the normal place), coordinated by the Associação Viver a Ciência in cooperation with several other institutions. ECTOPIA will promote the access of artists to research laboratories through an “artist in residence” program. |
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Art and Society |
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Pseudomonas putida MET94, is a microorganism of putrefaction. In 1982, the US National Institutes of Health designated P. putida a “safety strain”. With an appetite for organic pollutants, this soil microbe has the potential to help clean up the environment (bioremediation). |
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Piet Mondrian Composition in Red, Blue and Yellow |
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