The Rustle of Living Things
Members
Ueda Yosuke, Shibuya Kazufumi, Nanami, Hirayama Riki
The Rustle of Living Things is an attempt to trigger the imagination of seeing and knowing that which we cannot see. If the means of communication of a living being differ from that of our own, it likely requires more effort to interpret and understand the other.
Just as ecosystems exist on the surfaces of leaves—invisible and unbeknownst to us—the world is made of countless different organisms that live interconnectedly, some of which are also invisible to us. Despite our unawareness of this, we are also entangled in this intricate web of multispecies interaction where (micro)organisms could be responding to the slightest movement of our being. In this work, we wanted to make visible this entanglement between plant life, humans, and microorganisms.
Imagine.
You just might be able to hear the rustling of living things unseen to us.
In Transit: The Membranous Horizon
Members
Shion Kim, Tagochan, Tanaka Masato, YO_TEISION
We extracted the nucleotide base of membrane protein from the DNA sequences of microorganisms and converted them into sound and vibration patterns. We incorporated them into an installation consisting of shreds of fabric—once a t-shirt of a team member—and objects resembling microorganisms to reflect our ideas and discussion on the forms of membranes and microorganisms. The microorganism objects consist of used lecture and workshop handouts wrapped in the fabric: the handouts represent the organelles inside a cell while the fabric acted as the cell membrane.
The data used to generate the sound and vibration patterns are taken from the microbial DNA samples collected from the floor, walls, and doll at CCBT. Identifying the specific microorganisms and searching for the genetic data of membrane proteins was challenging. However, with the help of the lecturers and team members who work in a biological research lab, we were able to pinpoint the nucleotides of the membrane proteins.
The membrane is the interface through which organisms communicate with the external world and, furthermore, is a crucial component in the process of when life is born. We hoped for In Transit: The Membranous Horizon to be a space where microorganisms and DNA and their data, invisible to the naked eye, can be physically felt through contact with the objects installed.
Listen to Your Neighbors
Members
Ohira Mai, Sano Fushi, Shichi Tomomi, Tokuno Kihiro, nakanokana, Hiramatsu Mamoru
You have just walked down the brick stairs to the left on Koen-dori, passed through the corridor that overlooks the courtyard with a waterfall, and opened the doors into CCBT. Did you encounter any living organisms along the way? Were you able to feel their presence?
It is said that over 10 billion microscopic organisms live in and on a single person.1 Likewise, there is research that shows over 200,000 species of organisms coexist in an average American household.2 Even at this very moment, countless life forms are breathing and pulsating around you.
For Listen to Your Neighbors, we swabbed the surfaces of the brick walls, trees in the courtyard, the carpet and other locations to collect the microbial data of our miniscule neighbors who exist around us. We then processed the data and converted it to audible sound. We invite you to lend your ear to these life forms that inhabit this space and take in the subtle conversations you unknowingly weave with them.
1 Alan W. Walker and Lesley Hoyles, “Human microbiome myths and misconceptions,” National Microbiology 8, 1392-1396 (August 2023). https://doi: 10.1038/s41564-023-01426-7. Epub 2023 July 31. PMID: 37524974.
2 Rob Dunn, Never Home Alone: From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the National History of Where We Live, (Basic Books, 2018).
Tried Quitting Being Human
Members
Arima Irin, Ogawa Aiyu , Koyama Nene, Niina Sakura
We were a group of 4, three of whom wanted to “stop being human for once” and the other who wanted to “remain human,” and were interested in creating a work themed on the idea of the Umwelt—the “self-centered” worldview that is unique to each organism based on its sensory abilities and biological makeup. The starting point of our brainstorming was: can we truly understand the Umwelten of other living organisms?
If we were to observe and analyze the eyes of an organism with remarkable vision as if they were data from a light sensor, does that prove we understand that particular organism’s perceived world? We, therefore, attempted to observe and imitate the behaviors and feeding habits of selected organisms.
During the process, however, we realized that there were limitations to how much humans can “become” other organisms. Feeding at the speed of a parakeet or being as dexterous as an octopus is almost impossible for humans. Nevertheless, we believe that experiencing and exposing these “limitations,” we can better articulate the differences between human and non-human perspectives in a more neutral manner.
Unknown Noise
Members
Ochi Azusa, Kawahara Keita, Kanno Zen
To what extent are we aware that the urban environment is constantly contiguous with “unknown entities” as well as small animals and plant life? When we analyzed the microbial samples collected in Shibuya station, a familiar area in the city, we discovered that the majority of these were of species which we could not identify. Using sound, frequently used to communicate with gods and spirits, we attempted to connect with the invisible microorganisms and also “unknown entities” which we cannot identify in today’s conditions.
From the analyses of microbial samples collected from the station which we were to identify, we made a sound mix based on their representative habitat. In relative proportion to samples we identified, the unidentifiable ones were converted into noise and layered onto the sound mix to articulate the existence of microbes in the city as a soundscape. We placed stickers with QR codes at the collection sites where bypassers can access the sound mix particular to each location, making them aware of the life forms that lie hidden in the urban landscape.
For the exhibit, we installed the sound samples and the actual stickers used that likely still contain the deposits from the different locations in Shibuya station.
Revolutional Playback
Members
Inokuchi Yohei , Nakahashi Yuri, Haneda Misa
Revolutional Playback presents a visual experience of the evolution of organisms that originally began from a single life form.
Creatures evolved from a single life form over the same span of 3.8 billion years, each unfolding in their own ways throughout time. This process of evolution makes animals, plants, and microorganisms companions within a same ecosystem.
Despite this, mankind often perceives itself as being a separate entity.
Here, we juxtaposed images of a few organisms with a slider tab where, by dragging the tab left and right, visitors can intuitively go back and forth on the timeline and see the visual changes in the organisms throughout their evolution. When the tab is dragged to the far left (i.e. the beginning of life), the images converge into one; a visual representation of how these organisms were, at the start, one life form.