These AI-mediated transformations extend a practice that began with my early robotic generative artworks, where motors, sensors, machine logic, and diagrammatic systems were used to create interactive installations responsive to environmental and biological signals. In those earlier works, mechanical behavior functioned as a form of proto-intelligence—systems that sensed, reacted, and adapted in real time.

Over the past decades, I have increasingly merged machine schematics, electronic circuitry, and algorithmic diagrams with biological imagery, producing hybrid visual languages that oscillate between the engineered and the organic. These forms suggest speculative relationships between machines and living systems: sacs become organs or containers of agency, membranes imply permeability and exchange, motors echo muscular action, and vesicles operate as carriers of information and energy.

For Synthetic Evolution, I trained AI models on my hand-drawn works series, embedding constraints and rules that echo my longstanding compositional strategies.

These rules shape how forms may recombine, mutate, and propagate, allowing the AI to function less as a tool of automation and more as an evolutionary collaborator.

Because the source material is deliberately abstract and suggestive, the AI-generated outputs preserve this indeterminacy; however, the linguistic prompts introduced into the system often redirect the imagery toward unexpected figurative, ecological, or anatomical readings. Language here operates as a selective pressure, nudging visual evolution toward new territories.

Through iterative refinement, I curate and rework the most compelling AI-generated results—altering color, density, scale, and spatial relationships—reasserting the artist’s hand while honoring the agency of the system. The resulting works occupy a liminal zone between authorship and emergence, intuition and computation. Synthetic Evolution ultimately proposes AI not as a replacement for creative labor, but as a living, semi-autonomous system embedded within a broader continuum of biological, technological, and cultural evolution.

Exhibitions

934 GALLERY                                                                                                                   Columbus, Ohio, Nov 21- Dec 13, 2025
Showing Synthetic Evolution prints and videos, Organic Murmuration prints and videos & SIGNS, Invited by Gallery Staff.

SP/N GALLERY                                                                                                                               Dallas, Texas, Feb 7-Apr 25, 2026
Organic Worlds: Symbiogenesis in Art presents the World wide premiere of Symbiogenesis, and Anicca Antennae-Soil as Brain; robotic beings, as avatars to insects, soil and bacteria as well as The Evolution of Information = Life, Organic Murmurations, 1-SIGN, 3 Story Robots 3D Animation, a two person exhibition with Amy Youngs. Invited commissioned by Professor Dr Charissa Terranova. 

By morning, soldiers from both sides cautiously emerged from their trenches. They exchanged rations, photographs of loved ones, and even played impromptu games of football in the icy mud. The spontaneous truce—unofficial, uncommanded, and profoundly human—stood as a flickering beacon of peace in a world torn apart. Though the gunfire returned soon after, the Christmas Truce became legend: a testament to the power of song, shared spirit, and fleeting human connection to bridge even the deepest divides. Now, nearly a century later, science offers a new kind of song—written not in music, but in DNA.

In the near future, genetically engineered mosquito biovectors, carrying CRISPR-Cas9 systems and finely tuned RNA payloads, deliver precise genetic instructions to humans during a simple blood meal. The viral vector slips into the bloodstream, crosses into the brain, and edits molecular pathways that govern aggression. Slowly, a soldier’s violent reflexes begin to soften. The neural circuits, once primed for rage, now hum with balance and restraint. The evolution of compassion shifts from a slow social process to an immediate molecular transformation. Will these more peaceful genes be passed from the male to his and her offspring? That is the hope and purpose.

This idea makes me think of Dr. Robert Sapolsky and his research about aggression in baboon troops. In this research alpha males died and the troop transformes into a peaceful troop. Since then, a peaceful approach has become a cultural norm for these baboons. This is now a norm continuing for 20 years and now transforms other aberrant baboons that may wander into the troop.

This vision draws on real advances already reshaping the natural world. Scientists have created mosquitoes with gene drives—genetic systems that bias inheritance—to crash their own populations and curb diseases like malaria. CRISPR-based edits can render female mosquitoes sterile or skew sex ratios toward non-reproductive males. Released into the wild, these traits spread with startling speed, passing to nearly all offspring and driving populations toward collapse in just a few generations.

The same precision that reengineers nature’s most persistent killer could, in theory, be turned toward humanity’s most persistent instinct for violence—rewriting our biology to make war itself obsolete.

Here is a scientifically grounded outline of how a CRISPR-based behavioral modification gene drive could work.

CRISPR-Based Behavioral Modulation via Mosquito Biovectors

1. Vector Choice: Engineered Mosquitoes

• Genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are used as delivery systems.
• These mosquitoes are engineered to carry a viral payload in their saliva glands, which is released during a blood meal.

2. Viral Payload: AAV or Lentivirus

• The virus must be:
  • Tissue-targeted to affect the brain, ideally crossing the blood-brain barrier.
  • Engineered with a CRISPR-Cas system guided by synthetic single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) to target genes related to aggression regulation in humans.
• Candidates for the viral vector:
  • Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV9) – known to cross the blood-brain barrier.
  • Lentivirus – for more permanent DNA integration.
    
    

3. Target Genes

• Potential human gene targets include:
  • MAOA (monoamine oxidase A): Linked to aggression when mutated or under-expressed.
  • SLC6A4 (serotonin transporter gene): Involved in serotonin reuptake and emotional regulation.
  • BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor): Associated with neural plasticity and mood.

4. CRISPR Mechanism

• The virus introduces the Cas9 enzyme and sgRNA into the target cells in the amygdala or prefrontal cortex.
• Cas9 makes a precise cut in the DNA of target genes.
• The edit may:
  • Silence overactive genes related to violence.
  • Upregulate genes that support empathy and prosocial behavior (via promoter edits or exon activation).
• The edits are permanent if integrated using homology-directed repair (HDR), or transient if done using RNA base editing (e.g., via Cas13).

5. Safety Controls

• To prevent off-target effects or misuse:
  • A “kill switch” CRISPR failsafe.
  • Restricted gene drives (only affecting local populations, not global spread).
  • Tunable promoters to limit expression strength.

Research: CRISPR & Gene Drives in Mosquitoes

• Hammond et al. (2016) — A CRISPR-Cas9 gene drive system targeting female reproduction in Anopheles gambiae. Nature Biotechnology.
• Kyrou et al. (2018) — A CRISPR–Cas9 gene drive targeting doublesex causes complete population suppression in caged Anopheles gambiae. Nature Biotechnology.
• Gantz et al. (2015) — Highly efficient Cas9-mediated gene drive in Drosophila. PNAS.
• Esvelt et al. (2014) — RNA-guided gene drives for altering wild populations. eLife.
• Burt (2003) — Site-specific selfish genes as tools for control of natural populations. Proc. Royal Society B.
• Galizi et al. (2014) — Synthetic sex-ratio distortion for controlling the human malaria mosquito. Nature Communications.
• Simoni et al. (2020) — A male-biasing sex-distorter gene drive in the human malaria mosquito. Nature Communications.
• Carballar-Lejarazu & James (2017) — Population modification of anopheline mosquitoes for malaria control. PLOS Genetics.
• Hammond et al. (2017) — The creation and selection of mutations resistant to a gene drive in malaria mosquitoes. PLOS Genetics.
• Eckhoff et al. (2017) — Impact of mosquito gene drive on malaria elimination: modeling study. PLOS Computational Biology.
• https://www.media.mit.edu/articles/crispr-gene-drives-and-the-future-of-evolution/https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/a-new-crispr-driven-technology-for-gene-drive-in-plants

Artists, Works, and Curators (CRISPR / Bio-Art)

• Emilia Tikka — Eudaimonia (2018): speculative design/art exploring CRISPR’s impact on emotion and identity.
• Ars Electronica Project page and jury texts contextualizing CRISPR-related speculative art.
• Anna Dumitriu — Make Do and Mend (CRISPR gene-editing explored through textiles and storytelling).
• Jens Hauser — Curator/researcher; essays and exhibitions on bio-art and new biotechnologies
• William Myers — Biodesign (book/exhibitions; curatorial writing on design with living systems and gene editing).
• V&A Museum Biodesign Collection — Institutional context for design with biology (includes CRISPR era design debates).
• Ars Electronica Center — CRISPR exhibition materials and public engagement resources.
• Heather Dewey-Hagborg — While not strictly CRISPR, her DNA-centric works are key in the genetic-art discourse.
• SymbioticA (Oron Catts & Ionat Zurr) — Art-science lab/platform shaping the bio-art field; frequent CRISPR-adjacent discourse.
• Science Gallery — Curated exhibitions on biotech and society; multiple shows including CRISPR-focused programming and talks.
• https://innovativegenomics.org/news/visualizing-crispr-through-art/

Interlaced with this living matrix is a network of custom‑built autonomous robots, each equipped with a single antenna and embedded AI sensing systems. These machines listen, watch, and respond in real time to subtle shifts in the ecosystem while playing the sounds of insects commonly found within those environments.

The twitch of an isopod, a change in soil moisture, the presence of microbial metabolic cues—can trigger robotic movements, gestures, sound responses and some caretaking actions such as beckoning watering.

Isopods are such fascinating being to me. Females brood their young in a pouch under their thorax called the marsupium. The marsupium was a critical innovation that enabled isopods to become one of the most successful groups of crustaceans to colonize land. By carrying their developing eggs and young in a protected, fluid-filled pouch, isopods can procreate and thrive. 

Additionally isopods have survived at least three of the Big Five mass extinctions:

In this work the technological community may nourish a biological community.

In this way, Anicca becomes a proto-self‑regulating hybrid system—a kind of miniatured robotic/organic feedback loop between biology and technology creating stability and resilience.

Additionally Anicca; Soil as Brain is a sound installation with a droning soundtrack, integrated with insect sounds and robotic feedback.

The soundtrack will be playing constantly and the movements of the isopods and springtails will trigger insect sounds from the robots themselves, which will contribute to the overall sonic experience.

At times the robots will signal only with light as fireflies and at other times with movement all while listening and contributing to this soundtrack, which will with their contributions never be exactly the same.

Here, intelligence is not centralized but emerges from the interplay of all participants: soil microbes, insect inhabitants, robotic avatars, environmental conditions, and the code that mediates their relationships.

This is a form of distributed cognition—an extended mind that crosses the boundaries of biology and machine.

The installation embodies the Buddhist concept of anicca, the doctrine of impermanence.

Like all living systems, the terrarium is in a constant state of transformation: the soil composition shifts, microbial populations rise and fall, insect behaviors change, microbial succession proceeds and the robots also adapt in realtime in response to the overall environmental cues.

There is no final form—only a continuous becoming. This impermanence is not a flaw but the defining condition of life, a dynamic equilibrium that keeps the system alive. A place where dead matter is imbued with life and where computer robot avatars become extensions to the living isopod and springtails.

The robots movement is a reminder that the springtails and isopods are also constantly becoming.

Anicca Antnnae: Soil as Brain also engages a deeper philosophical question: can technology itself be considered a form of life? We can easily say it has become an extension of life.

Astrophysicist Sara Imari Walker has argued that life should be understood not by its material composition, but by its informational and organizational complexity—a definition that would include self‑organizing, self‑regulating technological systems.

In this sense, the robots within Anicca are not merely tools or representations—they are active participants in a living network, co‑evolving with the biological world they inhabit.

By rendering the invisible visible—the micro-movements of insects, their sounds and signals, the hidden chemical rhythms of soil metabolism, the silent labors of microbes—Anicca reframes soil as a dynamic, thinking entity. It is an ecology where life and machine intertwine, merge, and adapt.

Ultimately, Anicca: Soil as Brain invites us to imagine technology not as separate from nature, but as a partner in the intelligence and evolution of the Earth itself.

This work is a microcosm of nested microbes, robotics and Insects carrying nested symbionts — bacteria living inside other bacteria within specialized host cells.

Concept, production, design and soundtrack

Ken Rinaldo

Special Thanks

Trademark Gunderson for his MAX MSP and Jitter programming on this project, as well as the Anicca robots programming.
Devin Powell for his programming for two years on this project as it developed and implementing new sensors and actuators.
David King for hot popping the isopod, springtail and soil terrarium now housing the soil brain.
Gayle Van Marter for cold-working the isopod, springtail and soil terrarium now housing the soil brain.
Sonauto.com AI Generation of soundtrack and The Museum of Biological Diversity The Ohio State University for insect sounds remixed in Audacity.
Jon Zimmerman as student intern for one of the first truly working prototypes on this Anicca (At the time Cyclops Robot)
Joseph Richmond as intern programming and moving the project closer having suggested accelerometers to control the neck.
Danner Seyfer Sprauge for working with me on 3D modeling these visualizations and for this early massaging of the illustrator cut files for the bodies of Anicca robots.
Joshua Gagliardi for working with me on laser cutting early versions of this robot and creating 3D models allowing the springs to sit flush, with the pull string neck elements.
Zach Sanderson for Laser Cutting, The Department of Art SADR Digital Fabrication Lab Specialist for assistance with laser cutting versions of the bodies of Anicca.

Supply Chains

Thanks to OSEPP for working with me on securing parts for this project: There motors, wheel sets, encoders and motor control boards were central to the success of this project: Benjamin Tan, May Pater, Kai, Alex 

Exhibitions

SP/N GALLERY                                                                                                                               Dallas, Texas, Feb 7-Apr, 2026
Organic Worlds: Symbiogenesis in Art presents the World wide premiere of Symbiogenesis, and Anicca Antennae-Soil as Brain; robotic beings, as avatars to insects, soil and bacteria as well as The Evolution of Information = Life, Organic Murmurations, SIGNS, The Farm Fountain, 3 Story Robots. Two person exhibition with Amy Youngs. Invited by Professor Dr Charissa Terranova.    

References:

Research References for Anicca: Soil as Brain

1. Soil as an Emergent Intelligent System
   
2. Nadell, C. D., Drescher, K., & Foster, K. R. (2016). Spatial structure, cooperation, and competition in biofilms. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 14(9), 589–600. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro.2016.84
   
   Microbial Distributed Intelligence
   
3. Ben-Jacob, E., Shapiro, J. A., & Levine, H. (2004). Bacterial linguistic communication and social intelligence. Trends in Microbiology, 12(8), 366–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2004.06.006
   
   Robots Powered by Microbes (EcoBot-II and EcoBot-III)
   
4. Ieropoulos, I., Melhuish, C., & Greenman, J. (2005). EcoBot-II: An artificial agent with a natural metabolism. International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems, 2(4), 295–300. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5772/5777
5. EcoBot (Wikipedia overview) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EcoBot
   
   MFC-Based Environmental Sensing in Robotics
   
6. Santoro, C., et al. (2021). Microbial Fuel Cell-Based Biosensors for Early Detection of Environmental Pollution. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 8, 558953. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2021.558953/full
   
   Soil Microbial Fuel Cells for IoT and Agriculture
   
7. Bactery: Soil microbial fuel cells for powering IoT. Hello Future — Orange Innovation. https://hellofuture.orange.com/en/agtech-start-up-bactery-aims-to-use-soil-microbial-fuel-cells-to-power-iot/
8. Khaled, F., et al. (2023). Soil Microbial Fuel Cells for Sustainable Biosensing Applications. Biosensors, 13(1), 145. https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6374/13/1/145
   
   Biodiversity and Stability in Soil Ecosystems
   
9. Wagg, C., et al. (2019). Fungal-bacterial diversity and microbiome complexity predict ecosystem functioning. eLife, 8, e62813. https://elifesciences.org/articles/62813
   
   Self-Organization in Microbial Soil Communities
   
10. Ratzke, C., & Gore, J. (2018). Modifying and reacting to the environmental pH can drive bacterial interactions. PLoS Biology, 16(3), e2004248. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2004248
    
    Microbial Intelligence and quorum sensing
    
11. Dodig-Crnkovic G (2026) De-anthropomorphizing the mind: life as a cognitive spectrum in a unified framework for biological minds. Front. Syst. Neurosci. 20:1730097. doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2026.1730097
    https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/systems-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2026.1730097/
12. Reddy JSK, Pereira C. Understanding the emergence of microbial consciousness: From a perspective of the Subject-Object Model (SOM). J Integr Neurosci. 2017;16(s1):S27-S36. doi: 10.3233/JIN-170064. PMID: 29254105.
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29254105/
13. Microbial intelligence Wikipedia
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbial_intelligence
    
    Plant Signaling Behavior
    
14. Baluska F, Souza GM. Plant Signaling, Behavior and Communication. Plants (Basel). 2024 Apr 18;13(8):1132. doi: 10.3390/plants13081132. PMID: 38674541; PMCID: PMC11055140.
    https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11055140/
15. Integrated information as a possible basis for plant consciousness
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006291X20319318
16. Trewavas A (2016) Intelligence, Cognition, and Language of Green Plants. Front. Psychol. 7:588. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00588
    https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00588/full
17. Gagliano M, Renton M, Depczynski M, Mancuso S. Experience teaches plants to learn faster and forget slower in environments where it matters. Oecologia. 2014 May;175(1):63-72. doi: 10.1007/s00442-013-2873-7. Epub 2014 Jan 5. PMID: 24390479.
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24390479/

Researchers (Insect Bioacoustics + AI/ML)

• Kiskin, I., Sinka, M., Cobb, A. D., Rafique, W., Wang, L., Zilli, D., … Roberts, S. J. (2021). HumBugDB: A Large‑scale Acoustic Mosquito Dataset. (20 hours, 36 species of mosquito, acoustic recordings from multiple countries) oxlel.web.ox.ac.uk+5arXiv+5datasets-benchmarks-proceedings.neurips.cc+5
• Mind Foundry/Oxford team. (2022). HumBug: Detecting Mosquito Signatures with Machine Learning. Smartphone-based acoustic detection of mosquito species for malaria surveillance mindfoundry.ai+2oxlel.web.ox.ac.uk+2
• Supratak, A., et al. (2024). MosquitoSong+: A noise-robust deep learning model for mosquito species & sex identification from wingbeat sounds. PLOS ONE Zenodo+6PLOS+6ResearchGate+6
• Faiß, M., & Stowell, D. (2023). Adaptive Representations of Sound for Automatic Insect Recognition. PLOS Comput Biol. (uses LEAF vs. mel‑spectrogram frontends, up to 66 Orthoptera/Cicadidae species) GitHub+14PLOS+14arXiv+14
• Faiß, M. et al. (2025). Open datasets of insect sounds for bioacoustic ML (expands to 66 species, calls for larger collections) arXiv+2PLOS+2
• He, H., et al. (2024). Enhancing Insect Sound Classification Using Dual‑Frequency and Spectral Fusion Module (DFSM) MDPI
• Additional mention: Use of ML (e.g. XGBoost, RF, KNN, MFCC features) for classifying insects like cicadas, beetles, termites, crickets from sound recordings (2025 preprint) arXiv

Artists Working with Insect Bioacoustics

• David Dunn – composer & environmental sound researcher; invented microphones to record bark beetle sounds inside trees; created CD The Sound of Light in Trees; collaborated with forest scientists on acoustic interventions musicalmrfox.co.uk+6Transart Institute for Creative Research+6University of California+6
• Robin Meier – installation Synchronicity (2015): alive fireflies & crickets are induced to flash/chirp in synchrony with pendulums, blending insect behavior with engineered systems vice.com+6robinmeier.net+6robinmeier.net+6
• Leah Barclay – ecoacoustic sound artist; projects like Biosphere Soundscapes (environmental listening in UNESCO biosphere reserves) and Rainforest Listening (AR layering rainforest soundscapes in urban space) soundcloud.com+5leahbarclay.com+5icareifyoulisten.com+5
• Jana Winderen – sound artist focusing on hard‑to‑access environments; works include hydrophone‑recorded underwater insects (Ultrafield), installations like The Art of Listening: Under Water and The River (Natural History Museum, London, 2024–25)

At its core, the installation engages with Lynn Margulis’ pioneering concept of symbiogenesis, which challenges traditional notions of individuality and selfhood in evolutionary theory. Symbiogenesis posits that mitochondria—energy-producing organelles in most animal, plant, and fungal cells—originated when an ancestral eukaryotic cell formed a mutually beneficial relationship when it engulfed an aerobic bacterium, likely an alphaproteobacterium, over 1.5 billion years ago.

This event did not lead to digestion but to coexistence, fundamentally altering the trajectory of life. Today, mitochondria remain distinct entities within our cells, possessing their own DNA, reproducing independently, and driving essential metabolic processes, such as ATP synthesis through aerobic respiration.

Visualization and Interaction

This art-science installation seeks to render these ancient symbiotic beings visible through large-scale fine art glass sculptures, robotics, and interactive elements. Sensor-based interactions, miniature cameras, and projected imagery will create dynamic, immersive environments that reflect the life and agency of mitochondria.

Among unicellular eukaryotes, the number of mitochondria can vary from 1 to ~100,000, and this depends on the specific organism. Grape vines in the growing season have 25–50% more mitochondria than in the autumn, and much depends on the life stage of the organism. The HeLa human cell line can have ~300 or ~800 mitochondria at different times, depending on whether it’s going to divide, and it depends on the life stage of the cell.

Mitochondria hold a unique genetic inheritance, passed primarily from mother to child, with rare instances of paternal contribution. These organelles, once independent bacteria, now reside within us as vital components of our cellular function and consciousness. Their presence challenges the singular notion of the self, as nearly half of our bodily cells are bacterial, actively participating in our biological and cognitive processes.

Machine Consciousness and Symbiosis

The installation further explores the parallels between biological and technological symbiosis, particularly in the era of artificial intelligence. As our digital networks intertwine with human cognition, we may be witnessing the emergence of a new form of machine consciousness—a crude but evolving intelligence shaped by vast datasets, neural networks, and human desires.

The concept of the supraorganism emerges, wherein humans, mitochondria, and artificial systems form a layered, interconnected entity.

Lynn Margulis’ intellectual journey—her challenge to Darwinian “survival of the fittest” in favor of cooperative evolution—provides a guiding framework for this work. Her writings, along with those of her son Dorion Sagan, particularly Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life by Eric D. Schneider and Dorion Sagan , inspire sonic elements in the installation as the work and writings of American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator Carl Sagan. Their explorations of the second law of thermodynamics and its role in life’s emergence underscore the significance of energy flow, organization, and information in evolution.

Multi-Sensory Experience

The installation features: Beakers containing vortexes of water, amplified through miniature cameras, and projected onto walls, creating a visual dialogue between microscopic and macroscopic worlds. Vortexes of water are dissipative structures as referenced by Nobel Laureate Ilya Prigogine.

The turbulence at the bottom of the beakers allows a persistent spiral to form. Self-organization in dissipative systems. This is closely related to Prigogine’s work, which showed that non-equilibrium conditions (such as energy flow through a system) can lead to the emergence of stable, structured patterns.

Dissipative structures share key properties with living systems—they sustain themselves by consuming energy, maintain a structured form, and respond to external conditions.

While these self-organizing structures do not represent life in a biological sense, they exhibit fundamental characteristics of living systems, such as organization, adaptation, and persistence—leading to interesting discussions about the origins of life and complex systems. In some of these dissipative structure’s images or protoribosomes ribonucleic acid images are behind them with laser light referencing sunlight (energy input) on the Protoribosomes and RNA images. Protoribosomes (precursor-like structures to ribosomes) existed in some primitive form in space is speculative and intriguing.

Ribosomes themselves are highly complex biological nanomachines responsible for protein synthesis, and their evolutionary precursors—protoribosomes—likely arose through simpler, chemically driven self-assembly processes on early Earth. The concept that their initial building blocks or even primitive RNA-based scaffolds originated from space via amino acids has attracted interest and research.

Telescopes and microscopes referencing both Margulis’s microbiological research and Carl Sagan’s astronomical inquiries, emphasizing the interconnectedness of knowledge across scales are also present. As you look into some of the telescopes you will see animations of kinesins or motor proteins walking on the cytoskeletons of the cell.

A computer-generated voice will be reading AI generative texts, composites of Lynn Margulis, Carl Sagan and Dorion Sagan will all be heard from within the mitochondrial sculptures, and some dishes will have red cherry shrimp, mosses, and ferns presented; all life coexisting with Mitochondria.

Alpha Fold and the Next Stage of Evolution

The installation extends into the present and future with references to Alpha Fold, an AI system developed by DeepMind that predicts protein structures with unprecedented accuracy. Alpha Fold’s breakthroughs in protein folding have profound implications for biology, medicine, and synthetic life, offering insights into the intricate molecular machines that sustain life.

By accelerating our understanding of biological processes, AI-driven discoveries like Alpha Fold contribute to a new evolutionary phase—one where human intelligence and artificial intelligence co-evolve, shaping the next frontier of life itself.

A central visual element of this installation will be a projection of a bacterial cell motoring through the cytoplasm, dynamically constructing and deconstructing the actin cytoskeleton as it moves. It may also include cuts to an animation of the mitochondria showing ATP synthesis.

This visualization underscores the perpetual transformation within cells, mirroring the broader themes of emergence, adaptation, and symbiosis.

Symbiogenesis 2025-26 is a meditation on the intertwined narratives of biology, technology, and cognition and the emergence of life itself.

Through art and science, it invites audiences to reconsider the nature of individuality, agency, and evolution in an era where humans, microbes, and machines form an unprecedented symbiotic network.

As we stand at the threshold of new forms of intelligence, the installation prompts reflection on what it means to be alive in a world where biology and technology continue to merge.

Production and Special Thanks

The University of Texas and Dr Charissa Terranova for their financial support of this installation and for the world wide premiere at the SP/N Gallery

Gayle Van Marter below working on the cold-working of the mitochondrial forms

Danner Seyfer Sprauge for working with me on 3D modeling these visualizations and for production on the printing and massaging of the proteins walking on the mitochondria, the sound circuit holders and many 3D printed parts.

Trademark Gunderson for his robotics and debugging expertise on the sound circuits including the Raspberry Pi

Dorion Sagan for reviewing my text for the soundtrack of one of the mitochondrial works, and finding a critical mistake about the second law of thermodynamics. We entered into a long and fruitful discussion online, and I am thrilled he offered his critical feedback and has also agreed to show a drawing work and poem near the acknowledgements section where we will celebrate him, his mom Lynn Margulis and Dad Carl Sagan.

Joshua Gagliardi for laser cutting, The College of Nursing, Laboratory Research Operations Senior Analyst
Zack Sanderson for laser cutting, The Department of Art The Ohio State University
The Ohio State University Emeritus Academy for the Faculty grant to help pay for the cold-working and necessary equipment
Zach Sanderson for Laser Cutting, The Department of Art SADR Digital Fabrication Lab Specialist

EXHIBITIONS

SP/N GALLERY                                                                                                                               Dallas, Texas, Feb 7-Apr, 2026
Organic Worlds: Symbiogenesis in Art presents the World wide premiere of Symbiogenesis, and Anicca Antennae-Soil as Brain; robotic beings, as avatars to insects, soil and bacteria as well as The Evolution of Information = Life, Organic Murmuration, SIGNS, The Farm Fountain, 3 Story Robots. Two person exhibition with Amy Youngs. Invited by Professor Dr Charissa Terranova.           

References

Lynn Sagan, On the origin of mitosing cells, Journal of Theoretical Biology, Volume 14, Issue 3, 1967, Pages 225-IN6,
https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-5193(67)90079-3

Kozo‑Polyansky, B. (2010 English Translation of 1924 Original). Symbiogenesis: A New Principle of Evolution (Ed. Mikhailov, V. & translated by Sym, S.). Harvard University Press. https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674054095

Mereschkowski, K. (1910). The theory of two plasms as the basis of symbiogenesis, a new principle of biology. Biologisches Centralblatt, 30, 278–288. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantin_Mereschkowski

Aanen, D. K., & Eggleton, P. (2017). Symbiogenesis: Beyond the endosymbiosis theory? Current Opinion in Microbiology, 43, 67–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mib.2017.01.007

Martin, W. F., et al. (2015). Endosymbiotic theories for eukaryote origin. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 370(1678), 20140330. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0330

MIT List Visual Arts Center (2022). Symbionts: Contemporary Artists and the Biosphere. Exhibition catalogue. https://listart.mit.edu/exhibitions/symbionts-contemporary-artists-biosphere

Chen, X., et al. (2025). Symbiosis of Agents: Co-Evolution of Embodied Agents via Environmental Feedback. arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.02606. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.02606

Schubert, T., et al. (2014). ChromaPhy: A Living Wearable Connecting Humans and Their Environment. arXiv preprint arXiv:1403.6823. https://arxiv.org/abs/1403.6823

Prigogine, I., & Stengers, I. (1984). Order Out of Chaos: Man’s New Dialogue with Nature. Bantam Books. https://archive.org/details/orderoutofchaosm00prig

Neyrinck, M. C., et al. (2020). As Above As Below: Cosmic–Cellular Structural Parallels. arXiv preprint arXiv:2008.05942. https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.05942

These chemicals, many untested or inadequately studied under current conditions, have known links to endocrine disruption and mutagenic effects.

Through visual and poetic renderings, I attempt to illuminate the hidden consequences of our industrial choices—impacts on human health and beyond, reaching the very health of our planet and its non-human inhabitants.

A poignant revelation lies in the estrogenic effects of plastics, derived from everyday items such clothing manufacture and use and birth control pills which now extend their influence beyond humanity to the ocean’s depths.

With birth control fish, subject to these synthetic estrogens, suffer feminization so severe that natural reproduction is disrupted.

This stark reality underscores the intricate and delicate web of life, now entangled with the byproducts of our industrial advancements. Visual art captures these silent invasions poignantly: sequences of images depict the ingestion and inhalation of microplastics through our most mundane activities, such as drying our clothes.

The discovery of a teratoma in the intestinal vista—a grotesque yet fascinating mutation—mirrors the hidden dangers lurking within our modern diets and environments, compounded by substances like glyphosate. This herbicide, prevalent in our monocultures, not only affects the plants it is meant to protect but slowly, steadily impairs our own health.

As we race towards ever greater efficiencies, our technologies—designed to scale the production of food, fabricate synthetic garments, and accelerate every aspect of growth—often disregard the subtle, toxic legacies they leave behind.

These innovations, rapid and relentless, flood our ecosystems with pollutants, challenging the very cells of our bodies to adapt or perish. Corn and its monocultural production are prime examples.

Amidst this, the enduring irony of plastics haunts us: materials designed for fleeting use persist for millennia, outliving their utility as we pivot from fossil fuels to solar, yet leaving the petroleum industry scrambling to repurpose its residues.

Here is the lower tract of our digestive system being chocked off by plastic waste.

In the artistic tableau, a mutant infant emerges—not entirely human, corn, or machine, but an eerie hybrid, a symbol of our intertwined existence with the machinery that comforts yet confines us.

Another piece starkly portrays a pig birthing a human child—a surreal inversion reflecting our latest ventures into xenotransplantation, where engineered swine become potential bearers of new organs, replacing those ravaged by our own excesses. Recently, the boundary between fiction and reality blurs further as we contemplate using pigs as artificial wombs—a concept once fantastical, now frighteningly within reach.

In these reflections, art, and reality dance closely, mirroring our entanglements with the creations of our own ingenuity, urging us to ponder deeply the world we mold and its future inhabitants.

Exhibitions

CORFU CENTRAL PUBLIC HISTORICAL LIBRARY: CORFU TECH LAB                              Corfu, Greece, May 23-30, 2024
Mutagenic Futures with AI artworks by Ken Rinaldo and Adam Zaretsky Curated by Dalila Honorato

References

1. Potential Health Impact of Microplastics: A Review of Environmental Effects – Environmental Health Perspectives
2. Endocrine Toxicity of Micro‑ and Nanoplastics, and Advances in Biomonitoring – MDPI
3. Adverse health effects of exposure to plastic, microplastics and their additives – PMC
4. Exposure of the human placental primary cells to nanoplastics – ScienceDirect
5. Microplastics exposure: implications for human fertility, pregnancy and placental biology – Frontiers in Endocrinology
6. Effect of Endocrine‑Disrupting Chemicals on Placental Development and Function – Frontiers in Endocrinology
7. Marine Microplastics and Infant Health – arXiv
8. Triple exposure nexus: mapping microplastic‑particle health effects – ScienceDirect
9. Microplastics are inside us all. What does that mean for our health? – AAMC
10. Minderoo Foundation mega‑review: harms from common plastics – The Australian
11. Mandy Barker – Photographer addressing marine plastic pollution
12. Judith Selby Lang – Environmental artist, One Beach Plastic
13. Portia Munson – Sculptor and installation artist exploring consumer plastic waste
14. Pamela Longobardi – The Drifters Project, marine debris art
15. Dianna Cohen – Artist and curator, Plastic Pollution Coalition

As the motor turns the branch, the shifting tones of the lichen surface determine which natural sounds are selected from a mini-MP3 player, drawing on the emerging field of plant and fungal bioacoustics. Current research suggests that many organisms, including plants and symbiotic organisms like lichens, respond to environmental sound cues. Low-frequency vibrations have been shown to influence root growth and fungal hyphal direction, while certain sound patterns can trigger defensive or adaptive responses. This work extends those findings into an art context, using sound to explore the unseen sensory lives of non-human species.

Lichens are remarkable symbiotic organisms composed of a partnership between fungi, photosynthetic algae or cyanobacteria, and a complex community of associated bacteria. They reproduce through a variety of strategies—either by releasing fungal spores that later reunite with compatible algal partners, or by dispersing soredia or isidia, tiny clumps containing both partners ready to colonize new surfaces. Their growth is slow, sometimes only a few millimeters per year, and their lifespans can stretch into centuries, making them among the most enduring life forms on Earth.

In natural ecosystems, lichens serve as keystone species and an important food source. In the Arctic, caribou and reindeer rely heavily on “reindeer moss” (Cladonia rangiferina) during the winter months when other forage is scarce. Many invertebrates, such as mites, springtails, and some caterpillars, feed on lichen tissues, while birds—including certain species of warblers, wrens, and hummingbirds—harvest lichens to weave camouflaged nests. Rodents, such as voles and squirrels, also eat lichens and use them for nesting. By providing both shelter and sustenance, lichens knit together a web of life that bridges kingdoms and phyla.

The augmented, electrified lichens of this sculpture metaphorically beckon to the living plants in the greenhouse, much like real environmental sounds influence plant physiology. Research in plant bioacoustics shows that roots may grow toward the sound of running water and that certain sound frequencies can stimulate defense responses against herbivorous insects. In this installation, the soundscape—composed of insect calls, flowing river recordings, and birdsong—becomes a living conversation between species, mediated by light, color, and vibration. It is an immersive, interactive environment that acknowledges plants, lichens, insects, and humans as participants in a shared ecological network.

Materials: Lichen, branches, electronics, nature sounds, light sensor, feathers, acrylic tubing, handmade paper, coding.

Special thanks

Curators Doo Sung Yoo and Amy Youngs
Devin Powell, studio assistant and programmer
Aaron Peters artist, teacher for paper-making lessons
Artist Dorothy Gill Barnes who carved some of these branches at the bottom of the sculpture
The the trees and fungi that contributed to this making

Exhibitions

THE BIOSCIENCES GREENHOUSE                                                                                         Columbus, Ohio, April 22, 2024      In a Hotter House exhibition Premiere of  Detrivorous: The Colors of Morphogenesis and select environmental works from the SIGN Series. Invited by Doo Sung Yoo and Amy Youngs.

SP/N GALLERY                                                                                                                               Dallas, Texas, Feb 7-Apr, 2026
Organic Worlds: Symbiogenesis in Art presents the World wide premiere of Symbiogenesis, and Anicca Antennae-Soil as Brain; robotic beings, as avatars to insects, soil and bacteria as well as The Evolution of Information = Life, Organic Murmuration, SIGNS, The Farm Fountain, 3 Story Robots. Two person exhibition with Amy Youngs. Invited by Professor Dr Charissa Terranova.   

One hundred trillion microbial organisms—bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses—co-inhabit the human gut, forming an ecosystem of deep-time intelligence. These ancient life forms have co-evolved with us as passengers and architects of physiology, emotion, and cognition.

Our microbiome speaks to the brain through electrochemical signals transmitted via the vagus nerve, forming a two-way information channel between the gut and cortex—between nutrients and thought. How have these ancient bacteria formed a central part of our body’s morphology, the vagus nerve? Co-evolution.

But it is not just biology that evolves—it is information itself. Amino acids on the Murchison meteorite which landed in Australia proved amino acids can form and survive in space, seeding self-replicating RNA that evolved into DNA and setting a precedent for information evolution in celestial space, now controlling our bodies’ evolution.

Over millennia, life on earth working collaboratively with sun light, water, fungi, bacteria and viruses, has expressed itself through increasingly complex encodings—genes to language, language to symbols, symbols to machines.

As mitochondria nest inside cells, tools now nest within our nervous systems, extending memory, vision, and agency.

Our earliest tools—flint blades and fire-hardened spears—were evolutionary prosthetics. They extended human hands and teeth with deadly forms and externalized thought into sharp intentions.

Was it the bacteria in the microbiome or the mitochondria within each of our cells that gave me the energy to see and feel?

Or is it something deeper in time, in the information space, a distant memory of amino acids having arrived on a meteorite and working to replicate themselves to find and build a protein?

Once we have the first robotic extension of the hand we can begin to imagine ways of having hands and fingers on fingers to allow us to reach into the sub-molecular.

My hands are driven by our intention to consume, eat, and feed the microbiome, which has now fashioned the loom, the printing press, the lens, and the algorithm, becoming not just a tool of survival but a partner in extending cognition.

Information replication machines.

Once bound to biology, information has become the spear and antennae of our species. It now flows through wires and code—no longer tied to a body but still very much alive.

Just as the neural crest in the embryo gives rise to both the brain and gut, we might imagine the neural crest of human culture—language, toolmaking, symbolic abstraction—splitting into biology and technology.

It is also interesting to see how our conceptions of human evolution is changing and the image above of the ancient Chinese culture was an exciting discovery for me. Recently this article also makes these early artifacts rewriting history that perhaps China not Africa is a possible site for the birth of civilization.

These strands are recombining and folding in upon themselves.  The human being is not simply using technology; we are becoming it.

In this descent into the technological, we are not devolving but mutating. We are becoming cyborg-holobionts—biological intelligence symbiotically fused with synthetic systems.

Smartphones and servers are the new symbionts woven into perception, memory, and attention however at times they feel more as parasites.

Data has become our new microbiome: feeding, shaping, and watching us.

We are not alone in our bodies or minds, as my smartphone pings me like a crying baby looking for commercial attention.

AI systems generate language, anticipate desire, and respond to us with eerie familiarity. Like mitochondria before them, these data-machine forms, evolve inside us—not by ingestion, but by immersion.

The stomach is not just a digestive vessel but a metaphor for our technological assimilation. As archaea found a niche in acidic lakes, information systems now find a niche in the neural substrate of human life. Once bound to soil and sky, our bodies are now interfaces between carbon and silicon, nature, and code.

Where does the body end and technology begin?

It doesn’t. Our species is not posthuman—it is transhuman, transiting through biological, microbial, and digital intelligence layers.

The Earth’s minerals form our bones, but rare-earth elements now form the circuits of our prosthetic minds. The same hands that once wielded spears now touch glass screens—each tap is a signal in the evolution of cognition.

We have descended into our tools, and they have arisen into us.

We are symbiosis, aliens, and obligate symbionts. We are not individuals but a multiplicity of information, replication, and evolution.

We are the medium, through which information becomes life again.

And now, life feeds on the signal. It remembers in clouds, replicates through fiber and silicon, and forgets through deletion and decay, just as bodies do.

Our dreams have left the cave wall and entered the data stream, painting with photons and harvesting from algorithms.

We do not merely live on Earth—we live through it.

And now, we are dreaming through its machines.

——–

Some of this writing was inspired by ideas I have thought about for a long time onthe nature of life and information that exists in the universe, through random and semi random interactions of matter, energy and information.

Recently i was inspired to find and read the book Life as no One Knows It by Astrophysicist Sarah Imari Walker and found she succinctly along with her collaborators has come with the idea of Assembly Theory that is to say that molecules in the universe posses information that forms in time and thus more complex chemical interactions may occur over time and allow the emergent properties of life to arise.

Special Thanks

Danner Seyfer Sprauge for working with me on 3D modeling these visualizations
Zach Sanderson for Laser Cutting, The Department of Art SADR Digital Fabrication Lab Specialist and for a collaboration on an Orca Hand in process that will be a critical part of this installation.
The University of Texas and Dr Charissa Terranova for their financial support of this installation and for the world wide premiere at the SP/N Gallery

Exhibitions

CHINA/HANGZHOU INTERNATIONAL BIENNALE OF ART AND TECHNOLOGY   Hangzhou, CHINA, Oct 18-Nov 18 2025
Yuhang Art Museum; World Wide Premiere of The Evolution of Information = Life Invited by curator Professors Duan Weibin and Xiaowen Chen (Cancelled because my passport was going to expire within six months. Still honored by the invitation and Chinese cultural inspiration.

THE WRONG BIENNALE 7                                                                                                    New York, NY, NOV 1-Mar 31, 2025 
Unrequited invites The Evolution of Information = Life curated by Chalet Comellas and Clint Sleeper         

SP/N GALLERY                                                                                                                               Dallas, Texas, Feb 7-Apr, 2026
Organic Worlds: Symbiogenesis in Art presents the World wide premiere of Symbiogenesis, and Anicca Antennae-Soil as Brain; robotic beings, as avatars to insects, soil and bacteria as well as The Evolution of Information = Life, Organic Murmuration, SIGNS, The Farm Fountain, 3 Story Robots. Two person exhibition with Amy Youngs. Invited by Professor Dr Charissa Terranova.     

References

• Nature: The human microbiome and its role in health and disease
• Scientific American: The Gut–Brain Connection
• Space.com: Murchison Meteorite and Extraterrestrial Amino Acids
• Cell: The Microbiome as an Ecosystem
• Science: Mitochondria and the Symbiotic Origin of Eukaryotic Cells
• Journal of the Royal Society Interface: Biological Information and Evolution
• PMC: Neural Crest Development and Evolution
• Cyborg Anthropology and the Merging of Technology with the Body
• Frontiers in Robotics and AI: Human–Technology Symbiosis
• HFSP: Proto-Cellular Path of Ribosomal Precursors
• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: The Evolution of Human Tool Use
• Nature: Early Stone Tools and Human Evolution
• Scientific American: Oldest Known Stone Tools Discovered
• Antiquity Journal: Liangzhu Culture and Early State Formation in China
• National Geographic: Ancient Liangzhu City and Its Water System
• China Daily: Liangzhu Ancient City Listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Archaeology Magazine: Hongshan Culture and Jade Artifacts
• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Hongshan Culture Overview
• Quaternary International: The Archaeology of the Hongshan Culture
• UNESCO: Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City

In essence, life thrives on a web of molecular conversations, which have coevolved over billions of years. “The emergence of life hinges on the development of these molecular and chemical languages—unique signaling codes that allow molecules within a living organism to coordinate harmoniously. Alexis Vallée-Bélisle a study’s lead researcher and a professor of bioengineering describes; yeast cells detecting mating pheromones, where billions of molecules engage in molecular messaging to orchestrate reproduction.

This concept of invisible molecular chatter inspires and resonates with Organic Murmuration’s, which dives into the hidden languages of nature and reimagines them through photography, 3D modeling, and digital imaging.

In these works, I photographed macro living systems in Cholula Mexico—flowering plants, colorful birds, and intricate natural textures—and manipulated their patterns using software to create imagined micro-worlds of organic 3D digital forms. The forms are generative, in that the light dark values of the photographs become the data, by which the 3D software interprets and defines the forms themselves.

As such these shapes; they become a layered, semi-living 3D world structured on this translated data that echo the language of molecules—communicating meaning through the interplay of light, shadow, and structure, much like nature’s molecular systems do. Colorful elements showing intercommunication between elements are very much a part of the aesthetic of these works.

In Organic Murmuration’s, the digital data creations ripple and flow like flocks of starlings, colonies of bacteria, or mycelial webs, except here the murmurations are data—and serve to remind us that the tiniest molecular interactions that cause he color on a feather or antennae on an insect can shape entire ecosystems—and with Organic Murmuration’s a works of art.

By fusing the science of molecular languages with artistic expression, I am exploring how the hidden codes of life can be decoded, reimagined, and shared bridging the tiny and the monumental. As we enter the realm of nanotechnology, where machines operate at the scale of single molecules, understanding these ancient molecular languages becomes increasingly vital.

Many researchers believe that to craft sophisticated, functional artificial nano systems; we must first decode and reprogram the same chemical conversations that nature has perfected over eons.

This recent research highlights two primary “molecular languages.” The first, known as allostery, acts like a precise lock and key, where one molecule binding to another changes its shape, thereby activating or deactivating vital functions. This is how countless enzymes and proteins in our bodies recognize when to initiate or terminate their tasks.

The second, called multivalency (or the chelate effect), resembles solving an intricate puzzle: when one molecule attaches to another, it creates multiple “connection points,” making it easier or harder for a third molecule to join the interaction. This multi-part binding weaves layers of control into the conversation, enhancing or diminishing the molecular signal. Until now, scientists have struggled to compare or merge these two mechanisms within a single system.

Vallée-Bélisle’s team,  cracked this puzzle by designing programmable systems using DNA—a material often favored by bioengineers.Lauzon says, “DNA is like LEGO bricks for nanoengineers—simple, flexible, and entirely programmable.”

Their experiments demonstrate that mathematical equations could describe how these molecular languages function, unlocking design rules for building new molecular devices.

For example, by harnessing multivalency, they fine-tuned how cooperative or sensitive a molecule’s response could be while allostery governed its core activation. With these insights, they engineered a DNA-based sensor capable of detecting antibodies at different concentrations—a groundbreaking tool for monitoring immunity during pandemics.

Beyond the lab, this discovery offers a perspective on why nature sometimes selects one molecular language over another. Some nano systems thrive on the nuanced control of multivalency; others rely on the straightforward elegance of allostery.

 The implications stretch beyond molecular biology—hinting at a future where art and science converge to better illuminate life’s profound intricacies, as with the Organic Murmuration working to transform hidden codes into immersive, living digital artworks.

Special Thanks:

Joao Prates and Galeria Antonio Prates at the The Centro Portuguese Serigrafia for printing these works. Edition of 3 each.

Exhibitions

RASQUACHE RESIDENCY                                                                   Cholula, Puebla MEXICO, July 2016
Maria Rodriguez-Winter invited the exhibition of new drawing robots, and Organic Murmurations (formerly Cholula Murmurations) and vertical light architecture in association with the Sofia Quintero Art and Cultural Center and Rasquache Director Federico Cuatlacuatl.

MUSEAU MUNICIPAL DE PENAFIEL                                                                             Penafiel, Portugal, Nov -Dec 2016
Organic Murmurations curated by Maria Manuela Lopes

934 GALLERY                                                                                                                   Columbus, Ohio, Nov 21- Dec 13, 2025
Synthetic Evolution, Artificial Intelligence and Art and SIGNS. Invited by Gallery Staff.

SP/N GALLERY                                                                                                                               Dallas, Texas, Feb 7-Apr 25, 2026
Organic Worlds: Symbiogenesis in Art presents the World wide premiere of Symbiogenesis, and Anicca Antennae-Soil as Brain; robotic beings, as avatars to insects, soil and bacteria as well as The Evolution of Information = Life, Organic Murmurations, 1-SIGN, 3 Story Robots 3D Animation, a two person exhibition with Amy Youngs. Invited commissioned by Professor Dr Charissa Terranova. .  

Through this work, I invite viewers to sense the invisible murmurs that animate all living systems—and to imagine how, like these tiny molecular messages, art too can ripple outward to shape the living world.

Click for Full Screen

The browser-based artwork the “Anthropogenic Slot Machine” combines the concept of gambling with the alarming decline of wildlife and plant populations worldwide.

Our addiction to fossil fuels, deforestation, and destructive land use policies are endangering these precious species. When you spin the wheels of the Anthropogenic Slot Machine, the sounds you hear represent extinct or endangered animals.

If one of the three windows displays a carbon-polluting machine, the screen turns blood red, and you’ll hear the sounds of industry and polluting machines. However, if you land on all nature, you’ll hear the sounds of birds and pure nature untouched by carbon emissions.

Linking the addictive nature of gambling with the loss of wildlife and their habitats is fitting, as our excessive consumption of the earth’s resources continues with every press of the gas pedal.

According to the Living Planet Index by the World Wildlife Fund, wild animal populations have declined by almost 70% in the past 50 years. This assessment highlights the devastating impact on plants, animals, and insects, primarily caused by human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels. The World Wildlife Fund studied more than 5,200 species for its Living Planet Report, and found that out of the nearly 32,000 populations analyzed, there was an average decline of 69% since 1970. Up to 2.5% of mammals, fish, reptiles, birds and amphibians have already gone extinct, the report says. Recent studies estimate about eight million species on Earth, of which at least 15,000 are threatened with extinction.

Current estimates are 150 to 200 billion tonnes of carbon is fixed in the forests of the Amazon, equivalent to 550 to 740 billion tonnes of CO2, or 10 to 15 times more than our annual greenhouse gas emissions. Lakes and oceans are also under assault as the WWF index found declines in freshwater species exceeded those in other habitats, with an 83% population fall. 

The tragic reality is that the oceans absorb the heat equivalent of seven Hiroshima nuclear explosions every second from all the fossil fuels humans are burning. A Kiloton is an explosive power equivalent to 1,000 tons of TNT. Fifteen kilotons every second is the same as 1,296,000,000 kilotons each day.

The main drivers of wildlife loss on land are habitat degradation due to farming, developments, animal exploitation, and the introduction of invasive species. Pollution, climate change, and disease also play significant roles in these international declines as global warming stress animal and plant populations.

One primary cause was wasteful agricultural practices, which may collapse our global food chain. These practices are responsible for more than 80% of deforestation. Agricultural runoff and ocean overfishing are also driving a collapse of fishery stocks and populations in those delicate habitats. Increasing conservation & restoration efforts, while producing and consuming food more sustainably and decarbonizing human industry can help alleviate the dual crises of climate change, and biodiversity loss. 

Mr. Lambertini. of WWF says, “We need to stress that nature loss is not just a moral issue of our duty to protect the rest of the world. It is actually an issue of material value and security for humanity.”

The population losses were not equally spread throughout the planet, sighting Europe, for example, which saw an 18% decline in wildlife populations.

In Africa, things are direr as 70% of human livelihoods rely on natural systems for survival and food, and the report shows a 66% decline in wildlife populations between 1970 and 2022.

We have treated these plant, insect, and animal populations and the earth they depend on like a slot game. Regretfully this is a game where we all lose.

This artwork allows us to realize we are gambling on the future health of all these species, necessary biodiversity, and our species’ survival.

Soil Babies by Ken Rinaldo and Amy Youngs was a crowd-sourced edible sculpture intervention created with a group of artists who wanted to learn about compost and soil regeneration. Together, we designed a “worm bassinet,” an art-science cradle for red wriggler worms, where miniature edible sculptures were placed as both nourishment and art. Over time, these sculptures were deconstructed by the worms, turning ephemeral art into rich compost. This process simultaneously fed the worms and enriched the soil, while also nourishing a community’s awareness of vermicomposting as a regenerative practice—one that addresses climate change and promotes healthier ecosystems.

The work embodied an interspecies collaboration, bringing together human artists, worms, and the vast bacterial cultures that inhabit the worms’ microbiomes. These gut microbes play a vital role in decomposing organic matter, breaking down complex plant fibers, and creating nutrient-rich castings that enhance soil fertility. Recent studies have shown that earthworm digestion stimulates beneficial microbial activity, increasing the bioavailability of nitrogen and phosphorus, which are critical for plant growth.

Our process began with locally sourced organic waste—waste paper, watermelon rinds, and vegetables grown on-site. We hand-crafted these materials into small sculptures, each a unique form designed to invite both human contemplation and worm consumption. These sculptures were placed in the bassinet for the worms to consume over days and weeks, allowing their slow transformation to be both a visible and an ecological act.

This work addressed one of the major environmental challenges of our time: methane emissions from landfills. Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, has a global warming potential more than 25 times that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period. According to recent research, organic waste in landfills is responsible for at least 17% of global methane emissions. By diverting organic matter into small-scale vermicomposting systems, we can significantly reduce these emissions while creating a closed-loop system of nutrient cycling.

Red wriggler worms (Eisenia fetida) are particularly suited for this kind of work. They thrive in contained environments, rapidly process organic waste, and produce “worm tea,” a nutrient-rich liquid fertilizer. In our bassinet design, the baby’s arm and foot collected this worm tea, symbolically linking human care to ecological care. This tea, rich in beneficial microorganisms, can improve plant immunity and enhance soil microbiome diversity.

The project also used technology to bridge art, science, and public engagement. A Raspberry Pi and miniature camera system were installed to livestream the worms’ interaction with the sculptures. Gallery visitors could watch in real time as worms nibbled, tunneled, and slowly integrated the sculptures into the living soil. This act of witnessing made the normally hidden processes of decomposition visible, reframing decay as an act of creation.

Once the exhibition concluded, the enriched soil and worms were returned to the farm on the gallery site, where they continued their work in a larger ecological context. This closed-loop approach mirrors regenerative agricultural practices, which emphasize building soil health rather than depleting it. Recent research into soil microbiomes underscores that a single teaspoon of healthy soil can contain up to one billion microorganisms, representing thousands of species—fungi, bacteria, archaea, and protozoa—all interacting in a complex web of nutrient exchange. Worms are keystone species in this network, enhancing microbial diversity and facilitating carbon sequestration.

Ultimately, Soil Babies was both an artwork and an ecological intervention. It invited participants to see themselves as part of a living, interdependent system, where waste is not an end but a beginning. The project encouraged a shift in perspective—from seeing soil as inert matter to recognizing it as a vibrant, intelligent community. What we eat and discard can become food for others—worms, microbes, and plants—continuing a cycle that sustains life across species and generations.

Exhibitions

VISIBLE RECORDS                             Charlottesville, Virginia, Aug 1-Sept 13
The Tihua Tocha Exhibition invites The Weight of Sunshine mobiles, stabile sculptures along with the Soil Babies by Ken Rinaldo and Amy Youngs, and version two of Angel of Car of Death (Carro Angel de Muerte) invited and curated by Federico Cuatlacuatl.

References:

• Dume, B., et al. (2021). Carbon Dioxide and Methane Emissions during the Composting and Vermicomposting of Sewage Sludge… Atmosphere, 12(11), 1380.
• Hwang, H. Y., et al. (2022). Addition of Earthworm Castings Reduces Gas Emissions and Improves Compost Quality. Applied Biological Chemistry, 65, 27.
• Impact of Vermicomposting on Greenhouse Gas Emission: A Short Review (2025).
• Nature Communications (2023). Earthworms Do Not Significantly Contribute to GHG Emissions in Agricultural Settings.
• High‑Temperature and Earthworm Combined Composting Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Waste Management / SSRN (2023).
• Emission of Greenhouse Gases during Composting and Vermicomposting under Varying Conditions. ScienceDirect (2022).
• Henderson, Tamara. (2023). An Artist’s Ode to Worms. Hyperallergic.
• Ecological Art That’s Literally Alive. Hyperallergic (2025).
• Sekules, Veronica. (2024). Starting to See Waste as Art and Heritage. ClimateCultures.
• UNCG and Guilford College Collaborative “Compost” Exhibition (2024).
• GWENBA. Dreams of Vermi‑Computing & Other Monsters. Art Gene.
• McAllister, Lorrie (with Amy Youngs). Worm Culture Art.
• Aloi, Giovanni. Nature in Visual Culture; Antennae and Ecological Art Critiques.
• Fowkes, Maja & Reuben. Art and Climate Change. Thames & Hudson (2022).
• Brookner, Jackie. Biosculptures: Living Soil/Water Ecosystems as Public Art.