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 in version two of this project.

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.

Technical Description:

Anicca Antenna: Soil as Brain consists of a colony of custom laser-cut autonomous robotic agents integrated with a living terrarium through a real-time sensing and control system. Each robot is driven by an Arduino Mega microcontroller executing more than 6,500 lines of custom software written in the Arduino IDE. A motor drive board sits on top of the Arduino Mega. The robots operate autonomously, using front- and rear-facing active infrared sensors for collision avoidance and a digital compass to maintain orientation relative to the cardinal directions.

Each robot is equipped with a digital MP3 player containing a library of insect vocalizations that are triggered in response to events occurring within the living terrarium. Communication between the computational system and the robots occurs through infrared receivers that receive coded commands from an infrared beacon located beneath the terrarium.

A 4K webcam housed in a custom 3D-printed enclosure continuously images the terrarium and streams video to a Mac Mini running custom software developed in MAX/MSP/Jitter with OpenCV computer vision. The software tracks the movement and trajectories of isopods and springtails in real time, translating these biological behaviors into infrared command sequences transmitted by the beacon beneath the terrarium, which coordinates the robots’ movements and responses.

Each robot has four DC motors: two provide locomotion (forward, reverse, and differential steering), while two independently actuate the antennae. Rotary encoders on the antenna motors provide closed-loop position feedback, while accelerometers mounted at the tips of the antennae measure their orientation, enabling precise gesture control. Distributed LEDs communicate the robots’ internal behavioral, or “emotional,” states to viewers.

The robots operate in two behavioral modes. In Active Mode, they navigate autonomously in response to insect activity and environmental conditions. In Sleep Mode, locomotion is suspended to conserve battery power while the antennae continue slow oscillatory movements resembling REM sleep.

Additional ultrasonic sensors mounted at the tips of the antennae detect walls and nearby visitors for obstacle avoidance, while photoresistors enable the robots to orient toward the illuminated terrarium, which serves as a visual beacon. The robots are physically constrained within a circular pathway defined by a custom-shaped rug that also provides traction. Two wall-mounted displays complete the system: one visualizes the live OpenCV tracking of the insects, while the other presents a live view inside the terrarium.

The installation’s soundscape is composed using AI-assisted composition and mixed in Audacity from insect vocalizations, environmental recordings, and occasional telephone signaling tones.

Together, the biological organisms, computer vision, embedded controllers, robotics, sound synthesis, and audience interactions form a cybernetic feedback architecture in which living activity drives computational processes that continuously generate adaptive robotic behaviors. Rather than functioning as a linear input-output system, the installation establishes a closed feedback loop where biological activity, robotic responses, and human presence continually influence one another.

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

Ken Rinaldo: Concept, production, design, programming and soundtrack

Special Thanks

Trademark Gunderson for his MAX MSP and Jitter coding on this project, as well as the Anicca robots coding.
Devin Powell for his Arduino coding for two years on this project as we 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.
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.
Kevin Wolf Manufacturing engineering specializing in design, machining & research 3D printing – for identifying and sharing interns with me.

Supply and software 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 

Sonauto.com AI Generation of soundtrack and The Museum of Biological Diversity remixed in Audacity.

Insect Recordings
The Museum of Biological Diversity The Ohio State University

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.    

THE EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER VISION (ECCV)                    Malmö, Sweden, September 8 – 12th, 2026
Anicca Antenna: Soil as Brain video T Malmö Arena and Malmömässan invited by curator Luba Elliott & Ioannis Siglidis

CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS, UNIVERSITY OF ARTS                                                           LONDON, ENGLAND, JULY 5, 2027
Workshop Anicca Antenna: Soil as Brain and other artists for Modeling Organisms curated by Dr Heather Barnett, Regine Rapp and Christian De Lutz

ART LABORATORY BERLIN                                                                                       Berlin, Germany, September 2027, 2027
Workshop Anicca Antenna: Soil as Brain  and other artists for Modelling Organisms curated by Dr Heather Barnett, Regine Rapp, Christian De Lutz

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

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

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.

Together WE, with water, light, stone, minerals, air, and atmosphere, have come to form a holobiont. A holobiont is a complex and dynamic ecosystem composed of hologenomes. The intertwining of the host genome (us) and other associated microbial genomes determine this ecosystem’s future.

This installation consists of collection units (fans in Plexiglas boxes with filters) that collect human skin cells, bacteria, fungi, and viruses riding with you. As you enter the gallery, infrared sensors are hooked to microprocessors, switch the collection units on, and filter the air. The cell samples collected on these filters will be grown in sealed Petri dishes, as holobiome-snapshots, contained in a present earth-time. The miniature fans and filter systems I created collect humans and all other DNA in the room.

Therefore this work and technology can also be used to sequence and determine who is in the room with the human participants, including insects, microbes, fungi, and lichens. etc., using metagenomic sequencing.

In 2022 Elizabeth Claire, a molecular ecologist at the York University of Toronto, and Kristine Bohmann at the Globe Institute in Copenhagen, also created collection units to collect DNA from the air and determine the constituents of a zoo, for example. It was exciting to find this scientific research as confirmation of my art/science practice, which was produced in 2020. It was also nice to see these two researchers found the same method I used in the Scatter Surge installation, however I admired they were able to use polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to look at the DNA sequences.

In my case, I grew the collected samples in Agar mostly to look at the microbial communities.

The stones in the installation reference different earth times, and the unique mineral elements that constitute them are also the substrate of life. For example, the iron in our blood originates in dying supernova stars.

Other essential amino acids of our bodies originate in the elements of these same rocks and stones. The stones here are between 4.7 billion to a few hundred million years old. Some have crystalline structures that have been part of giving rise to early life. Others are visibly fossils, where life had already developed on the earth and left its imprint on these ancient fossils.

This element of the installation was partially inspired by this video Life’s Rocky Start.

On the branches, supporting both the stones and holobiome-collection-units, lichen is growing a fungus, symbiotically joined with algae. The term ‘holobiont’ originated when Dr. Lynne Margulis observed and theorized about the complex symbiotic relationships in lichens in her theory of symbiogenesis.

Our collective intelligence and mineral substrates’ unique properties and material nature have now been exploited with technological advances, as silica has been turned into silicon.

Computers and algorithmic logic have given rise to artificial intelligence, and AI now plays a significant role in identifying, categorizing, and forming the world. AI has become a fundamental part of our evolution as a species.

We are “becoming with” with the algorithm, functioning as idea amplification devices, allowing life-like simulations and artificial life to bloom.

The curator Claudia Berlinski videotaped this excellent performance during the show’s run. I loved the flute, fans, and piano coming together with all that musical cellular dust.

The Seed Series, in the background, looks at the logic of plants, their evolved wisdom, and agency, using wind, water, and fur to propagate their genes. We can understand that logic, and those growth strategies can then be applied to computer algorithms to help shape and create phantasmagorical seeds. Seeds that do not naturally exist, but through software, design strategies, and speculative fiction, can come into existence.

This Seed Series also speaks to the ease with which we can use CRISPR Cas9 genetic manipulation technologies to shape actual genetic variants. CRISPR Cas9, genetic scissors, allow more precise editing of genes and will enable the creation of designer seeds beyond our wildest imaginations, where plants and animal genes can be mixed.

Amazingly, this technology was adapted from a naturally occurring genome editing system that evolved in bacteria and was later discovered by Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna.

In the Seed Series, I use 3D software to propose these conflations of plant, animal, bacteria, and insects, all coming together into speculative fabrications. The Seed Series defines ways to understand, make, and rethink our relationship with artificially constructed, non-human others.

Additionally, symbiotic microorganisms occupy a wide range of skin niches, providing vital functions that the human genome had not yet evolved while symbiotically protecting against invasion by more pathogenic organisms.

The cell samples collected on these filters will be grown in sealed Petri dishes, as holobiome-snapshots, contained in a present earth-time.

The stones in this exhibition are between 4.7 billion to a few hundred million years old. Some have crystalline structures that have been part of giving rise to early life.

Others are visibly fossils, where life had already developed on the earth and left its imprint in these now ancient fossils.

On the branches, supporting both the stones and holobiome-collection-units, lichen is growing.  Lichen is a fungus symbiotically joined with algae. In this installation, I am particularly interested in asking questions about the skin cells, which can become any cell as I-Pluripotent Stem Cells, and their relationships with the microbes that tune them.

Our collective intelligence and mineral substrates’ unique properties and material nature have now been exploited with technological advances, as silica has been engineered into silicon.

With this silicon and robotic control technology, we can now begin to replicate some responsive and purposeful behaviors in artificial life systems.

These works automatically switch on when humans enter space and collect their skin cells.

What is the relationship between bacteria, fungi, and viruses that interact daily with those cells in tuning them and keeping them healthy?

A new study discovers that common skin bacteria can protect against cancer. Researchers say a strain of Staphylococcus Epidermidis highlights the importance of some microorganisms to the health of the human body.

Scientists have discovered that bacteria can also be used to prevent and treat various forms of cancer, and the study’s results are in the journal Science Advances. The scientists described the strain of Staphylococcus Epidermidis and how this bacteria secretes a chemical that eliminates harmful bacteria known to be responsible for infections.

Exhibitions:

GREAT PLAINS NATURE CENTER                                                                                        Wichita, Kansas, April 26, 2024
Earth Day showing; the Opera for Dying Insects and Scatter Surge video works. Winner of first prize in the adult video category. Invited by curator Tatiana Larsen. 

ART & SCIENCE CENTER ITMO                                                                                      St Petersburg, Russia, June 20-21
101. ALL IN ONE invites a presentation on my artworks curated by Aliya Sakhariyeva, Head of the Art & Science Center at ITMO University.

UGO CARA MUSEUM OF MODERN ART                                                                                 Muggia, Italy, Sept, 21 2020
ROBOTICS; ARTE E ROBOTICA invites the worldwide premiere of the Opera for Dying Insects and Scatter Surge curated by Maria Campetelli.

THE NEW ART FESTIVAL                                                                                Lisbon, Portugal, July 29-Sept 16, 2020
Pandemia invites The Opera for Dying Insects and Scatter Surge video works,  curated by ANTÓNIO CERVEIRA PINTO.

ARS ELECTRONICA 2020                                                                                                Linz, Austria, 9-13-Sept 2020
Acquired Immunity invites The Opera for Dying Insects and Scatter Surge video works curated by Marta De Menezes.

ISEA INTERNATIONAL                                                                                                         Montreal, Canada, OCT 2020
Present a paper Symbiotic Intertwining from Parasites for Symbionts as part of the Conference Why Sentience? Opera for Dying Insects and Scatter Surge video works Invited by Elizabeth Demaray.

MCDONOUGH MUSEUM OF ART                                                                               Youngstown, Ohio Jan 24, 2020
Scatter Surge exhibition presents the installation,  I Pluripotent,  a worldwide premiere, surrounding microbiome and holobiome portraits, origins of life, and the Seed Series, invited by director Claudia Berlinski.

Ken Rinaldo 2019; Concept, 3D modeling, rendering, fabrication, electronics, programming, and direction

TradeMark Gunderson; Plexiglass Fabrication and studio assistant

Pen Anders; studio assistant tying off stones with monofilament

Animal agriculture resulting in deforestation, ocean dead zones, biodiversity loss, and pesticide pollution contribute to this dangerous extinction. One recent study estimated that insect populations have declined by 40% since scientists have tracked populations.

In 2017, a 27-year-long population monitoring study revealed a 76% decline in flying insects alone, which will provoke cascading effects on food webs and jeopardize ecosystems.

As insects are at the base of the food chain critical to pollination, this is a truly global tragedy with implications for the environment beyond human food systems. For example, 80% of wild plants depend on insects for pollination, while 60% of birds rely on insects as a primary food source.

The Opera of Dying Insects’ sound and video work wishes to address this issue with an interspecies opera that is auto-composed by insects eating a moist log. Opera was chosen as a language of communication to simulate human emotion. At the same time, images of colorful, morphologically fascinating, and nearly extinct insects are featured in this work’s video channel.

In this work, the pillbugs (Armadillidium Vulgare) live in a constructed paradise of green mosses and microgreens within a moist environment as they slowly eat and deconstruct a wet log. They co-exist in this constructed ecosystem with domestic insects such as leafhoppers, species of lichens, fungi, and bacteria.

These “bugs” are not insects, though they are crustaceans closely resembling crabs and shrimp. The characteristic behavior of these crustaceans is they can roll up into a ball when they feel threatened or if the environment is too dry.

They are essential to the ecosystem as they return organic matter to the soil so that it may be digested further by fungi, protozoans, and bacteria. This process produces a natural supply of nitrates, phosphates, and other vital nutrients that plants need to thrive.

Their ancestors lived in the ocean. However, ancient pill bugs crawled out of the sea millions of years ago to carve a life for themselves on dry land. Like their ocean ancestors, pill bugs have gills that work great in water or moist environments. Their gills are exposed mucous membranes that absorb oxygen into the blood that feeds the rest of the body.

For installation of this work in foreign lands, woodlice (pillbugs) are on every continent of earth, and the natural insects and soil to construct the ecosystem, are always sourced locally vs. flying them about.

In the installation, cameras connected to artificial intelligence software view the inside of the constructed ecosystem. Bright projectors project to the walls of the building with large-scale views of this micro-world. When the software senses the pillbugs eating or moving about, these inside images are mixed with video images, also projected to the walls of the installation. Current insect species already extinct or threatened with extinction are also remixed in the videos.

The musical and operatic parts are mixed and remixed from current and past tragic operas, and they are triggered through MAX MSP and Jitter software playing through amplified computer speakers.  

Soil: As part of the work, a transplanted cube of the earth is harvested from a local natural forest.

I will perform a “soil transplant,” where I take a small 40 centimeters x 40 centimeters x 23-centimeter-deep cube of soil with branch and pill bugs and transplant that into the glass vitrine with moist mosses. When the exhibition is complete, the cube of the earth is placed back into a local arboreal forest.

As the insects eat and mate in the glass vitrine, their movements are sensed with video cameras and analyzed with artificial intelligence software to determine their location and speed. The data derived from these movements trigger portions of these AI-generated auto-scripted operas that have been partially composed using the AI software.

To generate the opera, we use existing and custom recordings of insects and opera recordings and the software, allowing one sound to morph into the other seamlessly.

As people observe the large projected images of the pill bugs and other insect cast members in this work to view their micro-world at a scale of their own. This allows humans to notice their subtlety and beauty and realize that we must cease dismissing insects’ importance in our ecosystems.

In many ways, pillbugs are miraculous creatures as they cleanse the soils of heavy metals and are considered hyperaccumulators are pulling lead and heavy metals from the ground. Their ability to safely remove heavy metals from soil can be important for cleaning up soil pollutants such as cadmium and arsenic. In coal spoils, for example, and slag heaps, pill bugs can survive and prosper. When they take in heavy metals, they crystallize these ions in their guts, which become spherical deposits in their midgut. With this ability, pillbugs can survive in the most contaminated sites where most creatures can’t.

In 2015, a study by Yale and other universities found that pill bugs play a crucial role in controlling the global climate. By consuming fungus, pillbugs are responsible for breaking down organic matter in the soil. This is a process that releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As our atmosphere warms, fungal activity may increase, producing more carbon. However, when pill bugs are present, they can reduce the effects of increased temperatures by consuming more of that fungus.

Still, we must not contaminate the soils and feel these ancient arthropods while crawling from the sea are the best conductors of this opera for dying insects meant to awaken humans’ irresponsible relationship to our delicate ecosystems,

Below are 3D visuals of the original idea. To date, the Legs have been cut in steel and await a physical exhibition for full construction of the original concept with the hairy “insect” legs.

Cutting the legs in 1/4 inch plate steel on a plasma cutter. Thanks, Andrew Newbold.

Exhibitions:

THE BRADBURY ART MUSEUM                                                                                              Jonesboro, Arkansas, Aug 2026
The“more-than-human” exhibition shows The Opera for Dying Insects Two, invited and curated by Jane Tingley 

GREAT PLAINS NATURE CENTER                                                                                        Wichita, Kansas, April 26, 2024
Earth Day showing; the Opera for Dying Insects and Scatter Surge video works. Winner of first prize in the adult video category. Invited by curator Tatiana Larsen.

SVA FLAT IRON GALLERY                                           New York, NY, Sept 28-Oct 17, 2022
Darwins Paradox: A Decade of Bio Art Curated and invited by Suzanne Anker and Tarah Rhoda invites the Opera For Dying Insects

DA FESTIVAL                                                              Sophia, Bulgaria,  Oct 2021
Bulgarian premiere of the Opera of Dying Insects giving voice to dying insect populations invited by curator Galina Dimitrova-Dimova

FACTT20/21                                                                     Lisbon, Portugal March 2021
IMPROBABLE TIMES invites The Opera for Dying Insects video works  curated by Marta Demenezes and supported by Cultivamos Cultura

COSI SCIENCE FESTIVAL                                     Columbus, Ohio, May 8, 2021
Opera of Dying Insects giving voice to dying insect populations. Invited by curators COSI Science Festival Project Team; Stephen, Allie, and Josh.

ART & SCIENCE CENTER ITMO                 St Petersburg, Russia, June 20-21
101. ALL IN ONE invites a presentation on my artworks curated by Aliya Sakhariyeva, Head of the Art & Science Center at ITMO University.

UGO CARA MUSEUM OF MODERN ART             Muggia, Italy, Sept, 21 2020
ROBOTICS; ARTE E ROBOTICA invites the worldwide premiere of the Opera for Dying Insects and Scatter Surge, curated by Maria Campetelli.

THE NEW ART FESTIVAL                   Lisbon, Portugal, July 29-Sept 16, 2020
Pandemia invites The Opera for Dying Insects and Scatter Surge video works,  curated by ANTÓNIO CERVEIRA PINTO.

ARS ELECTRONICA 2020                                     Linz, Austria, 9-13-Sept 2020
Acquired Immunity invites The Opera for Dying Insects and Scatter Surge video works curated by Marta De Menezes.

DECAMERON ROW                                             New York, NY, Ongoing 2020
Invites The Opera for Dying Insects video works  curated by Sherry Huss

ISEA INTERNATIONAL                                        Montreal, Canada, OCT 2020
Present a paper Symbiotic Intertwining from Parasites for Symbionts as part of the Conference Why Sentience? Opera for Dying Insects and Scatter Surge video works Invited by Elizabeth Demaray.

Ken Rinaldo; Concept, 3D modeling, sound, rendering, and direction

Special Thanks

TradeMark Gunderson; sound engineering, video programming, Max MSP

Andrew Newbold: Plasma Cutting at The Ohio State University

References

• Algorithms and organisms – The Student Life (Harvey Mudd College student magazine), article covering Rinaldo’s talk and installation, including “Opera for Dying Insects,” highlighting its use of AI and insect extinction themes The Student Life+1Ken Rinaldo+1.

• ISEA “Why Sentience?” Proceedings – part of the symposium where Opera for Dying Insects video work was presented under “Symbiotic Intertwining from Parasites for Symbionts” curated by Elizabeth Demaray, positioning it in scholarly discourse on bio‑art and sentience Ken Rinaldo+1isea-archives.siggraph.org+1.

• Art Laboratory Berlin / Regine Rapp – curator/theoretician specializing in art‑science. Though not exclusively about Rinaldo, her broader work places Borderless Bacteria and related works (conceptually akin) in context, instrumental in situating similar bio‑art practices artlaboratory-berlin.org.

• Beyond the Human: Unstable Media Art Constructing… (Katazyna Jankovska, thesis) – discusses Ken Rinaldo’s earlier cybernetic installations (e.g. The Flock) as examples of living systems in art, reinforcing his longstanding intersection of organic behavior and media art, a lineage culminating in Opera for Dying Insects Ken Rinaldo+2thesis.eur.nl+2The Student Life+2.

• Wikipedia – Ken Rinaldo biography – while general, emphasizes his focus on interactive biological art installations, providing reliable background context Wikipedia.

• Antennae issue series (e.g. Vegetal Entanglements, Speculative Taxidermy) – Edited by Giovanni Aloi, these essay collections explore plant and animal agency in contemporary art, providing curatorial and theoretical resonance to Rinaldo’s insect‑centric bio‑opera works saic.academia.edu.

The Suckle Bots are a series of cuddly robots about the size of a human fetus.

As with most mammals, they have multiple nipples. These interactive works are chewelry for adults and feature sculpted soft nipples. Mothering behavior is accepted as a primary way to change your brain and is THE central physiological act of altering our brain structurally, functionally, and neurologically.

Breastfeeding mothers and babies are often called a dyad. Here two individuals become attuned to each other through affection and feeding and can be thought of as a kind of unit composed of two individuals.

Scientists have referred to this as ‘limbic regulation. It is a remarkable natural phenomenon whereby the mother and (now father) can neurologically and chemically sync with their artificial Suckle Bot.

The San Francisco University brain plasticity expert, Michael Merzenich, has researched breastfeeding. He describes this act as a form of changing one’s identity, for a child (and now robot) and mother/father, that can irreversibly alter both brains.

They are created with a soft latex pink rubber and feel like human skin.

Rapley and Murkett, in 2012, have found that breastfeeding actually forges new neurochemical pathways in the mother and (now father’s brain) that can create and reinforce maternal behavior. This is aided by chemical imprinting and allows a massive increase in oxytocin.

Hahn-Holbrook 2011 has found that these changes can result in a motivated, highly attentive, and aggressively protected brain that can compel the breastfeeding individual to alter their priorities in life. There is also a hormonal cascade making the mom, and now dad wants to respond to their Suckle Bot and help them more effectively be attentive to the Suckle Bot’s needs and the needs of others in the creation of nurturance and mutually supportive behaviors.

It is a well-proven fact now that when a mother nurses, her blood oxytocin levels remarkably increase, and her body makes more receptors that permanently increase their feelings of love and ability to feel loved by the other. To give you another example of oxytocin’s potency, male prairie voles were given a shot of oxytocin and were converted from sex-seeking bachelors into nurturing husbands and fathers.

In 2006, the researching male prairie voles, Ellison, discovered that roving-eyed males could be converted into nurturing husbands and fathers, given a shot of oxytocin.

In an age where we depend on cell phones and other electronic devices that often bring us bad news, these are designed as objects of affection and suckling and can only increase happiness and care.

Some models are designed with a yellow chain to add street credibility and make it easier to carry them around to work.

Some models can take your liquids and allow you to suckle and receive them as you nurse them. Some models vibrate in response to suckling and pressure at the artificial nipples.

They can accept all liquids, including breast milk and apple juice if you like. Other models have ripples around the nipples to allow bacterial seeding to develop a healthy microbiome. Some models will have inserts for pill-based microbes to make your microbiome happy.

As the microbiome and your overall health are also intertwined, these may be the first health-based prosthetic Suckle Bots on the planet.

The Suckle Bots are a fashion statement that says to the world, “you are not afraid to be affectionate,” to even an artificial robotic suckling device.

Suckling is at the heart of our survival as mammals. Indeed even the word for MAMA comes from the baby drawing air into its mouth while feeding its mother’s breast milk.

For breastfeeding moms and now dads, it’s an uplifting act. The longer and more often a baby or adult suckles, the more it can trigger the prolactin-oxytocin responses in the mother and father’s brains. This can increase and create elevated numbers of connections. Pretty soon, the mother/father forges enough receptors that she/he can feel natural breasts tingling and leaking at the sight, sound, or merely passing thought of a nursing baby.

With the Suckle Bots, you can be sure you will always have a soft companion to awaken your mothering instincts.

They can be used anywhere, and as times change, they are now entirely respectable to have in public.

Rather than dessert and sugar, you can use the Suckle Bots to allow you to displace that sugar craving and lose weight, as you will find your urges for candy and lollipops are just not as strong when you use these affection devices.

They also feel quite nice in other parts of the body, such as your ear. They are great for couples to have a moment suckling together.

They can bring you back to your childhood no matter how you suckled.

There are smaller Sucklebots available in various sizes in various colors and represent a whole family of hugable and suckable robots.

They can be used as meditative devices for thinking about other things.

And can be used quickly at home or school.

They are digitally modeled, rapid-prototyped, and coated with liquid latex rubber.

They can also be shared by couples and can create shared bonding experiences.

Humans feed the worms food waste, the worms eat and feed the plant’s worm tea, the plants inhale human CO2 and exhale oxygen, the humans breathe fresh air, and you can hug the furry planters if you like. : )

Machine Garden is a new collaborative project in which plants, constructed, and sewn grow bags, worms, fungi, and machines will coexist in a state of symbiotic intertwining. This integrated system of plants, worms, and devices allows plant roots of various varieties to reach forward and enable fungi to communicate. Connected highways constructed of tubes allow worms to travel from plant to plant, enriching the soil.

The work is a collaborative project between Ken Rinaldo and Amy Youngs.

The work is a commission of the University of Maine, located in the lobby of the Wyeth Family Studio Art Center. The building houses the Innovative Media, Research and Commercialization Center at the University of Maine.

Water comes from the worm bin on the right side and is pumped to the sewn bags with drip irrigation via micro peristaltic pumps.

Food scraps from the local cafe in the building nourish both worms and plants. The plants in the space absorb carbon dioxide from the occupants of the buildings and provide fresh oxygen to humans working within.

These bags with plants serve as a vertical air filter removing toxins. Spider Plants (Chlorophytum comosum) can remove up to 560 µG/H of formaldehyde Xylene and toluene.

English Ivy (Hdererea helix) that does wonderfully in these grow bags removes up to 579 µG/H of benzene, 402-1120 µG/H of trichloroethylene, as well as Xylene and Toluene. Golden Pothos (Philodendron cordatum) can remove up to 353 µG/H of formaldehyde. 1

Amy Youngs is an excellent collaborator working on the worm hive.

The plants will add moisture to the air and provide areas of warmth and visual focus to relax viewers as they enter and exit the building.

The worm bin will allow leachate from the worms to eat to add natural fertilizer to the indoor plants within the garden.

The garden has indoor varieties that add color and shape, integrating with the custom sculptural bags.

Various materials and processes were explored to allow the bags to remain moist and cool during hot summers and to keep all living worms and plants happy.

Interior of the space where the Machine Garden will integrate itself with the artificial and natural lungs of the building.

Special Thanks to the Director of IMRC Gene Felice and the University of Maine for this invitation and commission.

1. Wolverton, B., Bounds, K., w. (1989) A study of interior landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abat