Nature offers us endless ways to play and be inspired. Especially when it comes to the little things that we can hardly see with our eyes. There is bacterial art that can be cultured into fabric and Stella McCartney fashion to sculptures made from bees that surround ceramic objects with real life honeycomb. Or how about the art submerged under the sea to be built on by coral reefs building their homes?
A Russian artist Daria Fedorova helps us overcome our fear of the invisible by creating art from bacteria on petri dishes. Since Covid we all have had an a rational and irrational fear of germs but Daria helps us see the decomposition and bacteria artfully in color and form.
Dasha grows bacteria and other organisms on petri dishes and agar before applying tiny fluffy balls with sugar and sprinkles into the mix. The additions of texture and color spark the imagination and make bacteria seem playful rather than fear-inducing. Unlike viruses, you can see bacterial growth with your eyes. The shapes are fuzzy and slimy, with coils and strings and shapes from a Doctor Seuss story.
The creations are built over about three and four weeks from what’s around us: “We are all swimming in the ocean of tiny spores and organisms, breathing them in, and carrying them on the top of our skin and inside the body. I was interested in this parallel between the physical world we can see and touch and also another physical world, which also presents, but is kind of metaphysical, invisible, somewhere between the air layers, vibrations, energies, nature,” she says on her art website.
“The way of my seeding is extremely different from the microbiological practices, so I have no incubators, and sterility, it happens as naturally as you cooking your meal. That is why all of these compositions looks so different and fulfilled, I’m not trying to get rid of some – i just appreciate their variable chaos. But also have kinda unwanted species, which covers all the area in just several hours, so I can’t see what is underneath, for example mucor, looks like a huge cotton candy.”
Explore Plesen’s works on Instagram and be inspired.
Plesen’s work falls into decades of art in petri dishes which we’ve covered over the years. Brad Pitt’s rumored girlfriend Neri Oxman’s idea of living clothes was born out of the lab at Tel Aviv University. Sarine Zaken was the world’s first designer to incorporate living bacteria into clothing and jewelry that people can actually wear. The third year student at Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, the young Israeli fantasized about incorporating something alive into her final project.
Other “living” ideas for petri dishes you can save from the Biology lab recycling bin:
- mini terrariums can be grown in them. Terrariums are encased plant and sometimes small animal systems that need no external nutrients or water for growth
- Germinate seeds inside a petri dish on a damp paper towel. Replant the seeds that grow.
- Observe objects and living organisms using a magnifying glass, containing them in a petri dish
- Use petri dishes as mini canvases for painting
- Use them as see-through molds for creative treats.
