bioWeb BIOMATERIAL + HANDCRAFT

This prototype was a partnership with Anais-karenin 🫀

The Concept

“bioWeb” is a practical investigation of biomaterial for the production of a thread for artistic purposes. The idea is to rescue the artist who not only produces the art itself, but investigates the materials and tools to reach its end.

From the mixture of materials based on algae and mycelium, and with the reinforcement of other organic components, the proposal is to produce an organic thread to be woven manually, based on Japanese handicrafts. This woven yarn comes to life again forming a sculptural organic fabric that moves through space with the help of motors and movement transfer mechanisms.

Algae and mushrooms are living things. A living being is an organism that is born, grows, reproduces and dies. To complete each of these steps, it evolves and maintains a metabolism (that is, it produces energy when it eats or breathes).

“bioWeb” starts from living organisms and tries to connect the ancestral knowledge of cultivation and the manufacture by technological machines to build a symbiotic bio-inspired network.

Presentation of Development in Tokyo

We believe that part of the “bioWeb” research focused on mycelium can grow a lot within Japan. This is because the importance that mushrooms have for Japanese culture is notorious. It probably started with the abundance of his presence in Japan, due to the country’s temperate climate and high humidity. Ancient Japanese poems comment on mushrooms being used as an exchange item.

This ancestral relationship allowed Japan to become an expert in mushroom production. About 400 years ago, during the Edo period, a charcoal producer realized that shiitake mushrooms grew in certain types of wood. Thus began the first process of controlled cultivation of mushrooms in Japan. It was a revolution in the country that has gone through time.

The proximity, in Tokyo, between the great technological centers and the rural surroundings, with areas of cultivation and maintenance of traditions with nature, favors research in practical and conceptual terms. What we want with “bioWeb” is to learn from local producers a little of the ancient techniques of mushroom cultivation to obtain the mycelium necessary for the construction of our filament. And so, being able to connect cultures, practices and poetics, locally and globally.

Team | FASCINATED BY BIO EXPERIMENTS

Lina Lopes

MANAUS, Amazonas, Brazil

Lina Lopes is an artist and designer in Digital Media, works with Video Mapping projects, interactivity and technical lighting. Degree in Film from the University of São Paulo and specialized in Lighting and Design. Currently, she is a researcher at the Pos Graduate Program at University Anhembi-Morumbi about Math and Design.

She has 10 years of experience working with Videomapping, having made several projections for exhibitions, events, international festivals and public facades. Among her international projects are interactive projections developed for facades and festivals in Barcelona, Madrid, Geneva and Frankfurt. In Brazil, she was the technical director of the FIESP facade, in Avenida Paulista (2013 and 2014). She made several immersive installations, such as La Casa Azul, a project made for the Frida Kahlo exhibition at the Tomie Ohtake Institute (2015) and Vesica Piscis, an installation with videomapping for a dance performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art (2016).

Her research covers the parametric design fields, projection mapping, prototyping, interactivity, wearables and internet of things. Her production in the field of new media permeates the concept of interactive installation, programming with Arduino, Processing, Raspberry Pi, prioritizing image manipulation projects in real time. In São Paulo, she is the founder of LILO.ZONE – a hub and prototype factory dedicated to the creative use of technology.

Anais-karenin

SÃO PAULO, São Paulo, Brazil

Anais-Karenin is an artist and researcher, her work discusses the relations with nature and its contrasts with artificial materials. From installations, sculptures, sound and performances, it establishes symbiotic relationships between distinct elements.

She studied PhD in Visual Poetry at PPGAV/USP, and is a Master of Arts from PPGArtes/UERJ, where researched aesthetics and nature in Japan through Shinto philosophy. Researcher of medicinal plants for 9 years, held national and international exhibitions, including a solo exhibition at High Pop Gallery - Tokyo (2019), and also participated in art halls and artistic residencies.