AfterLife

Installation | 2024

Life is sustained by the constant exchange of matter and energy with the environment. Cells regenerate, nutrients are absorbed, waste is expelled, all while organisms maintain their overall functions and structure. This ability to sustain integrity and identity despite constant material flux, this physical perpetual change of components, is a fundamental characteristic of life. From an observer’s perspective, life appears as a dynamic process, a complex we witness through changes in form, behaviour, and interaction with the environment. But when this process breaks down, when the organism can no longer maintain its integrity, the vibrant dance stops. All that remains is the description – the scientific observations, the digital record, the memory – a third-person perspective of a life that once thrived.

Afterlife installation explores the observation of natural life through a real-time microscopic projection of microorganisms in pond water that serves as inspiration for a synthetic ecosystem designed to give them a double digital existence. Within this simulated environment, they can adapt and potentially diverge from their natural evolutionary path.This is where fiction comes into play. The digital space allows for the creation of new evolutionary paths, new timelines, and new behaviours. The key distinction lies in the environment – natural life depends on the ever-changing natural world, while artificial life inhabits controlled, predictable environments.

Credits: programming: Cristian Balas

Endangered Order

Interactive Installation | 2023

The inspiration for “The Endangered Order” installation is drawn from a combinatorial optimization algorithm that mirrors the intelligence of a hybrid swarm of fireflies. The installation aims to bring attention to the vulnerability of non-human species in the Anthropocene era, specifically highlighting the endangerment faced by fireflies. Traditionally considered indicators of a healthy natural environment, fireflies confront their own threats, particularly from the expansion of urban spaces and resulting light pollution that diminishes the brilliance of their light pulses, disrupting their natural order.

Within the context of the “Endangered Order” installation, fireflies are depicted as ethereal, plant-like entities stripped of their cellular identity through the decellularization process. In this representation, they serve as biological remnants, symbolizing the decline of the natural world. The installation serves as a commentary on the impact of human activities on the delicate balance of ecosystems and the endangerment of species that are integral to the health of our environment.

Credits: programming: Cristian Balas | photo: Cătălin Georgescu

Somatic Object | Sensitive Dependence

Interactive Installation | 2023

In an increasingly interconnected world where the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes an integral aspect of various relationships, “Sensitive Dependence” delves into a scenario where technology seamlessly integrates as an invisible guide to our behaviors and physiological states. This dynamic interplay between control and the lack of it prompts us to question our capacity to influence the world, nature, species, and the biases that stem from these interactions.

Technically, the installation functions as a bodily extension, monitoring the heart rate and oxygen levels of visitors and transmitting this data, via Arduino, to sculptures that respond and adapt in real time. This immersive chorus of breaths and pulses serves as a reminder that binaries such as inside-outside, us/them should not be taken for granted. The transfer of states or characteristics aims to present a speculative version in which the relationship between humanity and nature involves constant exchanges and negotiations—sometimes imperceptible but always with a reciprocal impact.

Credits: programming: Cristian Balas | photo: Adrian Câtu

Somatic Object No.3

Interactive Installation | 2023

A segment of the Kinema Ikon’s Kimaera project. Kimaera consists of ten distinct parts, each crafted by a different artist. This project represents a hybrid body, an interactive digital meta-installation wherein each individual work or module operates both independently and as an integral component of the collective whole.

Somatic Object No.3 - the Kimaera’s heart is part o the Somatic Objects series - a bodily extension that monitors the heart rate and oxygen levels of the visitors and transfers this data (via Arduino) to some sculptures that respond and adapt in real time. In this scenario, silicone replicas of leaves are interpreting the heart rate data of visitors, black textile inflatable objects are simulating their breathing while their simple presence generates vibrations in an cymatics experiment.

Credits: Programming: Cristian Balas | Photo: Călin Man

Somatic Object No.1

Interactive Installation | 2022

Interactive kinetic installation that uses as input the reading of some physiological data and their visual interpretation as part of a narrative about the human-natural environment relationship. In an increasingly interconnected world where IoT becomes integral part of any form of relationship, “Somatic Object” explores such a scenario where technology becomes an invisible guide to our behaviors, our physiological states, where the dynamic between control and lack of it stimulates us to question our capacity to act on the world, on nature, on species and the biases that derive from them. Technically, the installation is a bodily extension that monitors the heart rate and oxygen levels of the visitors and transfers this data (via Arduino) to some sculptures that respond and adapt in real time - a kind of immersive chorus of breaths and pulses, reminding us that binaries such as inside-outside, us/them should not be taken for granted. This transfer of state or characteristics aims to present a speculative version, in which the relationship between man and nature involves constant exchanges and negotiations, sometimes imperceptible, but always with a biunivocal impact.

Credits: Programming: Cristian Balas | Sound: Cătălin Creţu | Photo: Tudor Popa

Somatic Object No.2

Interactive Installation | 2022

Interactive kinetic installation that uses as input the reading of some physiological data and their visual interpretation as part of a narrative about the human-natural environment relationship. In an increasingly interconnected world where IoT becomes integral part of any form of relationship, “Somatic Object” explores such a scenario where technology becomes an invisible guide to our behaviors, our physiological states, where the dynamic between control and lack of it stimulates us to question our capacity to act on the world, on nature, on species and the biases that derive from them. Technically, the installation is a bodily extension that monitors the heart rate and oxygen levels of the visitors and transfers this data (via Arduino) to some sculptures that respond and adapt in real time - a kind of immersive chorus of breaths and pulses, reminding us that binaries such as inside-outside, us/them should not be taken for granted. This transfer of state or characteristics aims to present a speculative version, in which the relationship between man and nature involves constant exchanges and negotiations, sometimes imperceptible, but always with a biunivocal impact

Credits: Programming: Cristian Balas | Sound: Cătălin Creţu | Photo: Tudor Popa

A Sculpture for a Thousand People

Interactive Installation | 2022

We cannot recognize the unique pattern of our own fingerprint, yet we have so many objects that do respond to it. This identity marker unlocks our technological gadgets and assets. “A Sculpture for One Thousand People” can store and interpret 1000 fingerprints. The installation uses the reading of the numerical data recorded by a common fingerprint sensor and transforms it into sound frequencies. Then, these frequencies are played by a speaker inside a cymatics device, generating a visual pattern onto a liquid medium. The visual and sonic pattern become visible only by saving the fingerprint into the sensor’s memory, this way, alluding to the restrictive relation we have to objects we own or we call our own. “A Sculpture for One Thousand People” eventually becomes an object dedicated to 1000 viewers, an object that owns 1000 fingerprints data.

Credits: Programming: Cristian Balas | Sound: Cătălin Creţu | Photo: Tudor Popa

Sensitive Objects

Kinetic Installation | 2021

• extracellular matrix (ECM) of vegetal tissues obtained via decellularization process, isopropyl alcohol, antifreeze
• Silicone replicas of vegetal tissues moved as a result of electronic sensors connected to motors programmed by arduino boards

The “Sensitive Objects” installation explores the relationship between man and nature, between natural and artificial, between copy and original. The installation consists of a collection of iterated objects (natural and artificial), with decomposed features or swapped details, objects that transit the boundaries between real and fiction in an attempt to find new narratives about the human-exterior relation. One such narrative is proposed by the combination of biological materials (decellularized leaves) with non-biological materials (silicone leaves) whose visual resemblance creates uncertainty about the identity or integrity of matter. The other narrative is linked to the movement of the silicone leaves- a scenario that aims to illustrate the nastic movements of the plant world but not by imitating them in bio-mimetic style, rather by a transfer of some types of movements that are specific, (by the stimuli that generates them) to human life. As follows: -a replica of a leaf is actuated by an EKG sensor, which records the pulse of my heart and transfers it as an electrical impulse to a motor moving the leaf at this rate.

• a replica of a leaf reacts to the presence of people, in its vicinity, through a sensor that records the movement and transfers it by electrical pulse to a motor.
• a replica of a leaf moves like the second hand of a clock; as long as it receives electricity it counts seconds. These types of movements specific to the way we humans relate to life, otherness and time are transferred to these plant fragments in an attempt to redefine the interconnectivity we have with the natural world. They remind us that man and nature are part of the same ontological system.

Credits: programming: Cristian Balas | photo: Robert Floria | video: Mihaela Ghita

IMplant

Kinetic Installation | 2021

• extracellular matrix (ECM) of vegetal tissues obtained via decellularization process, used as a scaffold for growing living cells
• extracellular matrix (ECM) of vegetal tissues obtained via decellularization process, implanted with artificial nanostructures that allow their movement under certain stimuli (muscular leaves)
• Artificial replicas of some vegetal tissues implanted with artificial nonostructures, which allow their movement under certain stimuli. (Soft- Phytomorphic robots)

The IMplant installation explores the relationship between biodiversity and visual identity that we don’t think about very often. The notion of ‘implant’ is central here: it provides a bridge between the visual identities of the objects we are already accustomed to and the visual questioning of these identities. By ‘implant’ one can understand the creation of new objects from the existing ones, the reiteration of the visual identity in general. The installation stages several such steps. It shows some hybrid entities / objects with a focus on how different structures/intensities influences the materiality of different bodies. These objects obtained via bioengineering techniques invite us to look at things differently, as genuine novelties, resulting from redefining familiar identities. The use of non-biological materials is used to interfere with biological systems and make us wonder about the legitimacy of this distinction and the consequences of biological fabrication. Thus, IMplant consists of a collection of iterated objects (natural and artificial), with decomposed features or swapped details, objects that transit the boundaries between species, between natural and artificial, between real and fiction in an attempt to find new narratives about the human-nature relationship.

Credits: programming: Cristian Balas | photo: Tudor Popa | scientific collaborators: Adrian Enache, Luminita Radulescu, Ionut Enculescu, Mihaela Beregoi, Mihaela Bunea @ National Institute of Materials Physics

Contamination

Bacterial cultures on decellularized vegetal tissue | 2020

Amidst the era of enforced social distancing brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, I’ve explored the intricate interplay between our physical identities and presences and the natural realm. The embodiment of this exploration is captured in “Contamination,” a series of objects - of petri dishes, each housing bacterial and mold cultures sourced from both my body and studio. These cultures thrive on decellularized leaves and flower tissues, challenging the notion that material objects are static, prepackaged entities. This project is grounded in the concept that identities and classifications of material objects are dynamic processes rather than fixed states. Our bodies, the living matter they consist of, and the various species we encounter, alongside the artifacts intertwined with our daily lives, maintain an ongoing relationship with the environment. The identity of both ourselves and these elements is shaped through a continuous negotiation among the constituent parts of this intricate whole.

Credits

Supported by the Artists Rooms Micro Grant 2020 | Fundatia9

Panspecies

Plant ECM (extracellular matrix), soft silicone sculptures | 2020

The project involves utilizing Petri dishes as vessels to showcase plant connective tissues, employing them not merely as a substrate but a white page upon which artificial silicone components are intricately arranged. This arrangement serves as a metaphor, depicting a realm devoid of gender and species distinctions, forming a landscape of substitute objects. In doing so, it offers a reflection on our diminishing biodiversity and calls for a reconsideration of identity

Uncanny Symmetry

Installation | 2019

Embedded within every object or body is a foundational substratum that serves as the basis for every visual and imaginative facet it will ever possess. In the context of ‘Uncanny Symmetry,’ the revealed tissue represents the formal matrix of a body, the scaffold on which its identity rests. The matter is obtained via biological decellularization, which strips out all the cells from a donor organ, keeping only the white, almost translucent connective tissue, and nothing else. Fiction is the only place in which the original identity still holds.

Folds & Scaffolds

Installation | 2017

“Folds and Scaffolds” explores the relationship between the unraveled aesthetic character of organic material and the way it can be revealed within an artistic practice. Within this constellation, , the image is addressed in two ways. One avenue involves viewing the image as a recognizable entity defined by form and our mental understanding of it. The other way is to see it as the result dictated by the inner rules of the material itself. The matter transforms into the medium, guiding the production of the image, unveiling its own states and embedded rules—some only partially preset, others revealed solely within the artistic process. This installation serves as the launching pad for artistic research, utilizing objects derived from bacterial cultures that are carefully crafted selected and arranged. The amalgamation features Kombucha films subjected to two distinct interventions, resulting in diverse visual outcomes. The growth trajectory of the bacterial colony is intentionally disrupted through varied means: selecting the growing medium, introducing attacks with other bacteria, fungus, chemical agents, and more. The dried Kombucha membrane undergoes alterations through processes such as oxidized drawings, photographic exposures, and form manipulation. These dynamic procedures introduce an element of uncertainty, questioning the integrity of matter and its origins as a living entity.

Metabiosis

biomaterials, bioprinting | 2015

Metabiosis delves into the experimental exploration of the aesthetics inherent in living matter, specifically a biofilm cultivated from Kombucha symbiotic cultures. Extracted from its natural habitat, the bacteria undergoes a desiccation process, giving rise to a skin-like membrane. This film undergoes an aging and oxidization process, progressively transforming its color into a richer, deeper spectrum of black-brown.

In a unique twist, modified images are printed onto sugar paper and introduced to the Kombucha biofilm. As these images imprint onto the biofilm, their visibility gradually diminishes over time, mirroring the ongoing alterations within the biological material. This process unfolds continuously, resulting in a dynamic interplay between the printed images and the evolving nature of the living biofilm