Live Photosynthesis Performance

LIVE PHO2TOSYNTHESIS PERFORMANCE

interactive living oxygen generator

Part of THROUGH OOZE and SLIME

SOLO exhibition in Galerija Na Katu, Zagreb, HR

Jan. 2023

Project supported by the Austrian Cultural Forum in Zagreb

and the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Here you see a living oxygen generator designed for interspecies communication

with algae. It is filled with microscopic marine algae and seaweeds from

the North Seacoast of the Netherlands: Diatoma, Nannochloropsis,

Bladderwrack, Sea whistle, Devil’s Apron and Green Hair Weed.

Maaijke Middelbeek, on the road again, live photosynthesis performance

Full installation with:

Upper aquarium: bladderwrack, gutweed, green hair weed, water, marine salt, LED lights

In the middle: diatoms and nannochloropsis salina, loudspeaker, microphones,

cables, tubes, pump, oxygen masks, paper mouthpieces, LED lights

Below: bladderwrack, toothed wrack, water, marine salt, wood,

LED lights,recycled bottles. Framing galvanised steel

waterpipes - partly recycled.

Maaijke Middelbeek, live photosynthesis performance, on the road again, Künstlerhaus Wien

Algae - micro and macro algae - produce over fifty percent of our atmosphere’s oxygen. Statistically every second breath you take is produced by alga. In turn, they metabolize the carbon dioxide you exhale. There is a continuous cycle of matter between your body and the algae in the waterways of the planet.

You and algae are inseparably connected

Maaijke Middelbeek, Live Photosynthesis Performance, Through ooze and slime, phytoreactor, interspecies communication

Visitor blowing out CO2 in the algae tank, effecting the sound of

photosynthesis. For a further sound impression

<< Soundcloud link >>

Fragment of sounds of photosynthesis by Karl Stirner

Bioreactive sounddesign by Paul Gründorfer (for an impression see video)

The sound you hear is the fizzing and fizzling of photosynthesizing algae otherwise inaudible to the human ear, each sound an encounter between your breath and the chlorophyll-containing algae cells, the transformation of light into chemical energy and the crescendo of gas metamorphosis.

Video for a sound impression (best in HD)

Blow out in the machine and sing with the algae!

By blowing out CO2 in the tank the visitor becomes part of the algae's

photosynthesis performance - their participation effects the sound of

this biochemical process, that we made audible for the human ear

Bioreactive Sounddesign:Paul Gründorfer

Sound of photosynthesis: Karl Stirner

Interactive object

for interspecies communication with algae

Maaijke Middelbeek, Live Photosynthesis Performance, Through ooze and slime, phytoreactor, oxygen generator, symbiocene

Seaweeds collected in July 2022 at the North Sea coast - Vrouwenpolder and Neeltje Jans, Zeeland NL

Below - inside the upper aquarium:

Bladderwrack, Gutweed and Green Hair weed

Seaweeds making their choreographies

on the sound of photosynthesis

Detail of lower aquarium in the

installation with Bladderwrack and condensation

Seaweeds have to deal with the flood tide, with ebb and flow, and are used to periods of drought. The moment I put the dried seaweeds in the water (that I collected months before at the North Sea Coast in the Netherlands) they start to revive and release oxygen again. Not finding themselves in their natural habitat, a few days after they start to decay. Why I only showed the installation in Zagreb for 7 days.