PseudoSonication
Unlocking creativity in microbiology based music
2021-2023 Masters Art in Science Liverpool John Moores University
PseudoSonication EP
PseudoSonication EP
PseudoSonication EP available on SoundCloud
About me
The book Laboratory Life by Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar … in the laboratory
The Art in Science Masters programme at Liverpool John Moores University, encourages collaboration between artists and scientists. There is a focus on how to work at the boundary of the two disciplines and to determine how to create new work which is blend of the disciplines. However, in this project, I am both the artist and the scientist. This is not a unique position to be in, Libby Heaney is an artist exploring the area of Quantum Physics/computing, in which she also holds a doctorate and produces art using this knowledge and experience.
My background is in Microbiology. When considering areas of interest for a science-art project (Antimicrobial resistance, biofilms and the bacteria Myxococcus xanthus!) I found that I was spending quite a lot of time reading (and being interested in!) science, which really wasn't my aim for attending Art School.
I was also introduced to new concepts that I hadn't considered before such as the work of Bruno Latour and that this was an opportunity to challenge my bias on how I understand science and also some realisations on my own experience in a scientific expertise role where I am giving and repeating guidance which may not be exactly fact, "scientists were, he argued, “in the business of being convinced and convincing others” (Woolgar. S, 2022).
Therefore for collaborations, I wanted to work with creatives and somewhat move away from science or at least I observed that many bioart projects appeared to be heavily embedded in the science, such as Anna Dumitriu's works involving working directly with living organisms in a laboratory such as The Plague Dress (2018) . I did not want to spend this time in a laboratory.
Views through a scientific lens.
My scientific background gives me an advantage but also creates a barrier in that I cannot help but also judge the scientific accuracy of some works, however this is only related to my own subject area. If I am looking at work based on Quantum Physics, like that of Libby Heaney or the Arts at CERN programme, I have no concerns about its scientific accuracy and I can just enjoy the work as is. Ignorance is bliss! Reference to inaccurate use of scientific terms/ideas is also in C.P. Snow's, 'The Two Cultures', "one used to find poets conscientiously using scientific expressions and getting them wrong" so it would appear occasional lack of accuracy is something to be expected. However, correctness or accuracy is relative and changes over time as new science/technology is developed. For example such as how microorganisms are named/classified changes with increasing data. In around 1758, Linnaeus named the entire category of bacteria as Chaos infusoria, but even now it is estimated the majority (>99%) of microorganisms are unknown, you could argue that science has not moved on that much.
Diagram from the book Art Practice as Research, Inquiry in the Visual Arts by Graeme Sullivan
Unravelling Art and Science
As I built my practice, I had to confront issues with how science (microbiology) was presented and how I viewed myself as a scientist. I was lucky to be accepted on a two-day workshop at ASCUS art science laboratory, Edinburgh.
The ASCUS team wrote a blog post on the event; you can see me wearing my VR headset with the resulting VR sketches included. At the beginning of the workshop, I was asked if I was attending as an artist or a scientist. This was a really interesting question as view science only in terms of employment rather than practice. I felt like I had potentially lost something by having this attitude to science.
The diagram to the left, from Art Practice as Research by Graeme Sullivan I felt represented the process of my developing practice, the unravelling of the existing rope of ideas and the rebuilding with new concepts, although within the same fundamental rope/process, combining the science I already know with my art practice.
Working with sound
My practice is based in bioart and microbiology. My interest in sound began with the need to add sound to enhance visual work, however, this developed into my focus for my major project. It also gave me the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary way with James Goodison a musician/artist and part of the band “Klaut” whose music studio is part of the art community/building where I have a small studio, 'Fairfield and Howley Neighbourhood Project" also known as "The Old School" However this soon developed into my own interest in music and sound art.
My musical skills are minimal, but not non-existent. In secondary school: I played violin and clarinet in the school orchestra and string and woodwind groups and I sang in the choir. I also have a basic understanding of musical notation. All this does not make me a musician, but my interest has resurfaced within this project. Fortunately, I was the lucky recipient of the Michael Pugh Thomas and Julia Carter Preston Legacy Scholarship in 2022, from Liverpool John Moores University, which enabled me to fund the purchase of my own instruments, which will be described later.
About the project
Pseudo-sonication is comprised of four key projects, Labophone and lab sounds, Microbiological Mapping on the Tenori-On and Genetic sonication of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, these approaches easily interact with each other, I am describing 'rhizobial', due to the interconnected nature of the work.
One of the objectives of the work was to develop music sound methodologies, which I can use for future projects another is to produce music at the interface of art and science (microbiology), which was focused on entertainment rather than pedagogy but impeded in microbiology. Also, I hope to find new knowledge and to do this I will review bioart/microbiology-based music to consider if there are unexplored areas in microbiological sound.
The final output from the project will be an EP of music/songs available on SoundCloud and this public-facing website.
Summary of Aims
Review and identify gaps in microbiology-based sound/ music and contribute to fill that gap
How can Microbiological information be translated into sound?
Objectives
Develop a toolbox of sound methods as part of my practice in the future
Methodology that can be used across multiple bioart projects
Microbiology-relevant sound that can be used to accompany visual projects
Output
SoundCloud based EP of 3 tracks representing the techniques used
Public facing website
PseudoSonication – as a title reflects both the inclusion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and also is a final reflection of the falseness/gap between art and science