Attendees examine bacterial samples at the “Art and Science of Bacteria” workshop at MIT.ARTS AT MIT, L. BARRY HETHERINGTON
On a cold January afternoon, a group of science students and artists pored over Petri dishes in the MIT Museum Studio, examining the bacteria growing within them. These were not just any bacteria: they were components of the participants’ own microbiomes, which had formed visible colonies in an incubator overnight, thanks to systems biology postdoc Tal Danino.
Danino and artist-in-residence Anicka Yi led a two-day workshop on “The Art and Science of Bacteria” as part of their scientific and artistic collaboration, set up by Meg Rotzel at MIT’s Center for Art, Science, and Technology.
“I wanted to work with bacteria on multiple levels,” Yi told the workshop attendees, describing the inspiration for her work with Danino. In addition to the traditional visual view of colorful ...
