Günes Isitan / artist-researcher in biomedia arts

Bacteria and other microorganisms, as the cornerstone of agriculture, have had a tremendous impact on our sedentarization and the emergence and stability of our complex societies. Indeed, not only do they transform gases and dead or inert materials into fertile, living soil, but they also form mutually beneficial associations with plants and their seeds, improving crop yields and even enabling them to survive in many inhospitable environments. Their diversity is both impressive and paramount: for instance, a single gram of healthy agricultural soil usually contains more than 10,000 species of microbes, many of which play a key role in our food production. Neither friend nor foe – although they may sometimes seem a bit of both to us – microorganisms are therefore more than an indispensable component to life on Earth: they are one of the discreet agents that led to the establishment of our civilizations.

As a metaphor of these unseen (and unfortunately often overlooked) synergies of our world, Terraformations thus features an uncharted sky with peculiar planets: here, each planet's image is created by microorganisms found in the soil or on the skin; some images are even still alive.