What does it mean to be a Bio Artist?

 

Dasha Plesen aka Daria Fedorova a “multidisciplinary artist, developing a unique methodology of artistic cultivation of microorganisms.Using different supplements she combines microbiological practice with art phenomena. Grotesque, bizarre, romantic, ironic, hyperbolic, extraordinaire - just a few to describe what her works are.”

Abstract art comes in many shapes, colors, patterns, and sizes but it is not so ordinary to create art in a petri dish. Daria Fedorova is an example of what we now call a bio artist. She’s a Moscow-based multidisciplinary artist who creates macro photography, prints, and even logos exploring microbiology for the sake of art. Dasha Plesen (her artistic name) combines a series of different microorganisms with which we come in contact daily cultivating and incubating them thus bringing to the visible human eye what usually seems invisible. Dasha’s process works with “seeding” as her creations involve the performance of her collecting microorganisms present in the air, in everyday objects, and in her own body. These organisms are then put in an environment with a nutrient canvas base and as they grow in their period of incubation they begin to form different colors, textures, interesting patterns, and overlayers that give this type of art personality and uniqueness. We could say the artist is the mediator between the arts’ visibility and existence. She feeds her art as the microbiome also needs nutrients to grow. In this way, Dasha fills the bottom of a petri dish with a nutrient-filled solution made in her kitchen that can also be shaped by a mould if she wants to. To enhance the visual outcome and feed the microbiome she then adds more “ingredients” ranging from actual food to introducing yeasts, spices, or biofilms also adding occasionally some ink or paint to make colors more vibrant and contrasting. Then, samples are collected from her assortment of organisms or taken directly from the skin using swabs. These swabs are then applied to a growth medium, where they are left to develop for a period ranging from two to six weeks. Maintaining a controlled environment is crucial for promoting ideal growth. It’s essential to replicate the same temperature conditions that the organisms would experience in their natural habitat. For instance, if the swabs are from the skin, the temperature must match that of the human body. Since the organisms are given minimal interference during their growth, the outcomes can differ depending on their interactions with each other, their responses to the environment, and the presence of any contamination.

Using living microscopical organisms to create art allows the spectator to think of the art we produce as a part of ourselves. We could say Dasha’s artworks are part of herself helplessly. This complexity between the microbiome and human symbiosis highlights the importance of protecting ourselves and the planet from dysbiosis (imbalance). We are biosystems and so is her art, it is even possible to say that Dasha Plesen works by showing us the art of being alive.