In France, artist Diane Trouillet is pioneering the use of cellulosic materials and biotechnology to create “open-source bioart” that explores the divide between inert objects and living systems.
One work, a book dubbed Livre Organique and comprised of bacterial paper, “intends to question the dematerialization of information in digital media” by instructing and encouraging those who view it to recreate the work in their own homes. Trouillet has also used cellulose to make tennis balls.
Trouillet is also exploring the use bioluminescence. One work, Tempus fugit, uses the phenomenon to create a lamp powered by microorganisms that varied in brightness as microbes grew and died. Another work, Robotus, uses photosynthesis to create electricity that powered a robotic plant appendage toward light.