Archaean Memory Farm
Archean Memory Farm
Our project is based on the properties of an ancient magnetotactic bacteria (MTB). MTBs synthesize magnetosomes formed by magnetite or greigite crystals. They use magnetosomes to move along the lines of the Earth’s magnetic field, which allows them to recognize up and down and to sink into zones with a minimum of oxygen.
The metabolic processes inside magnetotactic bacteria naturally become informational processes – their nature allows information to be entered, stored, and read.
The structure of the Archean Memory Farm:
Bacteria live and multiply in the bio-reactor. The most active part of the colony is pumped into the display container using magnetic separation. There, control of the magnetic field organizes the input and playback of data, forming a bio-display. Dead generations of bacteria sink to the bottom naturally; isolated dead carriers of biomagnetite form a layer, making it possible to record and store information on the bearer. Information is recorded, read, and reproduced using a magnetic field.
Photo: Nada Zgank, Kapelica Gallery, Ljubljana
More about the installation blocks:
Bio-display
The magnetic field controls the position of MTB; white light visualizes changes in their position. The shape of the body of the MTB Magnetospirillum is extended (ovoid), allowing control of the luminosity intensity of the bio-display by changing two orthogonally directed magnetic field vectors. In one of these positions, the luminosity increases; in the other, it decreases. This control provides a bio-display which, even in a simple version (frequency-dependent amplitude modulation), visualizes the write/read data.
Memory (recording / playback / storage)
In natural conditions, the magnetization of biogenic magnetite deposits corresponds to the lines of the Earth’s magnetic field, and the study of these deposits provides information about the history of changes and movement of the magnetic field. The principle of magnetic recording on a magnetic tape (or streamer) is analogous to this process.
The dead bacteria are applied as a layer on a carrier disc. Information is magnetized onto them at the moment of their death: bacteria that have settled on the bottom and show no activity are extracted from the bioreactor using magnetic separation, applied to the carrier base, and magnetized so as to preserve the previously entered information.
An electromechanical device stores magnetic disks and moves them to a “library” -a depository of magnetized disks, from which the mechanical device extracts disks and places them in the device for playback and recording, operating on the principle of a jukebox.
Photo: where dogs run
Bioreactor control system
The computer system monitors the medium parameters (temperature, oxygen level, pH level, etc.) and controls the processes so as to maintain the vital activity of the bacteria. Recording on a bio-carrier is only possible when the required number of magnetotactic bacteria have died. Since the bacteria are not intentionally killed, the rate of information retention is related to the actual lifespan of MTBs under bioreactor conditions.
The result is artificial “geological clumps of information” jointly created by humans and bacteria.
MTBs have been performing bio-computation for millions of years, long before humans began to compute, store, or question.
And through countless deaths, information is transmitted and improved, creates new forms, and invents different, new sense organs. Are we only carriers of memory, only clusters necessary for its transmission after our death? Is the fact that we can ask this question a side effect, or is it a necessity in this technological process?
Our goal is a symbiotic bio-cybernetic structure that, through the very way it stores and transforms information, generates a question: what is memory, and can we create anything that does not produce death?
Photo: where dogs run
Archean Memory Farm
2025
Generative installation
Magnetotactic bacteria, 2 bioreactors, thermostat, bacterial medium, chemical reagents, microcontrollers, air sterilizer, water sterilizer, nitrogen, laboratory equipment, PH, temperature, and oxygen sensors, pumps, dispensers, motors, electronic and electromechanical components, displays, computer, and software.
Scientific consultants: Veronika Kozyaeva, Tatyana Kurgina, Kristijan Tkalec
Programming: Sergey Mashkov, Gleb Andreev, Dmitry Shishov
Produced by: Kersnikova Institute within the framework of S+T+ARTS In the City – STARTS (Science, Technology & the Arts) in collaboration with BioTehna Laboratory
Co-funded by: European Commission, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, City of Ljubljana – Department of Culture, CYLAND Foundation
Exhibitions:
2025 / Ljubljana / Galerija Kapelica / “Archean Memory Farm” / [S+T+ARTS]
