Microbes, Machines and the Art of Change

An artist in Brooklyn has turned her studio into a living laboratory, where tiny organisms and flying robots mingle to ask big questions about life. Her work shows how bacteria can paint, perfume, and even build ecosystems that grow on their own. In a park in New York’s Hudson Valley she set up columns filled with soil, pond water and other natural materials. Over two years these columns turned into colorful, shifting layers of microbes that glow when exposed to light and heat. Visitors can see the changes in real time, watching new life emerge from the mud. Elsewhere in Manhattan her “aerobes” – jellyfish‑like drones that drift on helium – glide above gallery floors. They move autonomously, reacting to the air around them, and are part of a larger exhibition that explores how we interact with technology. The artist says she likes to keep her projects playful, avoiding fear or dread even when the themes involve disease and pandemics. She believes that curiosity is the key to understanding both microscopic life and advanced machines.Her practice started when she studied her own gut health and discovered how bacteria influence the body. From there she began collaborating with microbiologists, engineers and computer scientists to build projects that blend biology and technology. She sees her work as an “anti‑monument, ” a protest against permanent, unchanging art. Instead, she creates pieces that evolve and fade, reminding viewers that everything is temporary. The installations in the park and at the museum are examples of this philosophy. In the park, the microbes grow under UV lights in a heated barn; in the museum, the drones hover above visitors. Both are designed to be observed, not merely admired, and they encourage people to listen to the hidden intelligence of nature. In her own words, the artist wants audiences to notice how microbes and machines shape our world. By blending science with art she invites us all to experiment, learn, and wonder about the unseen forces that move around us.